Color of my extract homebrew

Hey guys,

New to this forum, and relatively new to homebrewing as I only brewed my fourth batch last night. I've done two IPA's, one red ale, and then last night a wheat, all with extract. My question is, is there anyway to avoid the dark color with extract brewing? My IPA's taste delicious, which is all that matters, but they are not the same light clean color that I get when I pour out a bottle of my favorite commercial IPA. Is the only way to avoid a dark color going all grain?

Thanks.

Zsmith31 said:

Hey guys,

New to this forum, and relatively new to homebrewing as I only brewed my fourth batch last night. I've done two IPA's, one red ale, and then last night a wheat, all with extract. My question is, is there anyway to avoid the dark color with extract brewing? My IPA's taste delicious, which is all that matters, but they are not the same light clean color that I get when I pour out a bottle of my favorite commercial IPA. Is the only way to avoid a dark color going all grain?

Thanks.

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You can get some pretty light colored extract batches by using only extra light DME for your extract and adding the bulk of it at or near flame out instead of boiling it for the entire time. Use 1 pound of extract in the boil for every gallon of water boiled, at the rest when you turn off the heat. That should dramatically lighten the color to more like an all-grain or commercial beer.

It will also reduce maillard reactions in the boil, giving less of a browning reaction and a less "cooked extract" taste I get in some extract beers.

Agreed. But I used Munton's plain light DME in my extract PA/APA/IPA's to keep colors where they should be, adding the LME (usually a Cooper's Draught can) @ flame out. That gave the typical amber/orange color sought after in my experiences with AE brewing. Also, late extract additions as in my Cooper's example. This keeps maillard reactions with the LME to a minimum.

Even Extra Light DME comes out with a deep gold color. Your options are to move to BIAB maybe or shorten your boil times (to 15-30 mins). If you shorten the boil you're going to have to increase your bittering hop amounts quite a bit. But, hey if it tastes like you want it to, who cares about color?

porterpounder said:

[...]But, hey if it tastes like you want it to, who cares about color?

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Because a Blonde should look....blonde?

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

Because a Blonde should look....blonde?

Cheers!

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I know what you mean. The first beer I ever made was a blonde ale, but it was actually more of a light brown-gold color. Much darker than any commercial blonde ale in existence, much closer in color to a somewhat dark saison than a blonde ale.

Bigger volume boils also help reduce the carmelization that darkens the beer. When I could only do 3-4 gallon boils my wort was dark but now I can boil 7 gallons. My blondes are blonde!


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I can get as light as straw gold with partial boil, partial mash biab.

I can get quite light as well with late extract additions and increasing the boil volume. My kettle is only 5 gals, but with Fermcap I can reliably boil 4 gal without boil overs. I usually put in 2-3 lbs DME at the beginning of the boil and the rest at the 10min - flameout range.

Nice, light, golden color is achievable with extract.

I usually do 3 1/2 gallons in my 5 gallon kettle. I use the mash/sparge with PM, or 203lbs of plain DME with AE or E/SG brews.

Just one thing to add. LME darkens as it ages. A good source for fresh extracts really help.

day_trippr said:

Because a Blonde should look....blonde?

Cheers!

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Quick solution: name it Dark Roots Blonde.

Extract will never get as light as AG, but there are definitely ways to minimize the darkening. It should also be noted that extract colors can vary by manufacturer.