All my beers are too dark...

I've been brewing all grain for the past 5-6 batches. I've noticed that all my beers are darker than the commercial counterparts. For instance I brewed a wit a couple weeks ago. Bottled it yesterday and it's tan, not white. I used only flaked wheat and pilsner malts.

Why the dark color? I'd like my wit to be lighter like a hoegaaden or allagash white. Any thoughts?

If you used 90% pilsner malt, and 10% wheat, it should be a very light color. Did you boil too hard to the point of caramelizing the sugars? I can't think of anything else. How much water did you use for mashing/sparging?

I used 3.5 gallons for sparge, making 7 gallons total before boiling. Boil 90 min to get 5.5 gallons into fermenter.

I guess I could be boiling too hard but I keep the heat just high enough for a vigorous boil. Maybe I'll cut the heat a little more.

browillard said:

I used 3.5 gallons for sparge, making 7 gallons total before boiling. Boil 90 min to get 5.5 gallons into fermenter.

I guess I could be boiling too hard but I keep the heat just high enough for a vigorous boil. Maybe I'll cut the heat a little more.

Click to expand...

What is your kettle setup?

I think I read somewhere that a higher ph will support more maillard reactions in the boil which could be one more reason for a darker color.

Here is the image showing the comparison. There is a link there to the parent page that discusses it.
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:Experiment_normal_vs_high_pH.jpg

spook said:

I think I read somewhere that a higher ph will support more maillard reactions in the boil which could be one more reason for a darker color.

Here is the image showing the comparison. There is a link there to the parent page that discusses it.
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:Experiment_normal_vs_high_pH.jpg

Click to expand...

I was thinking of the same thing. If I am not mistaken, wheat causes your pH is to rise a tad. Know that I do not own a functional pH meter.

Higher-pH does support darker beer.... or perhaps mashing closer to 5.6 pH yields a darkness.

There's only one way to resolve your darkness issue.

1. Repeat the process as closely as you can, but next time around put 1 or 2 mL of lactic acid into your mash water prior to doughing-in. Lactic acid, I think, has a pH around 3.8.

2. If the beer comes out lighter then you have your answer. Also keep an eyeball on the gravity of your runnings to see if it produces a difference.

What type of sample are you using to determine the color? This is probably just stating the obvious, but beer sitting in a fermentor will be much lighter when it's poured into the glass. Sometimes I see my beer in the fermentor and think I've goobered something up and then after the first pour, SRM matched up perfectly.

nbolmer said:

What is your kettle setup?

Click to expand...

I have a 50 qt aluminum kettle that doubles as a direct fire mash tun with false bottom. I fire over a 54,000 BTU propane burner.

Spook, I test pH every mash. It is always at 5.4.

kbuzz said:

What type of sample are you using to determine the color? This is probably just stating the obvious, but beer sitting in a fermentor will be much lighter when it's poured into the glass. Sometimes I see my beer in the fermentor and think I've goobered something up and then after the first pour, SRM matched up perfectly.

Click to expand...

I use a clear plastic PET bottle to determine carbonation. It allows me to see the color throughout conditioning.

browillard said:

I have a 50 qt aluminum kettle that doubles as a direct fire mash tun with false bottom. I fire over a 54,000 BTU propane burner.

Click to expand...

Perfectly reasonable - shouldn't be carmamelization from surface contact, it's not your boil. Sample size?

Do you control the pH of your sparge water ?

shutupjojo said:

Do you control the pH of your sparge water ?

Click to expand...

No. I just use my municipal water supply. From what the guy at the water treatment plant said I should have no issues. I assume the pH is close to 7.

Any resolution to this? My beers have all beer darker than I want. Yesterday I brewed a summer lager with about 9 lbs of Pils and 1lb of honey malt. The beer had a burnt orange color in the carboy. Will the color eventually settle or am I screwed?

It most likely is not too hard of a boil that is the issue; however, it very well could be the "pre-boil" heating causing the carmelization of the wort.
With light color beers, it is important to stir constantly until a boil is reached to prevent the wort at the bottom of the kettle from superheating and carmelizing, while the upper surface remains cooler.
Constant stirring will help equalize the temperature of all the wort while it is rising to a boil. Once boiling, it will stir itself.