Pale Ale is black

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Once again I will reiterate: Since the solution has reached equilibrium with the gas in the container it will not absorb any more O2 until the pressure in the container increases, which cannot happen because the air lock is still intact and the interior of the vessel is at atmospheric pressure.

For your next batch, consider taking samples (to properly measure color) at each step in your process. From there, you should be able to identify the step(s) that are causing the beer to darken excessively.

And, as always, if extra light LME starts at SRM 8 (rather than 4), adding it late in the boil won't produce an SRM 6 beer.

 

[Bobby_M]

This will be my last post on this subject.
1. I'm assuming that those involved with this thread have seen the photo showing the color of the sample draw from the fermenter and agree that it does appear darker than expected for a pale ale.

2. The fermenter (25 gal double wall stainless steel, cylindrical vessel) has a valve near the bottom. I draw my samples from there, so the air tight seal at the top which is a very large 6-8" diameter & ~1.5" thick viton rubber 'washer' has not been removed since the wort was put into the fermenter. Once again I will reiterate: Since the solution has reached equilibrium with the gas in the container it will not absorb any more O2 until the pressure in the container increases, which cannot happen because the air lock is still intact and the interior of the vessel is at atmospheric pressure.

I understand you're worn out at this point and you don't want to talk about it anymore. If you want to avoid the issue in the future, you should switch to a fermenter with less head space. The 20 odd gallons of air that was initially in the fermenter is what did the bulk of the damage.

As you draw samples out of the valve, the vacuum created inside has to equalize to atmospheric pressure somehow so it's either bubbling room air backwards through your airlock or it's leaking in through the larger seal. At this point, I doubt it can get any more oxidized that it already is so that's a moot point.

I'm not looking for a reply. I just want your beer to be better for your own enjoyment. If you like it the way it is, then cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

Actually oxygen can change a beer from yellow to brown in a matter of hours.

Seems pretty simple to test, right?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Seems pretty simple to test, right?

earlier in this topic, someone mentioned

For [OPs] next batch, consider taking samples (to properly measure color) at each step in your process. From there, [OP] should be able to identify the step(s) that are causing the beer to darken excessively.

It may be that the "hard part" is determining how much beer normally darkens at each step in the process. A topic for the "brew science" forum?