Dark Amber Pilsner. WTF?

Hi All
So, two weeks ago I brewed an extract Pilsner. The base was a Coopers kit to which i added 3 lbs of Munton's lite DME. Brought to a boil and did two hops additions at 15 and 5 minutes. Fermented around 63 or so.
Last Sunday I racked to my carboy. The color at racking was golden and there was allot of suspended matter. It took about 2 days to clarify but now the color is a dark amber. Taste is good. Any guesses as to what has gone on here?

Extracts tend to darken as you boil them. That's why you'll often see recipes calling for a late extract addition.

It will also look darker in the carboy than it will in the glass. It'll be fine.

bikegeek said:

Extracts tend to darken as you boil them. That's why you'll often see recipes calling for a late extract addition.

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Understood. My total boil was 15 minutes so color change should have been minimal.

kinnasst said:

It will also look darker in the carboy than it will in the glass. It'll be fine.

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Going to kinda of hard to call it a Pilsner if it is an amber color eh?

I guess amber pilsener does have an oxymoronic tone to it. The important thing is that it tastes good, right?

It may still be darker than you want, but it won't be as dark as it looks in the carboy. The larger distance for the light to pass through in the carboy (compared to a glass) results in more light being filtered out, so it looks darker. That is something I seem to forget every time I brew a light colored beer.

No problem here. It happens to all brews.

I think the light reflecting off of the yeast in suspension makes it apprear lighter in color.

As the beer clears (yeast falls out) it apprears darker in the carboy. When you rack it for bottling/kegging you will see that it really is light.

It's actually a good visual that you want to see.

Yes, it looks darker in the carboy once the yeast starts to flocculate and the beer starts to clear. It still might be darker than you desire (extracts, particulary liquid extracts like Coopers tend to be darker than AG) but not as dark as it looks now.

I bet if you get a sanitized turkey baster or a wine thief and put a sample in a glass, it'll look much lighter in your glass.

This is why I love this place!

CEMaine said:

Understood. My total boil was 15 minutes so color change should have been minimal.

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Aaaah, I misunderstood.

I pulled off a sample last night and it looks much better in the glass. Still a bit dark for a pilsner but lighter by far.

Thanks everyone.