Beer color charts appear so vague and confusing

[BrewingWisdom]

Hi,
I have a question about the use of the term Lovibond. The scale developed by Joseph Lovibond way back when only goes up to 40. 40 Lovibond is black. How can anything be over 40 Lovibond? How can a grain be 200 Lovibond? That’s like saying something is 150 or 311 on a scale of 1-10. It does not make sense. How much darkness our eyes can perceive, or how much color a grain gives to my wort is beside the point. The point is that the Lovibond scale only goes up to 40, but is referenced with much higher numbers. Is there a different scale? Or has the Lovibond scale been rewritten? If so, I haven’t been able to find reference to that. Can you explain that for me, please?
As a home maltster which of the below chart I should follow?

Thanks!

 

[mac_1103]

The scale is for liquids, so when anything dry is rated there has to be a standard dilution factor, right? I would assume that something rated at 400 would still give a black solution if dissolved in 10x the standard volume.

 

[Brewsmith]

You are looking at two different scales. One for beer and one for grain. The scale from 0-40 or so is beer. The one from 0 to over 500 is for grain. Here’s an article I found explaining how the two are related.

Understanding SRM Beer Colors

 

[hotbeer]

When you look at your beer it's also going to visually look different depending on if it's clean with very little yeast, trub and anything else in suspension.

If you use the calculator to come up with a recipe that is supposed to be a particular color for it's style, you'll probably be close enough. If not you can adjust the next batch or try to figure out what you might do better next time.

So to keep the hypothetical situations from troubling you... go brew a batch and see first hand.

 

[BrewingWisdom]

You are looking at two different scales. One for beer and one for grain. The scale from 0-40 or so is beer. The one from 0 to over 500 is for grain. Here’s an article I found explaining how the two are related.

Understanding SRM Beer Colors

Well still the question is very valid because if you look at the below SRM chart the stout starts at 29 SRM and the imperial stout starts from 40 SRM. To a human eye 29 and 40 SRM is just the same.

 

[mattd2]

To a human eye 29 and 40 SRM is just the same.

They are measuring the actual light absorbtion using instruments in a lab to determine the SRM

From the link "SRM is calculated in laboratories using specialized equipment by passing light through a small sample of beer and recording the drop in intensity due to absorption."

But practically you are correct for drinking beer anything over a certain SRM/°L is going to be "black"

 

[DBhomebrew]

Is it a contribution thing? For example, 1# of this grain in 1 gallon of wort is 3 SRM. 2# brings it to 6 SRM. 1# of another grain in 1 gallon is 400 SRM. But we don't use that much, only maybe 2oz. The wort's color would be 50 SRM.

 

[BrewingWisdom]

They are measuring the actual light absorbtion using instruments in a lab to determine the SRM

From the link "SRM is calculated in laboratories using specialized equipment by passing light through a small sample of beer and recording the drop in intensity due to absorption."

But practically you are correct for drinking beer anything over a certain SRM/°L is going to be "black"

All that sophisticated equipment and methods are for commercial breweries and that matters to them. To a home brewer nothing is logical to try to go beyond a certain SRM. A 2% wastage or difference maybe means hundreds or thousands of dollars on a commercial level but for a home brewer that doesn't matter.

 

[Brewsmith]

Is it a contribution thing? For example, 1# of this grain in 1 gallon of wort is 3 SRM. 2# brings it to 6 SRM. 1# of another grain in 1 gallon is 400 SRM. But we don't use that much, only maybe 2oz. The wort's color would be 50 SRM.

Basically. In the link I posted, it explains how to calculate the estimated beer color from the grain bill. The short answer is yes. A 100% mash of 2L base malt should give you a 2L beer. If you made a beer with 100% black patent, the color would also be somewhere around 500L and would be liquid charcoal

 

[BrewingWisdom]

Basically. In the link I posted, it explains how to calculate the estimated beer color from the grain bill. The short answer is yes. A 100% mash of 2L base malt should give you a 2L beer. If you made a beer with 100% black patent, the color would also be somewhere around 500L and would be liquid charcoal

Kind of like a linear relationship.

 

[bwible]

Not only that - brew 2 different recipes with the same srm and see if they come out the same color. They are often not. A good example of this is Irish Red ale recipes. You can hit 18 srm using different ingredients but each different recipe will be a different color 18 srm. One might actually be red and one might not be.

 

[BrewingWisdom]

Not only that - brew 2 different recipes with the same srm and see if they come out the same color. They are often not. A good example of this is Irish Red ale recipes. You can hit 18 srm using different ingredients but each different recipe will be a different color 18 srm. One might actually be red and one might not be.

It's because the malt is not the only ingredient that impacts colour. Type of yeast, boil time, filtering etc all impact it.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

each different recipe will be a different color 18 srm. One might actually be red and one might not be.

And there's some background information here: Defining wort colors: red malts vs. black malts - Brewing With Briess

 

[camonick]

Well still the question is very valid because if you look at the below SRM chart the stout starts at 29 SRM and the imperial stout starts from 40 SRM. To a human eye 29 and 40 SRM is just the same.

You’re right, it’s very difficult to differentiate the difference with the human eye.
As a beginner, I wouldn’t get too hung up on SRM. If you’re brewing for competition or to really “nail” a clone recipe it might be more important. There are a lot more things that are more important than trying to chase color. The way we perceive the color of beer is also very subjective. Light intensity, type of lighting, the vessel the beer is in, etc. all change the way we see it. You can have the exact same beer in 2 different kinds of glasses and it might look like different colors.