Wheat Beer Color??

[jdumpert]

Hi all,

I just brewed up a batch of American Wheat beer today:

60min 10lb Wheat LME (morebeer.com)
60min .75oz Willamette (4.6%)
30min .5oz Willamette (4.6%)
0min .3oz Sterling (6%)

6 gallon boil, Safale US-05 yeast.

The recipe was based off of the American Wheat from 'Brewing Classic Styles', but I added 1 more pound of LME than what the recipe called for (I had to purchase 2-5lb bags, so I figured I might as well use it all!!)

My question is about the color of the LME and the resulting wort. It was much darker than I expected. I think morebeer.com lists it at 2-6 SRM, but it is much darker than this, maybe around 15. I'm not too worried about it, but was wondering why the LME was so dark? Anyone else have any experience with this?

Thanks

Jason

 

[antheus]

Extract brews tend to be dark, particularly when using LME. In the future you can do a late extract addition which should lighten the color a bit, but really there's no way to get an exact color from an extract brew.

 

[Dougan]

Extract brews tend to be dark, particularly when using LME. In the future you can do a late extract addition which should lighten the color a bit, but really there's no way to get an exact color from an extract brew.

X2, Wheat LME is stereotypically darker than you would expect. I just brewed a beer with wheat LME and it was dark as well.

I think the general consensus is that this is just a color issue, not a flavor issue.

 

[HOOTER]

I added 1 more pound of LME than what the recipe called for (I had to purchase 2-5lb bags, so I figured I might as well use it all!!)

Bags? Was it dry or liquid extract? I've just never seen LME come in bags. I figured 10 lbs. of liquid extract was a bit much for a wheat beer, but 10 lbs. of dry extract would make what I guess you would call an imperial wheat.

 

[HuffDaddy]

"I've just never seen LME come in bags."

LME definitely comes in bags.

 

[double_e5]

I've never seen it in bags either. Why the hell would they put it in bags?

 

[Clonefarmer]

My LHBS does this, no idea why.

 

[HOOTER]

I've never seen it in bags either. Why the hell would they put it in bags?

That's what I'm saying. Someone post a link to a supplier that sells liquid extract in bags because I need to see this to believe it.

 

[Clonefarmer]

Northampton Beer and Winemaking

 

[HOOTER]

Northampton Beer and Winemaking

Wow! You weren't joking. That seems like it would be a real pain in the @ss to me.

 

[Clonefarmer]

Wow! You weren't joking. That seems like it would be a real pain in the @ss to me.

I brewed a Wee Heavy from there it came with a 9 lb bag of LME :cross:.

 

[double_e5]

I brewed a Wee Heavy from there it came with a 9 lb bag of LME :cross:.

I would be one pissed off SOB if that mother blew out. I would probably burn the place down.

 

[HOOTER]

I'll stick with the 3 lb. bags of DME.

 

[lowlife]

Liquid Malt Extract | MoreBeer

Others do it as well...

 

[HellenicHomeBrewer]

I just finished up a batch of Belgian Witbier and have the same issue. If the flavor comes out as anticipated I'll chalk it up as a learning experience, otherwise I'll be pissed!! I guess that's why I'm looking into attempting an all-grain sooner than later.

 

[JesseRC]

Morebeer.com sent me LME for a extract stout in a back. It was heavy duty though.

 

[jdumpert]

Extract brews tend to be dark, particularly when using LME. In the future you can do a late extract addition which should lighten the color a bit, but really there's no way to get an exact color from an extract brew.

X2, Wheat LME is stereotypically darker than you would expect. I just brewed a beer with wheat LME and it was dark as well.

I think the general consensus is that this is just a color issue, not a flavor issue.

I just finished up a batch of Belgian Witbier and have the same issue. If the flavor comes out as anticipated I'll chalk it up as a learning experience, otherwise I'll be pissed!! I guess that's why I'm looking into attempting an all-grain sooner than later.

Thanks to all for the feedback. The beer is fermenting nicely now, hopefully it turns out good .

Jason

 

[HellenicHomeBrewer]

Sure thing! That's why we are here! I didn't know about this dark extract thing until AFTER the fact and I qasbquite shocked obviously, but hey that's the beauty of homebrewing!!

 

[Munsoned]

I did 7lbs of wheat DME in my last batch (same BCS recipe you used, basically). I also thought mine turned out dark when I pitched the yeast, but after it was in the primary for about 2-3 days it really lightened up. No idea why, or if my eyes were just playing with me...

 

[Munsoned]

Oh, BTW, check out my signature line. You might want to hook up a blow off tube if you haven't already.

 

[Beerzoid]

I've never seen it in bags either. Why the hell would they put it in bags?

MoreBeer does:

I've also had several online shops send LME that way. But my LHBS's sell it in plastic containers.

 

[slinn]

Morebeer.com

 

[agroff383]

Bags? Was it dry or liquid extract? I've just never seen LME come in bags. I figured 10 lbs. of liquid extract was a bit much for a wheat beer, but 10 lbs. of dry extract would make what I guess you would call an imperial wheat.

I just got my second kit from homebrewers.com and both of the kits had double-layer heavy duty plastic bags as a container. Seems pretty durable other than the fact that light gets in, I don't know if that would be detrimental or not.

 

[HOOTER]

I guess this bag thing is more common than I originally thought. I just see a few issues with liquid extract in bags. First, you can't refill them. My LHBS sells liquid extract in 7 lb. plastic jugs, which they will refill at a discounted price. Also, I usually pour a little hot water in my LME containers and swish it around to get all of the malt goodness out. You probably couldn't do this with a bag, thus losing an ounce or two of extract stuck to the sides of the bag. It also seems like it would be a bit awkward to handle when it comes time to pour into the brewpot. I could be wrong I suppose.

 

[pizzaman]

I've gotten LME in bags in the past and liked them. Functionally no different than any jug or container. I soak them in hot sanitizer solution to help liquify the extract and sanitize the bag so that when I dump it into the pot I can dip the bag in there to rinse out any remaining extract. The bags are cheaper for the lhbs to purchase then jugs are and therefore they can sell the extract cheaper.

 

[HuffDaddy]

"I soak them in hot sanitizer solution to help liquify the extract and sanitize the bag so that when I dump it into the pot I can dip the bag in there to rinse out any remaining extract."

If you are boiling the wort already, why would you need to sanitize the bags?

 

[CowboyShootist]

Wow! You weren't joking. That seems like it would be a real pain in the @ss to me.

Seems like it would be easier than cans. First you can dunk the entire bag into boiling water to sterilize. Second, you can use a pair of scissors to open the bag. My darn electric can opener is too short for tall LME cans.

Bags sound good to me.

 

[CowboyShootist]

SNIP

Also, I usually pour a little hot water in my LME containers and swish it around to get all of the malt goodness out. You probably couldn't do this with a bag, thus losing an ounce or two of extract stuck to the sides of the bag.

You should be able to squeeze the sides and get most of the malt out. You could even use one of those tools they have for squeezing toothpaste out of a tube.

The reusable plastic jugs actually sounds like a good idea. I guess a lot of us newbs are just used to buying cans or ziplocs of DME.

 

[HOOTER]

Seems like it would be easier than cans. First you can dunk the entire bag into boiling water to sterilize. Second, you can use a pair of scissors to open the bag. My darn electric can opener is too short for tall LME cans.

Bags sound good to me.

Sterilize? This makes no sense to me. Why are you sterilizing the bag? Your boiling the extract. No need to sterilize the container it comes in.

Also, I buy extract in plastic bottles with screw tops. I avoid the metal cans due to the twang that is often associated with them. I'm still not sold on this bag idea, but for each his own.

 

[double_e5]

I'm not to keen on it either, but the Morebeer bag looks pretty heavy duty.

 

[Dionysos911]

Sterilize? This makes no sense to me. Why are you sterilizing the bag? Your boiling the extract. No need to sterilize the container it comes in.

Also, I buy extract in plastic bottles with screw tops. I avoid the metal cans due to the twang that is often associated with them. I'm still not sold on this bag idea, but for each his own.

I soak the bag in hot liquid just to make easier to pour and mix.

 

[absolutbmc]

My LHBS also puts their extract in a bag. They basically have huge barrels of extract and fill heavy duty bags to your specification.

I recently made a Wheat beer and while it was fermenting, I would sample it from time to time. And for the longest time the beer was a beige color... I was really freaked out. It smelled and tasted fine, but looked horrible. After primary I racked to secondary (I added watermelon) and it cleared up and became a great golden color

 

[headfullahops]

Try doing 4lb wheat DME and 2lb pilsen DME. That'll help lighten it up. Wheat DME is fairly dark. BeerTools Pro says 8˚L for wheat DME.