Why are my beers dark?

[AJA]

I'm not sure how good they are, but I use oxygen scavenging caps on the occasions that I bottle. They are basically the same price as normal caps

 

[The Baron]

I hardly bottle only the odd couple from a batch but I use the scavenger tops too again do they work ? but at virtually no extra cost worth a try

 

[AJA]

I hardly bottle only the odd couple from a batch but I use the scavenger tops too again do they work ? but at virtually no extra cost worth a try

Jury is out. The marginal difference in cost is why I use them. Brimming the bottle is the best defense against oxidation, but bottle at room temperature if doing this to avoid bottle bombs (or do the PET squeeze method suggested above).

 

[Agentgonzo]

...plus it will be forced to the top as co2 is produced during secondary bottle conditioning thus minimising the oxygen ingress into the beer

Unfortunately not true, the CO2 produced and the oxygen in the air in the headspace will diffuse into eachother, making a nice mixture of the two.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Jury is out. The marginal difference in cost is why I use them. Brimming the bottle is the best defense against oxidation, but bottle at room temperature if doing this to avoid bottle bombs (or do the PET squeeze method suggested above).

Don't literally brim the bottle. You need a little bit of air space (5mm is enough). When the fermentation happens in the bottle, the volume of beer will increase marginally and if there is nowhere for this to go, the bottle will break.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...-a-bottle-conditioned-ipa.653784/post-8729756

 

[The Baron]

I thought one of the members on here or am I thinking of somebody on Youtube had done a experiment of shaking and not, probably not scientific but there was a difference in colour?

 

[Agentgonzo]

I thought one of the members on here or am I thinking of somebody on Youtube had done a experiment of shaking and not, probably not scientific but there was a difference in colour?

Post #13 in this thread
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/why-are-my-beers-dark.101422/post-1197183

 

[Sandimas]

I was sceptical about shaking (I always shook my bottles to mix up the priming sugar) but it's correct, it does impact, I now no longer shake.

One other thought: do you have a reference for the colour expected i.e are the beers you made darker than intended, or is that just the way the kit comes out? I've started making some AG very pale ales and you need to use light or low-colour base malt, not standard malt: thinking back to when I did extract, even light extract produced a relatively golden/amber beer. If you are sourcing ingredients yourself, you can buy extra-light dried malt extract but I've not seen extra-light liquid.

 

[Wynne]

I am with DazzelK it is very unlikely that oxygen is getting in during fermentation as co2 is produced and will form a blanket over the beer as it is heavier than oxygen which will protect the beer from the oxygen.
You need to look at your procedure from ther like transfer/bottling and not leaving too much head space if using bottle, half a inch headspace is about right.
Ps is the beer darker before bottling?

@the baron - it is a common misconception regarding CO2 that it “forms a blanket over the beer as it is heavier” that’s not how mixtures of gases behave. Gases in mixtures diffuse into one another to become homogenous - if you would like to learn more then Google “gas mixtures”. During fermentation the flow of CO2 generated and released by the action of yeast dilutes and displaces the air above beer, reducing exposure to oxygen, so the end result is much the same.

 

[Sadfield]

https://beerandgardeningjournal.com/can-co2-form-a-blanket/
I found this useful when starting out with open fermentation.

 

[Wynne]

https://beerandgardeningjournal.com/can-co2-form-a-blanket/
I found this useful when starting out with open fermentation.

Thank you @Sadfield - what a helpful article.

 

[jezbrews]

To put into context the fact gases mix and don't layer, if they did we would suffocate in the sheer volume of nitrogen (nearly four fifths) that makes up all atmospheric gas, which would take up nearly 5,000 vertical miles worth of space around the earth.

 

[keith thomas]

Thanks everyone for your help and advice. I've just tasted the first two brews bottled following your recommendations and both are fabulous! Both are golden ales and are perfectly golden in colour and are without the dark flavours which tainted some of my previous efforts. I started using a beer wand which I'd never heard of, and I stopped shaking the bottles. There are some mysteries to this brewing lark but I'm now one step closer to understanding it!
Thanks again!

 

[keith thomas]

Thanks everyone for your help and advice. I've just tasted the first two brews bottled following your recommendations and both are fabulous! Both are golden ales and are perfectly golden in colour and are without the dark flavours which tainted some of my previous efforts. I started using a beer wand which I'd never heard of, and I stopped shaking the bottles. There are some mysteries to this brewing lark but I'm now one step closer to understanding it!
Thanks again!

Sorry guys that went into the wrong thread!