First batch color

[GooseBrew82]

Hi guys and gals,
My buddies and I started our first batch, an American cream ale from an all extract kit a few weeks ago. All went well during brewing and primary fermentation and we are a week into secondary fermentation, but I am a little concerned about how dark it is. It seems to be clearing up well in the carboy and all the checks along the way indicate the batch is fine except for the dark brown color. My experience with commercially available cream ales is that they are quite lite, almost golden in color. Should I be concerned or is this just a product of the kit ingredients (or something we did wrong)? Thanks for any insight you have!


Prost!
Aric

 

[unionrdr]

Remember you have the beer in a large diameter container,so it'll naturally look darker. When you get it in a glass,it'll look a lot lighter. Imo,an amber orange in the glass by the look of it.
Having said that,it could be the ingredients used. It can also be adding all the malts at the beginning of the boil. LME's in particular will get darker over a 1 hour boil. I have to do partial boils,so I use half of the 3lb bag of plain DME in the boil for hop additions,adding the remaining DME & all the LME at flame out,cover & steep for 10-15 minutes. The temp is still up around 180F+,hot enough to pasteurize,which happens at 162F. Keeps the color lighter & flavors a bit cleaner.

 

[user 98891]

I had this problem a lot with extract kits. The boiling would darken the extract and a lot of my beers would be a lot more brown or red in color then expected.

As unionrdr said, add half the extract up front and the other half near the end of the boil or at flameout to help with the color. Also, make sure that you take your kettle off the heat before adding any extract. It tends to clump up on the bottom and will scorch.

One last thing that helps is doing a full boil. When I moved from partial to full boil I had less darkening of color and as a bonus you get more hop utilization.

The biggest problem I never really solved with my extract beers was that they all kinda "tasted the same". That is not to say the IPA tasted like the stout, but that they all had this similar background flavor (people call it extract twang) that always bugged me. This issue was resolved by going to all grain brewing.

 

[bottlebomber]

What union said. It's probably about 5-6 SRM. But when I brewed extract I'd wait to add the LME/DME until the last 15 minutes.

 

[unionrdr]

I use extracts still,but don'y get that twang. I still do partial boils in a ss BK with DME in the boil for hop additions. It's in the pot just long enough to boil & do hop additions.
Remaining DME & ALL the LME go in at flame out. This step is what I think elliminates the "twang thang". Over & above good fermenting temps & sanitation. Fresh ingredients are important too,as well as proper storage.
Hops in a freezer bag in the freezer,LME & yeasts in the fridge. I keep all my dry ingredients (DME,dextrose,maltodextrine,etc) in a big bag near the top of the pantry. Not to mention,keeping unused portions sealed well.

 

[GooseBrew82]

Thanks for all the info! By what you are all saying I think we can narrow it down to the LME. Instructions had us put all of it in at the beginning and the DMEs more towards the end. I will try splitting the LME next time and adding the rest of extract at the end.

Thanks again,
Aric

 

[unionrdr]

Simply stated,the instructions got it backwards. Why? Because,as I said,LME's will caramelize or darken faster than DME's. That's why I use plain DME in the boil,& add the LME at the end. The LME doesn't have a chance to caramelize,leaving color lighter & flavor cleaner. It's the DME that's less prone to caramelizing,not the other way around.
We've learned that those instructions can be wrong with time tables,let alone problems with extract usage they seem to ignore. Hence our advice to get a better end product.
Those instructions are generaly meant to get fast beer & sell more kits rather than quality product.

 

[GooseBrew82]

Simply stated,the instructions got it backwards. Why? Because,as I said,LME's will caramelize or darken faster than DME's. That's why I use plain DME in the boil,& add the LME at the end. The LME doesn't have a chance to caramelize,leaving color lighter & flavor cleaner. It's the DME that's less prone to caramelizing,not the other way around.
We've learned that those instructions can be wrong with time tables,let alone problems with extract usage they seem to ignore. Hence our advice to get a better end product.
Those instructions are generaly meant to get fast beer & sell more kits rather than quality product.

That is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks!


Prost!
Aric

 

[rifraf]

I do 1 lb of DME at the beginning and all the rest at the end. Beers are super light colored...almost too much. My porter didn't look very portery...

 

[Klickmania]

Since I've moved to partial mashes and full boils, I've been able to hit my color spot on without any problems. This is just my method that works for me, and I've made some pretty good beer this way.

I usually have 3-6lbs of DME that I add before the boil. I'll mash my specialty grains on the stove top, and heat my "sparge" water in my boil kettle. I'll then do 2 batch "sparges" on the stove top with the correct volume of water to get my pre-boil volume. I'll add half the DME to the boil kettle with the wort and first sparge, then add the other half of the DME with the second sparge. Kinda gives it time to dissolve and I haven't had a problem with scorching or color being too dark doing it that way. Then I'll crank the heat on the boil kettle. Now...misreading my water volumes, and having to baby sit the boil kettle because it was too full....that's another story.

 

[clemson51]

I have had this same issue with a Belgian wit extract kit. It came out almost looking like a brown ale. So I am going to try splitting up the extract addition as suggested. My next extract kit is actually a pale ale so hopefully I can hit the correct color this time.