I made a half batch (2.5 gallons) last night and I used 5 lbs of golden wheat grain and .3 lbs of carapil. I believe, I might be mistaken. But either way my beer is a dirty brown color. I understand the dirty cloudy look. I can deal with that later but the brown color was unexpected. Are wheat beers usually a mud brown color
First all grain
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MonsterBrew
Well-Known Member
What is "golden wheat grain"? What is the Lovibond of both of those? That will determine your color.
Regardless, I would let it be and see how it turns out. Who knows.
Regardless, I would let it be and see how it turns out. Who knows.
Flykilbosa
Well-Known Member
Yeah....it could be a guessing game without knowing the lovibond for everything. I bet it will wind up fine though!
Hold on for a moment, though. What sort of gravity did you get? AFAIK, some wheat malts aren't self-converting (not enough enzymes), and unmalted wheat won't convert at all, so if your grain bill is as given, you may not have converted enough starch to make a fermentable wort. Did you check the diastatic power of this 'golden wheat' ahead of time?
Also, wheat (whether malted or unmalted) has no hull to speak of, which means it won't form a grain bed by itself. Did you add rice hulls to the mash, and if not, did you have any trouble with sparging?
Also, wheat (whether malted or unmalted) has no hull to speak of, which means it won't form a grain bed by itself. Did you add rice hulls to the mash, and if not, did you have any trouble with sparging?
Lovibond is a scale used to measure color. Grains are sometimes labeled with their degrees Lovibond, A dark roasted grain will be 500L. Regular 2-row will be around 2L. Wheat malts are usually 2-4L, from what I've seen, and Carapils is under 3L. So neither would have contributed to a brown SRM (standard reference method). This is the color system used to measure the color of finished beer and malts as well, which closely matches Lovibond colors.
Enough about color though, the previous poster has a point. Although you can certainly make an all wheat beer, many recipes call for barley malt as well. Malted wheat will convert itself and then some, but since it has no hulls, you need something to help with a grain bed, unless you BIAB. Some common wheat recipe use a 50/50 or 60/40 wheat-to-2row ratio. People also regularly use rice hulls to prevent a stuck sparge. Also, wheat itself already contributes greatly to body and head retention, so the Carapils was not necessary.
Find out what golden wheat is exactly. Is it malted wheat or not? What Lovibond is it? This will help you find out if you're even making beer and why it's so dark.
Enough about color though, the previous poster has a point. Although you can certainly make an all wheat beer, many recipes call for barley malt as well. Malted wheat will convert itself and then some, but since it has no hulls, you need something to help with a grain bed, unless you BIAB. Some common wheat recipe use a 50/50 or 60/40 wheat-to-2row ratio. People also regularly use rice hulls to prevent a stuck sparge. Also, wheat itself already contributes greatly to body and head retention, so the Carapils was not necessary.
Find out what golden wheat is exactly. Is it malted wheat or not? What Lovibond is it? This will help you find out if you're even making beer and why it's so dark.
Degrees Lovibond is the unit used to measure the potential color affect of a given malt or adjunct. It corresponds to the color of the finished beer given in SRM (Standard Reference Method) units. For example, 1 pound of a 10 °L malt can be expected to given 1 gallon of water a 10 SRM hue.
While SRM is strictly speaking an empirical measurement unit, it is possible to predict the color of a beer ahead of time. To calculate the expected SRM of a beer, you take the sum of the malt color for each addition times the weight in pounds, and divide that sum by the volume in gallons. For example, if your golden wheat has a color of 2 °L (which is about typical for a wheat malt), and the carapils is 1.5 °L (again, about typical for that malt) then the SRM of your beer would be:
((2°L * 5lb) + (1.5°L * 0.3lb)) / 2.5 gal
(10 + 0.45) / 2.5
10.45 / 2.5
4.18 SRM
This is a rather light-colored beer, a little darker than, say, Budweiser, much lighter than what you describe. However, you have to recall that a) you are looking at it through the whole 2.5 gallons of it, and b) it is still fermenting, which means a lot of yeast is still in suspension in it. Once it clears, and you have a chance to look at it through a narrower glass, it should come out quite pale.
Most brewing software will automatically estimate the SRM of the beer for you.
I had just dropped it about an hour before I could get a reading on it so I have no idea. As for the BIAB. Yes, I did.
I didn't have rice hulls.
I am guessing I will end up doing this batch differently after a little more research. The sediment settled down and the color looks better. Closer to a golden color then brown now. But like was said earlier. It might not be .
should I risk tasting it or no
I didn't have rice hulls.
I am guessing I will end up doing this batch differently after a little more research. The sediment settled down and the color looks better. Closer to a golden color then brown now. But like was said earlier. It might not be .
should I risk tasting it or no
No, not yet. Just as with extract, it will usually take a 3-5 days at minimum to ferment out, and the only way to be certain is by testing the gravity with a hydrometer to see if it has stabilized. I would wait at least a week before testing it; you can taste the sample after you're done testing it, if you want (I usually do myself, though it won't tell you much at that stage).
Use a sanitized winethief or turkey baster to get the sample from the beer, and write down the reading. If you get the same reading three days later, it should be ready to bottle, or go into secondary if you want to give it time to clarify first.
As for the rice hulls, they aren't quite as critical with the BIAB method, as the filtering is mostly done by the bag, not the grain bed. A stuck mash is still a possibility, though, so rice hulls could have helped.
Use a sanitized winethief or turkey baster to get the sample from the beer, and write down the reading. If you get the same reading three days later, it should be ready to bottle, or go into secondary if you want to give it time to clarify first.
As for the rice hulls, they aren't quite as critical with the BIAB method, as the filtering is mostly done by the bag, not the grain bed. A stuck mash is still a possibility, though, so rice hulls could have helped.
So, today is 2 weeks after started fermenting. And swapped my beer to my secondary fermentor and added habeneros and mangos. They will be in there for one week, then I will bottle.
the color turned out great. Its a light colored beer I love it. Tastes a little hoppier than I wanted but still good.
hopefully, the habeneros won't be to over powering
the color turned out great. Its a light colored beer I love it. Tastes a little hoppier than I wanted but still good.
hopefully, the habeneros won't be to over powering
My beer is too spicy! what can I do to mild it down...? ...other than letting it sit and age. I don't want to take the time to age, could I make salsa out of it? If so, does anyone have a good recipe?
I know that the post above doesn't really go with this thread subject. But Next time I brew this batch, i will be making quite a few changes to it
I know that the post above doesn't really go with this thread subject. But Next time I brew this batch, i will be making quite a few changes to it
LOL
I make a really good Mexican shredded pork dish with beer in the crock pot. Put some onion garlic oregano cliantro and a bottle of your spicy beer over a small pork roast in the crock pot on low all day. When it's done, shred it and make tacos or burritos or whatever. I make tostadas with pico, sour cream, guac, queso fresco, cilantro and a couple dashes of chipotle hot sauce. Very tasty.
I make a really good Mexican shredded pork dish with beer in the crock pot. Put some onion garlic oregano cliantro and a bottle of your spicy beer over a small pork roast in the crock pot on low all day. When it's done, shred it and make tacos or burritos or whatever. I make tostadas with pico, sour cream, guac, queso fresco, cilantro and a couple dashes of chipotle hot sauce. Very tasty.
