Pale Ale color after 10 days?

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dabull25

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This beer is a pale ale. It has spent 7 days in the primary bucket then it has been 3 days in secondary carboy(dryhopped). I was wondering about the color. It sure doesnt look like a pale ale. I was wondering if this was going to lighten up or I made a mistake somewhere along the brew process. oh, I used irish moss in the last 15 minutes of the boil.


IMAG0119 by dabull25, on Flickr
 
I wouldn't worry about the color...

First, that much liquid is going to look darker then when you have 12 oz or so in a glass

Second, when you brew with extract, the color will be darker vs all grain brewing. Just a consequence of using extract. If it tastes good, who cares how dark it is :D
 
Next time, skip racking... Just let it ride on the yeast cake for 2-4 weeks... You can dry hop in primary just fine.

How does it look in the hydrometer sample tube?
 
Golddiggie said:
Next time, skip racking... Just let it ride on the yeast cake for 2-4 weeks... You can dry hop in primary just fine.

How does it look in the hydrometer sample tube?
Click to expand...

Great minds think alike Golddiggie. This was exactly what I was going to write. :D

What was your gravity when you racked to the secondary?
 
it was 1.012. Whats the purpose of keeping it on the yeast cake? It looked lighter in the sample than it looks in the carboy btw. I was going to start an IPA since the primary bucket is now free and was gonna purchase another carboy. Can I just skip the secondary for the IPA and leave it in the primary until bottling?
 
dabull25 said:
it was 1.012. Whats the purpose of keeping it on the yeast cake? It looked lighter in the sample than it looks in the carboy btw.
Click to expand...

Well IMHO,

I never take my batches out of the primary before three weeks because you need to give those yeasties time to clean things up for you.... thats their job let em' work :)

Also, adding hops to the primary serves basically the same purpose as the secondary and easier clean up and less hassle!
 
With extract it will always be darker. I've run into this plenty of times. If you hit your FG then you can rack to secondary to clear up and condition for a week or two then bottle or keg. Just my opinion.
 
when do you add the dryhops if you leave it in the primary that long? Do you ever rack it to a secondary?
 
dabull25 said:
when do you add the dryhops if you leave it in the primary that long? Do you ever rack it to a secondary?
Click to expand...

Never before three weeks..... its my rule and the rule of many others...

You can rack to clear your beer up with cold crash, time, and/or gelatin.
 
dabull25 said:
when do you add the dryhops if you leave it in the primary that long? Do you ever rack it to a secondary?
Click to expand...

What I have done in my pale ale recipe is to ferment for 2 weeks, open the bucket and throw the hops in, and 5-7 days later keg or bottle it. 3 weeks total time in the bucket.

I quit using a secondary for non-lager beers. It's just another thing to clean and it does have that extra variable in terms of infection prevention (probably not a huge issue since I practice good sanitation, but better safe than sorry...). When lagering though, I do transfer to a carboy for long-term storage.
 
dabull25 said:
it was 1.012. Whats the purpose of keeping it on the yeast cake? It looked lighter in the sample than it looks in the carboy btw. I was going to start an IPA since the primary bucket is now free and was gonna purchase another carboy. Can I just skip the secondary for the IPA and leave it in the primary until bottling?
Click to expand...

Leaving it on the yeast for 2-4 weeks lets the yeast clean up after itself fully. Pulling it off the yeast BEFORE it's done means you probably won't get as good a brew as you would have otherwise. Unless you have ultra-tight fermentation temperature control (like 1-2 degrees F variances) you'll want the yeast to clean up after itself.

Do NOT just go off of SG readings to see when a brew is done. If you don't taste before moving it, you'll not know if it's ready to be racked/bottled/etc. I also wouldn't take a single SG reading as being the FG. I don't care what the directions/software/world says. If you can't confirm the same SG reading with at least two samples, at least a couple/few days apart, you don't know.

Most of us here are going with longer primaries, with no racking to secondary vessels (or bright tanks since no actual fermenting takes place) before bottling/kegging our home brew.

There's two camps around this method these days. Those that follow processes from 10+ years ago when ingredients weren't very good, yeast wasn't even close to what we have today, and methods for brewing were still in their infancy. Today, you can get great yeast, beyond great ingredients, and have the benefits of more mature methods for home brewing. All that combines to no need for racking just to get a brew to clear up some. In fact, leaving it ON the yeast will help it to clear faster, since you're not disturbing it by racking to another vessel.

Another benefit to NOT racking is you eliminate the added risk of contamination.

For about 90-95% of the brews being made (I will agree that no racking isn't for all brews) you can just leave it on the yeast...

Personally, I won't rack unless I need to get OFF of a flavor element that I need to stop the contribution of. Otherwise, let it ride on the yeast and enjoy even better home brew moving forward...
 
Golddiggie said:
Leaving it on the yeast for 2-4 weeks lets the yeast clean up after itself fully. Pulling it off the yeast BEFORE it's done means you probably won't get as good a brew as you would have otherwise. Unless you have ultra-tight fermentation temperature control (like 1-2 degrees F variances) you'll want the yeast to clean up after itself.

Do NOT just go off of SG readings to see when a brew is done. If you don't taste before moving it, you'll not know if it's ready to be racked/bottled/etc. I also wouldn't take a single SG reading as being the FG. I don't care what the directions/software/world says. If you can't confirm the same SG reading with at least two samples, at least a couple/few days apart, you don't know.

Most of us here are going with longer primaries, with no racking to secondary vessels (or bright tanks since no actual fermenting takes place) before bottling/kegging our home brew.

There's two camps around this method these days. Those that follow processes from 10+ years ago when ingredients weren't very good, yeast wasn't even close to what we have today, and methods for brewing were still in their infancy. Today, you can get great yeast, beyond great ingredients, and have the benefits of more mature methods for home brewing. All that combines to no need for racking just to get a brew to clear up some. In fact, leaving it ON the yeast will help it to clear faster, since you're not disturbing it by racking to another vessel.

Another benefit to NOT racking is you eliminate the added risk of contamination.

For about 90-95% of the brews being made (I will agree that no racking isn't for all brews) you can just leave it on the yeast...

Personally, I won't rack unless I need to get OFF of a flavor element that I need to stop the contribution of. Otherwise, let it ride on the yeast and enjoy even better home brew moving forward...
Click to expand...

Perfectly put!! Great post! :mug:

DaBull -- Hope all goes well for the IPA and beyond!!

Cheers!
 
MichaelsBrewing said:
Perfectly put!! Great post! :mug:

DaBull -- Hope all goes well for the IPA and beyond!!

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Glad it's well received...

I credit Revvy and Yooper (and some others) with helping me to see 'the light' in brewing... I didn't know better for my first two brews... At some point, I'll make them over again (my very first was a honey porter, I already have an all grain recipe made up, it's slated for being brewed late summer/early fall), following the better methods.

With all you do to brew, it's silly to not let the yeast do all it can to give you the absolute best drink they can...
 
Wow a lot of people have posted over the last few hours since me. Extract kits tend to have a higher SRM than AG. Should be fine though. The history behind "Pale Ales" does not refer to the colour rather to the type of malt.
 
Going to stick my two cents in. I brewed 5 kits so far and all of them unhappy about the dark color. Mine looks like coke! I am going to try on my next batch to do the late LME addition. Do a some research on that here and found that drastically changes the color.
So I am either going to add LME last 15 min boil or add it add flameout.
 
I agree with late additions. I do BIAB but I use DME for big beers because I don't have a big enough pot to hold more grain. I have definitely noticed a difference between adding the DME at the start of the boil as opposed to adding at flameout. Flameout results in expected coloring whereas early additions result in darker beers. The only thing to keep in mind is that most people feel that the hops need time in the boil with malt - so you need both early and late additions if you do extract only brewing.

Also, I have added up to 6 pounds of DME at flameout with absolutely no issues of clumping, etc. Just remember to use a wisk to dissolve it in the pot. Also, from what I've read there are no issues with the DME needing further time to sterilize.

I agree with everyone regarding the beer you've got. It will look darker from adding extract early but any affect on taste is only aesthetic.
 
Still color matters no matter the taste. You look at something and have an expectation about it. Same thing with clarify, no?

Is it liquid or dry?

My batches have all been very dark like yours and I'm using 100% pale liquid .

This last time I even dumped in 50% of the LME at flame out. 50% at boil.
 
Time to throw my 2c in the pot. I got my brew kettle going,got it to a heavy simmer (not a rolling boil) to add 1oz of Kent Golding hops for a 15min bath. Looked like a strong green tea. I then pulled it off the heat to stir in the 3lbs of Munton's plain extra light DME. Then the Cooper's OS lager can. I got it the fermenter,topped up to 23L,& got an OG of 1.044. Now,this is where the difference between how I did it & you did it comes in.
My hydrometer sample was a dark amber with a copper blush. Next day after pitching the starter,the krausen pushing against the lid was brown. Not until some 4 days later did the krausen go down to about 1/2" & change to a sort of Devenshire Cream color.
7 days in,I take another hydrometer sample to see how it's doing. SG of 1.020. Got a little ways to go yet. But the color of the sample had changed to a light golden with a blush of amber. Gosh,that's purty. It now looks,color-wise,more in line with what the malts I used should produce. That's why I'm glad I decided not to boil any of the DME.
So,it comes down to what color range the style you're after is in.
 

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