Belgian Quad Hits and Misses

[Travis K. Jansen]

Hey folks, so I racked my Belgian Quad into the secondary today. A couple of things.
1.) Flavor is great, but right now tastes like a boozier (yet smoother) version of my Cuvee clone (Belgian Golden Ale)
2.) Color did not come out as I intended. See pic.
3.) The hydrometer sample tasted much cleaner and smoother than my Cuvee did at the same age. Final ABV is about 10.4%
4.) There is almost no trace of the dark Belgian Candi Sugar I made. I get no toffee or dark fruits. I'm guessing I'll need to use pre-packaged stuff from now on.
Biggest question, is there anything I can do to darken the beer without changing the flavor now that it's in secondary?

 

[RM-MN]

Here's the quickest way to make your beer darker. Pour it into a glass instead of the hydrometer sample tube. The beer absorbs light and less light will make it through the larger quantity of beer. In your carboy it should be quite dark for that reason. The other reason it could be lighter than expected is suspended yeast reflecting light. How long has it been since you brewed this beer? You probably have a lot of yeast in suspension yet.

High alcohol beers take some time to mature so the boozy flavor you have now will probably disappear in time if you let it.

You can use a product called Sinamar to darken your beer without adding flavor.

 

[Travis K. Jansen]

QUOTE="RM-MN, post: 8225814, member: 65803"]Here's the quickest way to make your beer darker. Pour it into a glass instead of the [hydrometer sample tube. The beer absorbs light and less light will make it through the larger quantity of beer. In your carboy it should be quite dark for that reason. The other reason it could be lighter than expected is suspended yeast reflecting light. How long has it been since you brewed this beer? You probably have a lot of yeast in suspension yet.

High alcohol beers take some time to mature so the boozy flavor you have now will probably disappear in time if you let it.

You can use a product called Sinamar to darken your beer without adding flavor.[/QUOTE]

Thanks RM-MN. I did try that, but it looks more like a golden ale than a dark one, and none of the dark fruit flavors are present anymore, unfortunately. In no way am I saying it's done yet, it's only been in primary for 2 weeks, so I know the boozy flavor will mellow. I'm just more concerned with the color and flavor.

I may try Sinamar, but part of me doesn't want to cheat. Looks like I will have to brew a smaller batch and see if I can get it right! Should be closer to this:

 

[RM-MN]

With the picture you showed earlier it is obvious that you won't get it anywhere near the color of the latter picture. Since you made your own candi sugar, how long did you cook it to get the dark candi sugar. One source I read said that to get the dark candi you need to boil it for several hours.

 

[Travis K. Jansen]

I used this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/20-lb-of-sugar-and-a-jar-of-yeast-nutrient.114837/

Made Sugar #5, see pic here: