color change??

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rcdirtbuggy

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I just opened my first bottle of german hefeweizen and i'm a little confused because the info sheet said the beer should be a blonde color, but my brew seems to be a redish blonde. the beer tastes great and everything else seems to be good. what would cause the coloration to be like this?? any input would be greatly appreciated. thank you.
 
Extract brews tend to darken with a full hour boil. It's just caramelization. Plus if your beer is more cloudy than called for, the opaqueness will cause the beer to appear darker.

As long as it tastes good, no worries.
 
BierMuncher said:
Extract brews tend to darken with a full hour boil. It's just caramelization. Plus if your beer is more cloudy than called for, the opaqueness will cause the beer to appear darker.

As long as it tastes good, no worries.
Click to expand...

Also, LME darkens with age (before the boil).

Was this a kit? Where did you buy it?
 
it was an extract kit that i purchased from beer beer and more beer in riverside CA. it didn't have any lme in the kit because it was powder form. and like i said the beer tastes fantastic but i'm just not sure why it's darker than it's supposed to be. the guys at beer beer and more beer had no idea why, but they did say that it could have been slightly scorched during the boil, but it would not really effect the taste of the beer.
 
I am pretty sure it is due to caramelization as BierMuncher said.

Check the thread on Late Boil Extract Additions. This method will avoid this.
 
rcdirtbuggy said:
it was an extract kit that i purchased from beer beer and more beer in riverside CA. it didn't have any lme in the kit because it was powder form. and like i said the beer tastes fantastic but i'm just not sure why it's darker than it's supposed to be. the guys at beer beer and more beer had no idea why, but they did say that it could have been slightly scorched during the boil, but it would not really effect the taste of the beer.
Click to expand...

Next time, add the extract to the wort for about the last 20 mins. of the boil. This will be enough to sterilize it, but would be less caramilized, thereby giving the beer a lighter colour. There is a limit to the lightness of extract - LMEs are almost always dark straw to copper even if the picture is light. The lightest DME would be "extra light" and they vary by brand.

Cheers.
 
Axegod said:
Next time, add the extract to the wort for about the last 20 mins. of the boil. This will be enough to sterilize it, but would be less caramilized, thereby giving the beer a lighter colour. There is a limit to the lightness of extract - LMEs are almost always dark straw to copper even if the picture is light. The lightest DME would be "extra light" and they vary by brand.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

But, this will change your hop utilization. You have to reduce the amount of hops you use when there is no malt (or little) present. If you post your recipe in the Late Boil Thread someone will give you the correct hop amounts so you don't end up with a beer that is over hopped.
 

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