First brew is dark

This is my first brew. Been in primary for almost 2 weeks. It's the red ale kit from true brew. It's way darker than it is supposed to be.

Should I let this one go, or is there still hope

It's always darker in the carboy than in the glass. Can't tell the color until you rack and see it in your tubing or hydrometer tube.

Also, I wouldn't toss a batch of beer because of the color.

Why would you give up on it because it is dark? Wait until its ready and taste it. Extract kits are often darker than they are supposed to be and can be even darker if the LME is old. If you did a partial boil, you could've scorched the extract a little when you poured it in. I used to turn the heat off and stir like crazy when I poured in LME or added DME. Either way, let it ferment another couple of weeks, give it a taste and bottle it up. I bet it will taste fine..just call it a dark red ale or blood red ale.

Pappers_ said:

It's always darker in the carboy than in the glass. Can't tell the color until you rack and see it in your tubing or hydrometer tube..

Click to expand...

+1 I hadn't even thought of that. The beer will actually darken a little when the yeast drops out but in the carboy or bucket it will look a lot darker than it really is.

LME is notoriously darker than it really should be. I remember my first brew was an amber ale. It came out more like a dark amber almost porterish color to it. Let it ferment and try it out. Sometimes the best beer doesn't meet one of the intended goals.

Thanks guys. Checked it on Saturday for a gravity reading and it had cleared up significantly. Was also in FG range. Checked it Sunday and it was the same, so went ahead and bottled. 2 weeks isn't that long I realize, but being my first brew, I'm pretty antsy.

I also read the "what mistakes have you made and the beer turned out good" thread and it put my mind at ease a lot.

Started my next 2 batches Saturday (nut brown ale and American cream ale...both kits). Going to be much more patient with those, as I've got one under my belt.

I have been trying to decide what I am going to brew tonight and I think I decided on a Hefeweizen. Reading the comments on the hefeweizen kit on northernbrewer.com, a lot of people don't add the LME until there is only 15 minutes left in the boil to keep it lighter. Might be something to keep in mind.

Overall, the color will have little effect on taste and I'm sure your beer will still be great.

Yea, when I bottled the red, I used 12 22ounce and 24 12ounce. Had about 24 ounces or so left over. Not wanting to just have 2 random bottles, I bottled into a chilled glass. That stuff was damn good! Even uncarbonated. I was genuinely surprised. Hopefully a sign of good things to come