How do I make a golden ale?

I have an amber ale in bottles, and I just bottled an Oktoberfest style ale. Both are pretty much the same amber color. I bought a kit to make a kolsch and the fellow at the store said it would make a more yellow or golden beer. I brewed it up today and the wort was the same color as my first two amber brews.

What kind of grain and extract do I need to make a golden or yellow beer?

I just had two lagers come out very light. They only called for XL DME and very light colored specialty grains. I have a kolsch going now and it is much darker in the secondary. That used wheat DME which gave it the color.

mmditter said:

What kind of grain and extract do I need to make a golden or yellow beer?

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If you're using LME it's going to be hard to get much lighter. You can get lighter beers using DME, and can get lighter still by adding most of the extract late in the boil.

If the color you want is very very light.... then I would suggest going for a "lite" style beer, usine Rice Syrup Solids instead of Malt Extract....

I made a batch for my wife, I prefer the dark stuff but, she likes the light stuff.

When they make malt extract, the cooking down of the starter that crates the extract causes the darker color, SO it is hard to get a really Light colored beer using it...

I used light DME for my IPA, and the beer is pretty damn light in color. Probably the lightest I have ever made. Obviously, much darker than the typical american lager, but much lighter than most pale ales.

To give an approximation, it's close in color to a standard yellow pencil.

It would have been lighter if I had gotten the right ingredients (I had to use 20L crystal instead of 10L because the LHBS was out of 10L).

-walker

Buddhabuddha, how did your American Lite turn out? Is it better than a commercial variety? My wife loves Miller Lite. It would be nice to make something she might like one of these times.

2nd Street Brewery said:

I just had two lagers come out very light. They only called for XL DME and very light colored specialty grains. I have a kolsch going now and it is much darker in the secondary. That used wheat DME which gave it the color.

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Mine is pretty dark as well, but that's because I used not just wheat, but some Caramel 10 in there as well for a little extra flavor. I took a look at one of Corona bottles I used, and it's clearing up and getting a nice brown. Don't worry, I have a tarp over them to protect from light damage.

2nd, I can't wait to Kolsch-swap.

If you are brewing from extract, remove your brewpot from the heat when adding your malt. Dissolve the malt and then return the pot to the heat for the boil. Sometimes, your malt will darken upond hitting the bottom of the hot brewpot. This should help in keeping your beer color lighter.

mmditter said:

Buddhabuddha, how did your American Lite turn out? Is it better than a commercial variety? My wife loves Miller Lite. It would be nice to make something she might like one of these times.

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Break out the corn! Personally, I can't stand any beer with corn in it. I can barely tolerate a rice brew. Give me barley, wheat malted or not, and maybe some oats. Leave the other grains out of it. Sure, I'll prime with corn sugar but that's it not as a flavoring ingredient.

Sorry for the rant. Are you an all grain brewer? You're going to need to mash that corn with some enzmatic malt.

ScottT said:

Break out the corn! Personally, I can't stand any beer with corn in it. I can barely tolerate a rice brew. Give me barley, wheat malted or not, and maybe some oats. Leave the other grains out of it. Sure, I'll prime with corn sugar but that's it not as a flavoring ingredient.

Sorry for the rant. Are you an all grain brewer? You're going to need to mash that corn with some enzmatic malt.

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I'm doing extracts with partial mash. All of the extracts I've seen, even though they may be labeled "light" are pretty dark in color. I don't know if I want to do rice or corn either. I like amber colored beers. A lot of people seem to expect it to be yellow, though.

mmditter said:

I'm doing extracts with partial mash. All of the extracts I've seen, even though they may be labeled "light" are pretty dark in color. I don't know if I want to do rice or corn either. I like amber colored beers. A lot of people seem to expect it to be yellow, though.

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A lot of folks don't know good beer!

There are some german brewers that would disagree.

I honestly don't enjoy many lagers, but those that I have had in Deutschland were simply excellent (and often yellow.)

-walker

Walker said:

There are some german brewers that would disagree.

I honestly don't enjoy many lagers, but those that I have had in Deutschland were simply excellent (and often yellow.)

-walker

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I guess that's what I would love to be able to do. Lots of German lagers look just like American beers but have way more flavor.

I would have to agree, most American made lagers are lacking in the flavor department.

Does adding irish moss to your wort affect the color at all, or clearity? This is something I want to try but haven't yet. If so, how much should one add and when in the boiling process.

Thanks

Vista04 said:

Does adding irish moss to your wort affect the color at all, or clearity? This is something I want to try but haven't yet. If so, how much should one add and when in the boiling process.

Thanks

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The only thing that irish moss does is to help coagulate the protiens in your wort when you boil. It helps them settle out in your cold break and be left behind when you transfer to your primary.

If you just pour your wort over to your primary, I really don't know if it helps much.

It's funny that someone should ask about Irish moss. I usually use it, but when I made my Kolsch I forgot to put it in. It's been fermenting for a week now, and it does look a bit cloudier than my other recent batches. I don't know if that's the cause of it, though.