color of wort?

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eroth

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This past weekend, I brewed the BYO Murphy's clone extract recipe, found elsewhere in these forums.

Fermentation is going wild, yet the color of the 5 gallons isn't as dark as I would have expected for a stout. It seems to be lighter than the brown ale in the secondary next to it.
I nailed the OG according to the recipe at 1.038, so I thought I was off to a great start, other than the lighter color.

Does color darken over time, or did I do something wrong while steeping my grains or adding extracts?
 
It depends on the recipe, of course, but also keep in mind that there is a ton of suspended yeast in there, making the wort seem lighter. Once it clears, and the spent yeast falls to the bottom, it'll look darker.
 
Without knowing your process and recipe, I can say one thing with certainty: the sheer number of yeast active in your carboy will give the appearance of a lighter beer during the peak of fermentation. Once fermentation slows and the yeast begin to floc out, you'll see the beer look darker, refraction through the glass aside.
 
Tough to know if you did something wrong if we don't have the recipe/schedule.

I'm just sayin'...

the recipe i used was the one in this post

the LHBS didn't have any EK Goldings or White Labs WLP005, so on their suggestion, I substituted Perle (Pellets) and Wyeast 1028 London Ale.

Otherwise, I followed the instructions as best as possible. Maintaining the steeping temp was a bit sporadic, but always +/- 5 degrees.

I also have a bit of stuff burnt on the bottom of the brew pot, which I can't clean. I'm assuming it's a bit of malt extract.
 
so after a couple of days steady at 1.012, i racked to secondary today.

the color is still really light for a supposed stout, and i still can't puzzle out what might have gone wrong.

Here are some pictures of my test sample moved to a glass, which came out a bit dark...although it's obvious the beer isn't the right color

3346067584_8a9692a064_m.jpg

3346067594_35827cb608_m.jpg


I'm not too concerned, as it tastes pretty good...with the roasted barley really coming through. And my wife, who despises stouts, drank up the flat sample glass with a big smile...so it should turn out well.

I'd just like to know what might have gone wrong, to fix it moving forward with my future batches...

Thanks for any ideas...
 
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