color

[cotoya]

hello. I'm new brewing and in this forum.

My first post is about the color of my beer. I have brewed four times some kind of pale ale. The flavor, taste, carbonic, body, are all ok. But the color is an unattractive grayish-green.
I think it could be the amount of hops I add (I calculated IBU 40), but I like how it tastes.

What can I do to have a better color not darkening my beer?
thanks.

 

[cubbies]

It is probably from your extracts. Extracts can make great brew, but a lot of times it is hard to control your clarity and color. Now, before HB_99 steps in to correct me it is entirely possible to make light, clear beer using extracts, but in my experience, it is much more difficult. One thing you can do to help combat the issue, is add most of your extract at the end of the boil.

 

[Yooper]

When I finish my boil, I pour the wort through a sanitized strainer and that removes most of the hops sludge. The stainer clogs and I just unclog it with a sanitized spoon and pour some more. The rest of the "stuff" in there sinks to the bottom of the fermenter during the time it sits. Then, I use a clearing tank. I rack to it and keep the tip off the bottom so I don't transfer that trub. When I go to bottle, I do the same thing- rack from above the bottom into the bottling bucket.

This makes a big difference with color and clarity!

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I agree with Yooper - it sounds like maybe you're leaving the hop sludge in primary. I also use a strainer to get as much out as I possibly can from keggle to primary.

 

[cotoya]

thank you all.
I am not using extract but malted grain, mostly pale malt, maybe I have to use some more kinds of malt.
I also use a strainer, but it is possible that some hops is going through it.
Next time I am going to be more careful and I am going to try secondary fermentation previous to the bottling.

I have never tried it, but I have read that they introduce hops in the primary for the IPA (post hopping). don't you think this can affect the color too much? The commercial IPA (Deuchars) don't have that problem.

 

[Yooper]

Dry hopping is best done after primary fermentation is over. I always dry hop in the clearing tank. The hops will eventually drop out and fall to the bottom, and then I just rack (siphon) above them.

I don't understand why your color is greenish. Mine is always pale tan to brownish, depending on my recipe.

Could you post a sample recipe along with your technique? That would really help us figure out where the weird color is coming from.

I'm a hophead, and I always have lots of hops in my brews. You can't see them at all.

 

[covered95]

If you strain the hops out they aren't going to have too much of an effect on color. However, if you concerned about it I find it is easier to get all the nasties from whole hops out rather than pellets, so that might be something to consider (if you aren't already). Either way, if the beer tastes great, keep making and drinking it.

 

[Joker]

40 IBU isn't that much and if you aren't putting the boiled hops into the primary they shouldn't have any effect. If you are using pellet maybe enough of the sediment is getting through so next brew try a filter and see if that takes care of the color issue.

 

[malkore]

grey...makes me think that there is a lot of grain sediment in your brews...i see this in my pitcher I use for vorlaufing.

are you making sure your runnings are 'clear' from the mash/lauter tun before you start collecting them in the brew pot?

are you doing a secondary to help the beer clear? perhaps you should try some gelatin in the last 2 days of secondary to really drop the stuff out of suspension.

 

[cotoya]

this is my recipe:

800 g pale malt, 150 g amber malt, 23 g hops in cones (Fuggles Brewferm 5,89% alpha)
Mashing with 3 liters of water, 2 hours 75ºC in camping refrigerator.
Sparging, with 4 more liters of water (OG:1031)
Boiling, when start boiling 17g of hops, 3g at 45’, 3g more at 58’, stop at 60’
Cooling with interchanger (with strain) 5,5l (OG:1039)
Fermented for 9 days in carboy, then bottled (FG:1015)

I am using hops cones, maybe its not a problem of hops.
anyway i am going for secondary next time.

thanks again.

 

[boo boo]

You're mashing at 75c which equals 167F? If you are then your mash is too hot and you are denaturing your enzymes before they have a chance to convert your grain starch to sugars. I'm going to assume also that you did crush your grain before starting your mash.