As my title suggest I have just bottled my first brew and the only problem, if it is a problem, is that the colour is not at all like I expected from a home brew kit. I brewed the Australian Draft by Cooper's. I had a sample and it tasted fine or as I expected but the colour is all wrong. Did I do something wrong here or will time in the bottles clear this up? Thanks for any help!
First Brew - Bottled in clear bottles, have a dark orange colour
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It will clear some but the color shouldn't really change all the much. At least I haven't noticed mine if they do. If doing extract adding the majority of your extract till the end of the boil will help keep closer to the color estimates in the recipe. Longer boils will Caramelize more of the sugars resulting in a darker color product. If doing all grain it depends on the grains used as to which color your finished beer will have.
From what I've seen on youtube,the Australian draught comes out that orange/amber color. But late extract additions only work if you're using some plain extract in the boil,saving the pre-hopped cooper's kit for flame out. NEVER BOIL pre-hopped extract or it'll ruin the designed in hop profile. Not to mention,darkening & that extract twang.
Also,the percieved color in the fermenter will look different in the glass due to sheer volume & the yeast in solution reflecting more light. So if you're just using the Cooper's can & say,one of the brew enhancers,you just boil a couple gallons of water,add the brew enhancer,then remove from heat & add the Cooper's can. Stir very well till no more LME can be scraped off the bottom of the kettle. Chill to pitch temp & proceed.
Also,the percieved color in the fermenter will look different in the glass due to sheer volume & the yeast in solution reflecting more light. So if you're just using the Cooper's can & say,one of the brew enhancers,you just boil a couple gallons of water,add the brew enhancer,then remove from heat & add the Cooper's can. Stir very well till no more LME can be scraped off the bottom of the kettle. Chill to pitch temp & proceed.
Turns out the colour is just really orangey... The cloudiness cleared up and now the beer looks good save for the colour which I guess is intended thanks for the help.
Extracts usually turn out much darker than all-grain or commercial beers.. I had the same thing happen when I brewed my first witbier - they're supposed to be very light colored beers, but mine came out orange. Still tasted great!
The colour is fine with me as long as it tastes great. I brewed it with a few friends and they were more worried and freaked out than me as I did my research and figured to just wait it through. Its almost ready now... Could be drinkable in a week!
If the color is still darker,you're using too much extract at the beginning. I use plain light or extra light DME in the partial boil. Gives lighter color.
OhReally
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Not exactly beer-color-related, but:
Looking at your thread title, are you using clear bottles (i.e. colorless glass)? If so, you should be very wary of sunlight; with very few exceptions (e.g. Corona), beer is packaged in brown and green glass because it filters out the parts of light and the UV spectrum that cause skunking reactions in beer.
I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but it's just something to look out for.
Cheers
Looking at your thread title, are you using clear bottles (i.e. colorless glass)? If so, you should be very wary of sunlight; with very few exceptions (e.g. Corona), beer is packaged in brown and green glass because it filters out the parts of light and the UV spectrum that cause skunking reactions in beer.
I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but it's just something to look out for.
Cheers
As stated above late edition extract will help with the color. I only boil the steeping grain wort and about 1-2 lbs of extract (usually DME if the kit came with it) then I add the rest of my extract at flameout. I have a Patersbier that is a very nice golden color that I cant wait to start chillin' and drinkin'
ericbw
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OhReally said:Not exactly beer-color-related, but:
Looking at your thread title, are you using clear bottles (i.e. colorless glass)? If so, you should be very wary of sunlight; with very few exceptions (e.g. Corona), beer is packaged in brown and green glass because it filters out the parts of light and the UV spectrum that cause skunking reactions in beer.
I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but it's just something to look out for.
Cheers
I was thinking the same thing. Keep it in the dark in the clear bottles.
Not exactly beer-color-related, but:
Looking at your thread title, are you using clear bottles (i.e. colorless glass)? If so, you should be very wary of sunlight; with very few exceptions (e.g. Corona), beer is packaged in brown and green glass because it filters out the parts of light and the UV spectrum that cause skunking reactions in beer.
I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but it's just something to look out for.
Cheers
Well we got these bottles for quite cheap which is why we had clear. We are storing it in a dark place away from sunlight. I'm in Canada so there's not much light right now anyways.
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