Dark beer

[Drewed]

Why are all my beers coming out to dark? I just made a German Blonde kit that looks more like a nut brown. It was a 45 min boil with 1lb Pilsner DME(Northern Brewer kit.). I didn’t even add all the DME up front in case it was somehow “toasting” during the boil.
Am I boiling too hard? Is DME just darker? Is a light golden just not something that can be achieved in home brew?

 

[waldoar15]

DME will darken, more so if you put too much heat into it. You cold try adding all of your top off water to thin it out and keep it from scorching/darkening as much, but you'll probably have to adjust the hops schedule from the recipe. Stirring helps.

But you really don't need the same type of boil that AG uses.

 

[NGD]

Few ideas I've been playing around with, but I primarily use LME which tends to make matters worse if your looking for a lighter color.

1. 30 minute boil, and by boil I mean a decent simmer, not rolling.
2. Start with the max amount of volume you can get away with.
3. Do all your hop additions with just water, add DME at flameout. You'll need to adjust your hop schedule with this method as well.

Those are what I've been playing around with myself, and they seem to have helped. I"m sure someone else will come along with a better suggestion but that's what I've gathered after reading around for quite some time and trying them for myself

 

[bpgreen]

Can you give more details? What's the full recipe? What steps did you take?

I've done a lot of extract and partial mash recipes and haven't had a lot of problems with batches coming out too dark unless it's got old LME.

 

[RM-MN]

Extract will start out darker than an all grain batch because the process to make the extract darkens it. Then when you boil the wort to isomerize the hop oils to get bitterness, it will darken more yet due to the Maillard reaction and the harder and longer the boil, the darker it becomes.

Dry extract will be lighter than liquid but if you want a really light colored beer you will need to start with all grain. It isn't nearly as difficult as you think. Look up BIAB as a way to get an all grain batch. You can do a half size batch in a 5 gallon pot that you probably already have with only adding a fine mesh bag to hold the grains (not the muslin bag that may come with your extract kit, the grains need to be loose in the bag). I use a paint strainer bag for mine.

 

[65C]

I didn't get really clear light coloured beer until I started using mostly pils with protofloc(sp?)

Tbh - I prefer the colour and whatever is going on with the water here really benefits darks beers and works against the light ones

 

[Lefou]

Steer your beers to the lighter SRM range by using soft or low mineral mash/brewing water.
Amber or darker beers generally require a higher alkalinity level in the water.

This is a basic rule for tinkering with AG beer recipes by adjusting your water for the desired result. Darker beers made from LME/DME usually won't require much water adjustment with brewing salts.

 

[Drewed]

Can you give more details? What's the full recipe? What steps did you take?

I've done a lot of extract and partial mash recipes and haven't had a lot of problems with batches coming out too dark unless it's got old LME.

1lb Pilsen DME
3.5 g Perle hops
"steeping" grains.

Steeped the grains in 8 cups of 158 degree water for 20 min.
"sparged" with 16 cups 170ish water
Heated to boil
added ~1/3 lb DME and hops
added 2 drop of ferm cap to help limit boil over
Boiled for 30min - Full ripping boil
added irish moss
added rest of DME
Boiled less than full rip - more of a fast simmer for 15 min.
Ice bath
Transfer to fermentation vessel
top up to just over a gallon
OG -1044

Steer your beers to the lighter SRM range by using soft or low mineral mash/brewing water.
Amber or darker beers generally require a higher alkalinity level in the water.

This is a basic rule for tinkering with AG beer recipes by adjusting your water for the desired result. Darker beers made from LME/DME usually won't require much water adjustment with brewing salts.

Interesting. I used my un-softened tap for brewing. Perhaps I should go with the softened water.
My un-adulterated water is :

• Calcium (Ca+2) – 175 ppm
• Magnesium (Mg+2) – 125 ppm
• Sulfate (SO4-2) – Dont know. Will have to check this
• Sodium (Na+) – 0 ppm
• Chloride (Cl-) – 0 ppm
• Alk - 250

 

[Lefou]

Wow, the permanent hardness in the water is fairly high.
Now I can see why a port/stout would turn out quite well ... and yeah, the SO4 level would be good to know because it makes a difference calculating your hop additions for certain beer styles.

If you wanted to brew lighter beers, dilution with RO or soft water would be OK. I typically won't use my "soft" tap water for brewing. Although it's low mineral water and fine for low SRM brews, it contains chloramines.
I'd just as soon purchase 6 gallons of Poland Spring water for $5 and some change because it's fine for anything 10 SRM or under with minimal salt additions. I do 3-5 gallon batches, so 6 gallons of spring water is fine for me.

 

[TGFV]

What were the steeping grains? 5min boils should keep your colour lighter, but steeping grains also heavily effect total colour.

And is the colour dark in the fermenter or glass?