beers are reddish-brown

[briguy13]

I just finished brewing a wiezenbier and it turned out reddish brown colored. The description of the beer says that it should be deep gold.

I just put my American cream ale into second fermentation and it's the same color ...reddish brown, now, that description of the beer is straw colored! What's going on? Will it lighten up?

 

[woozy]

Extract?

Read up on late additions.

In short, extracts can suffer the Maillard reactions, that is a darkening in color, as they cook. This is the same reaction as browning a steak (or so I've been told) and also the sugars can caramelize to some effect. To avoid this you can add only a small proportion of your extract (1/4 to 1/3; or some folks add just the DME but not the LME) at the beginning of the boil and the rest at flameout after the boil. Other than color it's mostly harmless.

 

[Beernik]

Beers always look darker in the carboy than they do in the bottle because you are looking through more beer. Beers always look darker before yeast settles out because the yeast reflect light back out. And finally, lighter colored beers are more difficult to make with extracts.

 

[mooshimanx]

Beers always look darker in the carboy than they do in the bottle because you are looking through more beer. Beers always look darker before yeast settles out because the yeast reflect light back out. And finally, lighter colored beers are more difficult to make with extracts.

This right here. Even the lightest beer in the world is going to look deep amber in a carboy. If you want to know what the beer's actual color is, refer to the color of the hydrometer sample.

 

[briguy13]

The color of the hydrometer sample is reddish brown too. I doubt that it will turn straw color. Wierd

 

[grem135]

Beers always look darker in the carboy than they do in the bottle because you are looking through more beer. Beers always look darker before yeast settles out because the yeast reflect light back out.

^ ^ this

And finally, lighter colored beers are more difficult to make with extracts.

Not true. While my first "light" colored beer came out much darker than it should (added all extract at beginning) using late extract additions have since produced very light and accurate colored beers. I use my specialty grain wort and 1 lb of extract (DME if available in kit) for my boil and add the rest at flame out. My patersbier was as light and clear as BMCs... but a hell of lot better tasting!

 

[kombat]

OP, answer the question: Was it an extract brew or all-grain?

 

[iskuse]

using LME or DME?, if using liquid, you want to remove the pot from the burner when you add it. Since LME is heavier it will sink to the bottom and you can "burn" it.

 

[unionrdr]

here's the wiki on maillard reactions; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction
Late extract additions,especially with LME will help quite a bit. I use 1.5-2lbs plain DME in the boil of 2.5-3.5 gallons for hop additions. Remaining DME & all LME at flame out. Since the wort is still boiling hot,& pasteurizarion happens about 160F,stir it in well,cover & steep a couple minutes & Bob's yer uncle.

 

[briguy13]

The brewers best American cream ale uses 1 can lme and 2 bags dme.

Its a kit, extract

 

[unionrdr]

Then it would've been best to use the DME in the boil for hop additions. Then add the LME at flame out.

 

[briguy13]

I follow the boil schedule that comes with the kits precisely.
I add lme and dme when instructions say to...
Both brews turned out the same colors.
It's pretty aggravating.

 

[briguy13]

This is going to be "straw" colored?

 

[grem135]

Unfortunately most kit instructions are marginal at best. Some should even be tossed without reading them.
Follow the advice given on HBT and your beer will improve big time. I know mine did.

 

[woozy]

I add lme and dme when instructions say to...

And that's your problem. Don't do that anymore.

 

[Beernik]

Yeah, that's not going to turn yellow.

Sorry man.

Most kit instructions are written for a generic beer and inserted in a variety of kits. They usually aren't written for your specific beer.

My personal rant against kits: you are at the mercy of what someone else put in a box. If they made a mistake, you dont get the beer you wanted. If its been sitting on a shelf for a long time, you don't get the beer you wanted. If you are a noob and they give you bad instructions, you don't get the beer you wanted.

You either got the wrong ingredient or scorched your extract or got a Maillard reaction during your boil.

Since it happened on both kits, I'm agreeing with everyone else. It's probably the Maillard reaction.

 

[briguy13]

So i guess i have to make up my own brew schedules for now on.
Trial and error, lessons learned. You spend $$ on these kits, you'd think they would be accurate. Thanks for the input & links...very helpful. Next brew will be better.
I hope it tastes good.

 

[Beernik]

I only ever bought two kits. After that, I started modifying other people's recipes. The instructions I got with them looked like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy * 50.

It should still be good beer. Maybe a little sweeter (higher FG) than anticipated because of caramelizing sugars.

 

[The_Professor]

...And finally, lighter colored beers are more difficult to make with extracts.

...Not true. While my first "light" colored beer came out much darker than it should (added all extract at beginning) using late extract additions have since produced very light and accurate colored beers. I use my specialty grain wort and 1 lb of extract (DME if available in kit) for my boil and add the rest at flame out. My patersbier was as light and clear as BMCs... but a hell of lot better tasting!

I want to second this reply.

When I first started brewing I noticed beers that were supposed to be light colored were a bit darker. Then I read some instructions that said to add no more than 2 lbs of malt per gallon of water for the boil, add the remainder just after the boil. Doing that the extract brews turned out really nice.

 

[woozy]

So i guess i have to make up my own brew schedules for now on.

Not really. Okay, I admit I was being flippant with my "don't do that" comment.

Let's start over. Basic concept: The brew schedule is for the hops. It is not for the extract which can be added at any time. (Mostly. There's a little concern for hop utilization with and you can futz with that later but for the most part it doesn't matter when you add the extract.)

Thus you are using the exact same brew schedule. You are just adding the extract at a later time.

 

[briguy13]

Good advice. I'm eager to try it out on next brewing. Thanks

 

[Nelrock]

I just finished brewing a wiezenbier and it turned out reddish brown colored. The description of the beer says that it should be deep gold.

I just put my American cream ale into second fermentation and it's the same color ...reddish brown, now, that description of the beer is straw colored! What's going on? Will it lighten up?

Same here. I've only done hefeweizen so far...and they've all been darker than I was expecting. Kinda between a hefe and a dunkel.
I've just recently started experimenting with adding my extract later. Don't have any through the entire process yet to know if its working.

 

[Beernik]

In my defense, I said "more difficult". I didn't say "very difficult" or "impossible".

The Maillard reaction is as much a function of boil size as anything else. My extract beers saw only a small reaction when I started boiling 4.5 gallons and only topped off with about 1 gallon. And it disappeared when I bought a bigger pot and went to full boils.

 

[The_Professor]

In my defense, I said "more difficult". I didn't say "very difficult" or "impossible".

The Maillard reaction is as much a function of boil size as anything else...

Yeah, the instructions I read said that boiling with too thick of a wort was not good, hence the less than 2lbs per gallon thing. I had meant to put that in my original reply...