LME Adding Color?

Hey guys, first post! I've been lurking here for a while and finally registered.

Last night was my first step into brewing without a kit and I'm a little concerned with the outcome so far. Mainly in the color department.

I was attempting to brew a British style Best/Premium Bitter ale. I was shooting for about 35 IBUs, and a Yellow to Gold color. www.hopville.com was used to help organize my recipe and from what I inputted, it seemed like it would come out like I had wanted.

It didn't.

Here's the list of fermentables to give you an idea of what went in it (all bought from Midwest):

6lbs Pilsen/Light LME
1 lb Caramel 20L
1 lb Golden Naked Oats

During the steep everything looked GREAT! The color was exactly how I wanted it and thinking that LME didn't add much color, I was happy. I even called the wife over to brag at the awesome Yellow->Gold I had created. Then I added the LME and all went to crap!

My lovely Gold went to a darker Copper color.

Did I do something wrong or were my expectations on how much color LME adds off? Can I expect my beer to lighten with time/fermentation?

Here's the overview of what I brewed just to give y'all an idea of what I did.

Fermentables:
6lbs Pilsen/Light LME
1 lb Caramel 20L
1 lb Golden Naked Oats

Hops:
1 oz Palasades
1 oz US Goldings

Yeast:
Wyeast Whitbread

Other:
1 tsp Irish Moss

The grains were fermented for 30 min at 155*. The kettle was brought to a boil, taken off the heat, and the LME added and mixed (maybe I scorched it?). Brought back to a boil, added the 1 oz Palasades. 45 min in, added Irish moss. 55 min in, added the Goldings. Cooled, pitched, stored.

Thanks for helping!

You may get a darker color than you wanted because you added your LME at the beginning of the boil, but I doubt it will be that far off once its all said and done. It will almost always look darker in the kettle and in the carboy than it will in the glass, so I wouldn't worry about it until it's all said and done and you can get a real look at the color. Congrats on the first home recipe brew!

I really should have checked the wiki before asking. Sorry guys!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/LME

Many beers brewed with LME end up darker than anticipated. Using a Late Extract Addition can alleviate some of the problem. A Late Extract Addition adds some of the LME at the beginning of the boil, with the hops, and the bulk of the extract is added with 15 minutes left in the boil, long enough to sanitize the LME.

Click to expand...

I agree with TTB-J, the color is very decieving when you look at it in the pot and the fermentor. I just brewed a Blonde Ale that looked a bit darker than expected in the fermentor ( Full boil, one hour all LME at the beginning ) and since it has been fermenting for a week now, it has lightened noticably as is becomes clearer. I think you will be pleasantly suprised with the outcome.

Daedalus said:

I really should have checked the wiki before asking. Sorry guys!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/LME

Click to expand...

Yup, I can speak from experience that doing a late addition will help with the darkening from LME. It will also throw off your bittering hop utilization though, so take that into account for your recipe.

LME will also get darker as it ages, so that might be something to think about. It sounds like you got it from Midwest so I'm sure their LME is pretty fresh, but if you happened to buy it and not brew it for a month, that might be part of it. You can also switch to DME for your lighter beers and not get nearly as much darkening.

Either way, it will wind up tasting the same and looking a lot paler in a glass than in the fermenter. Grab a nice tall, skinny pilsner glass and I'll bet it looks perfect!