Hefeweizen question....

[Dude]

A buddy of mine and myself brewed a batch of hefeweizen this weekend from an extract kit he got from www.midwestsupplies.com, called Hank's Hefeweizen. We think everything went cool in the brewing process, except for its really dark in color. Is that going to stay that way? Will the color fade a bit once it settles in fermentation?
Personally I think the extract was darker than it should be for a hefeweizen, but I'm brand new at this...I have no clue!
Thanks....

 

[uglygoat]

it is possible and likely things will settle as it ages and clear up a bit. did he boil the grains in a bag or just toss em in? the grains shoulda been cracked for you if you got them from midwest, least the kit i got was.

i think, and by no means am an expert, that this particular brew likes to age for a spell in the glass carboy/secondary, maybe a month wouldn't hurt it

 

[homebrewer_99]

Actually, Hefe Weizen is an ale so it doesn't really need to lager.

I know what you mean about the darkness of the malt. I am very disappointed there myself.

I lived in Germany for 9 years and have yet been able to duplicate the color.

You could try lagering and adding polyclar, but it will still be dark.

Chances are if the liquid malt was used it started out darker than expected.

Another thing you could do next time is to use about 2-3 lbs of rice solids or extra light DME to the 3 lb can of wheat which will balance out the color somewhat and add 4 oz of malto-dextrine.

 

[Janx]

Liquid malt is always darker because it's caramelized in the production process. Dry malt extract can make lighter brews, but all-grain is the only way to make really light ones, as far as I have seen.

You do want to grind your grains, but failing to do so would only make the beer lighter, not darker.

And, yes, a small amount of dark grain can make an enormous difference in the color. A handful of chocolate malt can darken 12 gallons considerably.

 

[Dude]

We bottled that batch this past weekend and compared it to a couple of German hefes.....it wasn't too far away on color or cloudiness. It had a real sweet smell of course, lots of banana aroma!

Over all the beer turned out great so far.

 

[sause]

I've only done extract kits and every time I brew I think "that's really dark" but every time I go to bottle "hey this looks right on"

 

[grant]

Did you do a full volume boil or partial?If you do a partial it will generally darken a little.I have done no extract brewing in 9-10 years,but if I remember correctly,you should add the extract long before it boils to prevent darkening.