Wort darker than expected

Purchased a sack of Briess Pilsner malt. I used it in a Belgian blonde and the wort color was a lot darker than I anticipated. I would expect it to be a little darker with break matter and other things in suspension. My anticipated SRM on it was was around 6-8 and it came out looking like 18-20. I had another instance where I did a German hefe and the result was similar. In both cases the wort settled out and the coloring came out pretty close but there is definitely some more melanoidins in the flavor. I have never had this result before. I have only had this result with this particular malt. If anyone may have any explanation or had a similar experience I would like to hear about it.
Let me also add that the first was a step infusion that came out at 1.063. The second was a double decocted hefe that came out at 1.052. So I had a good conversion. It seemed to definitely occur during the boil and not the decoction.

It's probably a lot lighter than you think. It's hard to judge inside the carboy. Take a sample with a wine thief or turkey baster and put it in a glass.

Note that when there is a lot of yeast floating around, it will look light. Once the yeast falls out of suspension, it will look very dark (because the reflective yeast aren't there). But when you get it out of the carboy and into a glass, it's back to light again.