Re: Beet Wine issues

My first thought upon reading of your woes was, "What the hell is he
doing pulling a bottle of beet that was only put away in May?"  I make
a beet, I put it away in a dark closet to protect that delicate color,
and it doesn't come out for at least two years, and even then it is
"young" in my book.

Beet wine changes dramatically as it ages, but not the way you have
described.  It sounds to me like it has oxidized, either from
insufficient sulfite during fermentation and at bottling or from a bad
closure.  The color, on the other hand, WILL change to brown (and, at
the same time, grow lighter) if not stored in a dark environment.  I
had two bottles of a seven-bottle batch that were laid down in a
cabinet with louvered doors because the cubby-hole in the closet
filled up when I put the other five bottles in there.  The bottles in
the closet, after nearly four years, were as deep ruby as the day they
went in, but the two in the cabinet had both turned brown and were
lighter that the others.  They tasted okay, but not quite as good as
the other five.

Whatever the cause (and by now you should have enough hints to
diagnose what you may have done wrong), I wouldn't toss them out. 
They just might turn out okay if you leave them alone another 18
months.  If the problem is oxidation, they just might turn into a good
sherry (depending on alcohol) in another four-five years.  All they
will do until then is take up space, so why not wait it out?  Unless
you are in your 70s, why be impatient?

Just my two cents worth....

Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/