Beer Very Dark

[jua164]

I brewed my first batch of beer from a kit.
It is a Coopers Bitter. I have kegged it and force carbinated it. It tastes realy good but the problem is that its very dark in color. Its about the same color as guiness. Why isn't it the proper color of a bitter. What do you tnihk I did wrong.
Any ideas

 

[Brewpastor]

What was in the kit? It should be copper, or amber or reddish, but not black. I don't imagine you did anything wrong, but that does not mean the kit was well designed!

Try, try again.

 

[Yooper]

Sometimes that happens with extract- especially liquid malt extract (LME). There are a couple of things you can do for next time. First, use the lightest malt extract available. I've been happy with extra light dry malt extract. You can get some color from steeping grains, so I always bought the lightest I could find. Also, dry extract tends to be lighter than liquid, because the liquid is darker to start with. Last, you can try a technique called late extract addition. What you do is put the majority of the extract in your boil with just 15 minutes left. Sometimes you need to adjust the hopping, so we'll be glad to help you with that if needed. This keeps the extract from carmelizing as much and results in a lighter colored beer.

 

[BigKahuna]

What grain was in your kit? Maybe they accidentally added something that shouldn't have been.
Did you scorch the malt during your boil?
First Batch and you're already kegging? Sweet!...and I thought My SWMBO was a patient woman.

 

[jua164]

Eveything was all in one can. I just boiled the water added the sugar. Then when the sugar was disolved added the contents of the can. Then the yeast was added once it was between 70 & 80 degrees. I have another batch on the go and that is very dark as well

 

[Yooper]

Was the stuff in the can dark?

 

[jua164]

Yes it was. So is the new one

 

[Yooper]

Well, that is why the beer is so dark, I guess. Maybe try a different brand of kit, and see if you like that better.

I recommend buying a better grade of kit, one with some steeping grains and dry malt extract and one that doesn't use added sugar. The beer will generally come out better.

Where are you located? I've found Brewer's Best kits all over the US, and those seem to be good kits with the canned LME.

 

[Donasay]

If you added the malt extract (stuff in the can) when the pot was still on the flame instead of turning the burner off you could have carmelized or burnt the malt when it hit the bottom of the pot. Also the more volume you boil, i.e. 5 full gallons vs 3 gallons as most directions say, the less the malt carmelizes when you boil the beer.

 

[Yooper]

If you added the malt extract (stuff in the can) when the pot was still on the flame instead of turning the burner off you could have carmelized or burnt the malt when it hit the bottom of the pot. Also the more volume you boil, i.e. 5 full gallons vs 3 gallons as most directions say, the less the malt carmelizes when you boil the beer.

Yes, that is definitely true. But I got the impression these were the "no boil" kits.

 

[Donasay]

I have never done a coopers kit, but I was under the impression they needed to be boiled for 15 minutes to pasteurize everything. I looked up the coopers bitter kit and apparently the thing is supposed to be about 15 SRM, so it may be the way it is supposed to be.

 

[jua164]

It told me to boil 2 quarts then add the sugar and the kit. Once the sugar had disolved to then add it all to cold water to make 5 gallons