Developing colors?

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BlackBearForge

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I will be working on an extract with steeping grains American style IPA recipe soon. I like IPAs with a lot of amber color rather than paler versions, should I target a deeper color only with specialty grains (i.e. one pound of crystal 60 rather than a half pound)? Add a bit of a deeper colored crystal? If I wanted to use Munich LME as part of the recipe would that deepen the color also?
 
What SRM are you targeting? I am fermenting an IPA that I made with 6.25 lb pale LME and .75lb Crystal 60 and its looking like 10-11 SRM in the secondary fermenter, although I'll have to wait for it to clear up before I can get a more accurate color.
 
I was probably thinking of something a little closer to 13-14. From your experience it sounds like a full pound of 60 might just do it.
 
You could also take a good clone of a beer in the same style and color and convert the grain bill. There is a good paper by Ken Schwartz on converting all-grain recipes to extract or partial mash here http://home.roadrunner.com/~brewbeer/extract/pres.pdf . Whatever you do though, do not over-steep to get more color as it will extract tannins that attribute to off flavors. Also, a little crystal goes a long way, so know what you like in terms of sweetness and body before adding lots of crystal (don't quote this sentence out of context hehe).
 
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