I've noticed that my beer always ends up looking much darker that what the kit (extract) usually says the final color of the beer will be. It still tastes delicious so I'm not complaining, but curious. Anybody have any ideas?
Boiling the malt extract can caramelize the sugars, leading to a darker color. You can try adding some fermentables later in the boil to reduce caramelization.
Try adding 1/2 a lb or less DME/LME per gal of water boiled. When you boil all of your DME/LME at the beginning it burns or darkens by the end of the boil. It's the same process bread goes through when you toast it.