gold beer came out red

lfark · 03-30-2008, 02:57 AM

a nice red but not what i was going for.

2.6 kg plain light malt syrup
1.0 kg light plain malt extract dry
50 g cascade hops
6 g munton yeast

the guy at the beer store said i overboiled and caused carmelization. i found nothing of the sort on the web.

he then advised me to boil the hops for an hour then add the syrup to the hot water. i did this today. the start specific gravity was 1.030 so i figure this batch may be screwed up or at least a weaker beer.

i suspect the store might have screwed up the labelling as the ingredients are packaged by the store or they added a cheap substitute.

what does a long boil do to the brew? why is it red?

Ooompa Loompa · 03-30-2008, 03:02 AM

A long boil can in fact carmalize the extract making it a slightly darker color. How red is it?? If it is only a slight hint of reddish then I would say it could be carmalization.

The late extract addition that he suggested will help some, but I wouldn't boil the hops in just water. I'd add the dry malt extract, boil that with the hops for 60 min, then add the liquid extract in the last 10 minutes of the boil.

lfark · 03-30-2008, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ooompa Loompa

A long boil can in fact carmalize the extract making it a slightly darker color. How red is it?? If it is only a slight hint of reddish then I would say it could be carmalization.

The late extract addition that he suggested will help some, but I wouldn't boil the hops in just water. I'd add the dry malt extract, boil that with the hops for 60 min, then add the liquid extract in the last 10 minutes of the boil.

it is very red but gets to be a darker red the longer it is in the bottle.

your answer caused something to click in my puny brain! i forgot to add the dry extract! the new procedure must have really screwed me up.

i scooped out a litre and am dissolving dry extract in a heated pot now. it was really fermenting after about only 4 hours.

thankyou for your answer. very helpful.