Sudden Color change to purple after weeks of aging

[murphey_griffon]

So I made this pear mead with pears in the primary and then again in the secondary. I racked it on 9/2 and added pears in the secondary with a little extra honey. It had fermented to about 13.5% with lavlin 71b and was pretty harsh. The original fermentation started on 8/16. On 8/28 i added a cambden tablet and 1/2 tsp of potassium metabisulfate. I removed the pears sometime in october, I think. unfortunately I got busy and did not write down the date's. I left town on 11/1 and believe before this is was not purple. I got back today and checked it and it is now purple. I have no idea what happened. Is it mold? Oxidation? Should I taste it? Can I add any stabilizer to kill any possible bacteria, mold if it was that? I hate to waste it, even though I set this in my basement for so long because it was harsh and not great when i tasted it. There is a bit of headspace, and I did remove the airlock and just put some tape over it. Edit: I should note it actually does not smell bad either. The aroma has actually improved. I just don't understand the sudden change in color.

below are my full notes, I know they get lacking around removing the pears, I got really busy travelling for work.
Mead 4: 1/2 (2.5g) packet lavin 71b
3.3-3.4lb lbs festa farms Honey (lighter 2nd batch), 25 raisins, 3 pears (giant eagle from california), 1/2 tsp energizer, 1/2 oz nutrient, , 2/3 gallon of water
8/16 starting gravity =1.100
8/23 = 1.007 = 12.2
8/27 = .996 = 13.65
8/28 = .998/.006 1 cambden tablet 1/2 tsp potassium metabisulfate
9/2 racked added .4lbs honey and 2 pears to secondary
10/? Removed pears
11/11 now purple...

I'm now on mead 10 and all my others are going great, this one was just real harsh and I kind of neglected it a bit due to the off flavors at first. I'm pretty sure all the particles in the purple mead picture is just residual from the pear's themselves, they left a lot of starchy like material behind. The top pic is after racking and adding pears to secondary.

 

[murphey_griffon]

I posted on reddit as well, and it does sound like I may have oxidized my mead. I also tasted it, and it was pretty harsh. Now i need to determine what to do with it, It is probably too far gone...

 

[Medsen Fey]

Just like a sliced pear will get browning, you can get changes in fermented juice color. It doesn't mean that it has gone bad. IF it gets oxidized it will take on an aroma like sherry or Madeira wine (which in a mead can actually be quite tasty - search Meadeira). I'd give it a few months to let the aroma and flavor develop. Young meads can go through strange phases and wind up being great later.

 

[murphey_griffon]

Just like a sliced pear will get browning, you can get changes in fermented juice color. It doesn't mean that it has gone bad. IF it gets oxidized it will take on an aroma like sherry or Madeira wine (which in a mead can actually be quite tasty - search Meadeira). I'd give it a few months to let the aroma and flavor develop. Young meads can go through strange phases and wind up being great later.

Thanks for the response, I will hold onto it then. I've had my other meads change a bit as well, but mostly just smoother. I made one with a saison that had a funky flavor at first that aged out after only about 2 months.

 

[Squatchy]

I would for sure stabilize it to stop the oxidation process. In m,y personal opinion. I don't like browned pear much at all. If you add the sulfites you can arrest the rusting process the rising process to a degree.

 

[4give]

Hi,
For clarification... You added a campden tablet and 1/2 tsp of potassium metabisulfite (k-meta)? Or is that 1/2 tsp of potassium sorbate (k-sorb)?
1) If all that was k-meta, that seems like way too much for a gallon batch IMO - unless your PH is like 7 or something. A general rule is .3 grams per gallon or 1 tablet per gallon. However, there are calculations to help us get more accurate. I'm not saying this is the issue, but it could be...
2) 1/2 tsp of k-sorb is also likely too much unless your PH is way high. Another general rule here is .5-.75 grams per gallon depending on PH. 1 tsp would be approx 2.3 grams, so you likely added 1+ grams of k-sorb.

I still don't have a good explanation for you, and I agree with Medsen and Squatchy on holding on to it for awhile, but I'm going to throw some speculation out here.
When I first started researching mead, there was a post on another forum that was similar to yours on a guy's 5 gallon batch (not sure of ingredients). It turned nearly black after adding k-sorb. While there was never any good explanation, I've been a bit leery of too much k-sorb. In my own experience, and I've never duplicated this, I was stabilizing a batch, and dissolved my k-meta in a fat graduated cylinder. I then dissolved my k-sorb afterwards, and the water was definitely a slight shade of purple.
I know what everyone is thinking as we've all used both of these at the same time with no issues. I never had issues with that batch either. Weird.

I figured I'd just put this out there in the event anyone else finds the magic mixture that makes this purple-black color.

 

[murphey_griffon]

Hi,
For clarification... You added a campden tablet and 1/2 tsp of potassium metabisulfite (k-meta)? Or is that 1/2 tsp of potassium sorbate (k-sorb)?
1) If all that was k-meta, that seems like way too much for a gallon batch IMO - unless your PH is like 7 or something. A general rule is .3 grams per gallon or 1 tablet per gallon. However, there are calculations to help us get more accurate. I'm not saying this is the issue, but it could be...
2) 1/2 tsp of k-sorb is also likely too much unless your PH is way high. Another general rule here is .5-.75 grams per gallon depending on PH. 1 tsp would be approx 2.3 grams, so you likely added 1+ grams of k-sorb.

I still don't have a good explanation for you, and I agree with Medsen and Squatchy on holding on to it for awhile, but I'm going to throw some speculation out here.
When I first started researching mead, there was a post on another forum that was similar to yours on a guy's 5 gallon batch (not sure of ingredients). It turned nearly black after adding k-sorb. While there was never any good explanation, I've been a bit leery of too much k-sorb. In my own experience, and I've never duplicated this, I was stabilizing a batch, and dissolved my k-meta in a fat graduated cylinder. I then dissolved my k-sorb afterwards, and the water was definitely a slight shade of purple.
I know what everyone is thinking as we've all used both of these at the same time with no issues. I never had issues with that batch either. Weird.

I figured I'd just put this out there in the event anyone else finds the magic mixture that makes this purple-black color.

I read something similar as well in a thread on beer. And good catch, you are actually corect I used a campden tablet and 1/2 tsp of Potassium Sorbate. I just checked my stabilizer and had the ingredients mixed up. I plan to hold onto it after adding some argon gas to help keep any additional oxidation out. Someone on reddit mentioned that plum's turn purple when they oxidize. They did leave it quite cloudy and left behind a lot of sediment which still seems to be settling out.