My all-grain batches seem red?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

BigJoeBrews

Active Member
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
35
Reaction score
0
Location
Elgin
I just started to brew all-grain. I Have a 10 gallon mash tun (igloo) with a stainless braid and all stainless fittings. I use all food grade silicone hoses and stainless cam lock fittings. I also have a march pump for sparging. The only non stainless part (as part of the new all grain equipment) is an 18" piece of copper tubing that I use as my sparge arm, and this works very similar to the blichman auto sparge it just sits above the water and pushes the sparge water in a whirlpool fashion above the grain bed. I mashin very close to 152 and usually finish 150 or higher, the sparge with 170-177 degree water. I try to keep my flow to 10 mins/gallon, open top and about 2-3 inches water over grain bed.........

My question is, my AG batches are coming out a little reddish? I'd almost call it rose color. It didn't bother me in my IPAs and others, but now with my wit-its very apparent! I've searched around and the only thing I saw was some speak of caramelization of extracts... can this somehow happen if you don't use extract? I haven't had any problems like this before, and my boil kettle/process hasn't changed? Any ideas?
 
Just a red "tinge" to it. I will post a pic after I crack one tonight! You can't really see it in the other beers ( I've done a stout and 2 IPAs) as much, but when I open the wit I could tell, then I noticed it in the ipas as well...
 
What are the ingredients of the wit?

Maillard reactions are the main source of unexpected colors in beers. But this is usually a darker than expected color rather than an increase in red hue.

You had no red hue before your new mash tun?

Did you change anything else at the same time?
 
5.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 50.0 %
3.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 30.0 %
1.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
1.00 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
0.50 oz Cascade [6.90%] (45 min) Hops 10.0 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [6.90%] (10 min) Hops 3.9 IBU
0.18 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
0.18 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
0.35 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) Yeast-Wheat

This is the AHS blue moon clone, not that it should matter but it all came together, pre-milled. I wasn't sure about crushing the coriander seeds, so I left them whole. Although, next time I think i will crush them. Used white labs yeast. color seemed light heading into boil, but had a nice color going into fermenter. I didn't really notice the red then, but it may have been in there? My starting gravity was a little higher than AHS estimated, mine was 1.057 (instructions said 1.053) 3 weeks in a primary, straight to bottle. First time for me not using a secondary, but I don't think you should use a secondary on a wit right? My final was 1.009 (i think, my writing got smudged)
 
I'm not a wit expert (never brewed one) but the ingredients themselves shouldn't cause a red hue. NOT crushing the coriander, if anything would lend less color so I don't think that is the issue either.

Have you showed anyone else the issue and do they agree?

Have you held a glass against white paper in natural light? i.e. are you sure it is really a red hue of the beer and not just artifactual?
 
Yes, I had my beer judging friend sample my AG batches. That was his first comment! But other than that the flavor was in line of the style, he thought it was very good, but the reddish tinge kept his attention. I will try and post a picture soon...
 
Back
Top