Malt Extracts Color Effect Taste?

[BaldManBrew]

I've got to a point in my extract beer making that I'm happy with the beer taste that is being produced, but the last hurdle I can't seem to beat is color. They all come out a very dark brown. I'm not going AG yet, I know this would fix the problem, but here is my question:

Does malt extract color drastically effect taste?

 

[Revvy]

Extract beers are inherently more darker than ag beers, it's in the nature of the boiling of the extract by the maltser, that's why tricks like late extract additions and full boils are recommended. But the color doesn't usually affect the flavor of the beer. I used to do an extract clone of Bell's Amber ale that tasted dead on like the original beer but was about 10 srm points darker. It was only 2 grains, Dme and a crystal malt for color/flavor, and no matter what I did in terms of using a lighter extract or less of a crystal malt (or less of the malt itself) could get me the color I wanted.

 

[Pappers_]

Yes, the different ingredients in extracts affect both color and flavor. Here is some advice for extract brewers, to give you more control over both color and flavor:

1. use the lightest extract available - this will approximate using a basic barley malt mash, without adding additional grains/colors/flavors
2. add color and flavor through use of specialty steeping grains, like crystal malts, carapils, roasted barley, etc.
3. use the "late extract addition" method (as Revvy suggests) to limit the carmelization of the wort and help in producing lighter color beers

If you do a search for late extract addition you'll find lots of threads here on hbt about it.