Beer too dark!

I've made a lager from a heineken recipe (came out decent for a first try) and a Kolsch from NB... Both have been way darker than I thought they'd be. Does anyone have any ideas about how these beers can be made lighter? I am down to 2 possibilities:

1) I over cooked the grains in the cheesecloth when I had them in for the heineken. Though, I didnt use grains for the NB Kolsch
2) I put in the syrup way too early and it over-carmelized.

Anyone had luck getting their beers lighter from similar kits/recipes?

From what I've read, extract recipes are naturally more dark than AG ones; especially if the extract is boiled the entire 60 min. Many suggest starting with a small amount of your extract at the beginning of the boil & not adding the rest until towards the end.

What temp. did you use on the grains?

When I use LME instead of DME, I feel like I get darker beer. Dunno if that helps...

Kindly do a search on late addition, it has been covered about 12 million times

Simply put: steer away from LME if you are concerned about the color of your brew. It's OK for dark beers though.

Search for Late Additions. Like it was stated earlier...covered a million times.

Without more info, there is the possibility the LME was burnt. I believe LME must be added without flame on the pot & the wort stirred adequately to dissolve the LME before restarting the burner. Also periodic stirring to keep it off the bottom.

Lme's tend to be darker than other beers...Rather than put all your extract in for the full 60 minutes, use a little bit with your hops for the full 60 then add the remainder in the last 15 minutes of your boil..(That's what's meant by late extract or extract late additions..works form both liquid and dry malt extracts.

It should then be lighter...also make sure to take your kettle off the flame when you add any lme, it will help prevent scorching.

Hell, for light beers I add about half with 15 min left on the boil and the rest with 5 min left. I get beers as light colored as the american piss.

Besides, can you really have a beer that is to dark

Hey thanks for all the help! I'll check out late addition and its totally possible I burned the extract...! Not sure what temperature I did the grains at but I bet it was too high

You didn't boil the grains did you?

The water wasnt at full boil but it was close... I felt that when i took the grains out it was already too dark. But check it out - the kolsch had no grains, and its dark too.

I did a PM the other day and I'm 100% set that my next brew will be AG, come hell or high water! I had a fantastic looking Belgian white after finishing with the grains. But then I had to add 5 lbs of liquid wheat extract.... ugh. Went from lovely pale white to dirt brown in a sec.

I'm done with extract and PM. It's all AG all the time from now on!


Oh pjczech, the reason people are asking what temp you were seeping your grains at is because there should be a specified temp on the recipe you're using. Too hot or too cold are bad things. You've got a small window that you need to be playing in.

I'm doing my first PM this week once my Bayou comes in and will be adding my DME with 15 mintues left. I'm doing a Cream Ale so hopfeully it stays pretty light. Although my first extract Ale with LME added at beginning turned out a decently light color for an Ale.

What matters with the color, does "Color" have a taste?