Dunkelweizen / DME Dark help

[freecoldbeer]

Hey all. Been reading the boards taking all kinds of advice here for about 2 years now but finally caved and registered to ask a question I haven't been able to find.

So... I'm prepping for a Hefeweizen/Weihenstephan type weissbier when I remembered I have an "accidentally purchased" bag of dark DME floating around on my brew shelf. The actual recipe is 6lbs bavarian wheat (60/40). I don't think I've made anything out of the dark dme yet and don't want to end up with a stout colored beer. I'd also like to keep the wheat fairly high. I'm thinking about swapping out 2 lbs of the wheat mix for 2 lbs dark. This will swing from 60/40 wheat/barley to 40/60.

How much color does the dark DME impact on the final product? I DO want it a little dunkel, I'd like to avoid a schwarzweiss.

Option two would be leave in all 6 lbs of wheat mix and simply ADD about 1 lb of the dark which will bump me up to 50/50. I'm ballparking the original recipe to be about 4.5% adding 1lb bumps it to 5.5, 2lb to 6.25. I don't want to go much higher than this as SWMBO doesn't really care for really big beers...

So the biggest question is how much dark DME can I get away with before I get too dark a beer?

If I'd like to keep it a solid Dunkel, does anyone else have any suggestions? I can go out and buy more grains if necessary.

Thanks!

 

[WoodlandBrew]

If you add the DME late in the boil you'll be able to save a couple of SRM points, but it sounds like you are shooting for about 25 SRM. In five gallons each pound of dark DME adds about 10 SRM points. If the rest of the grains are light then you could add up to two pounds and still be under 25 SRM.

Plug it into a recipe calculator like this one:
http://tastybrew.com/calculators/recipe.html

 

[freecoldbeer]

Thanks Woodland! That's exactly what I was looking for. Normally I add the DME fairly late in the boil anyway (on my lighter beers) to keep them lighter but I didn't know how many points dark dme added. I guess I've never hit up a color calculator because until now I never really cared what it LOOKED like.

What about flavor? Will the dark impart any roasted flavors?

 

[WoodlandBrew]

You're welcome. The flavor will depend on the brand, but I remember more caramel than roasty flavors.