Light beer gone dark....

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

I made a Belgian Witbier extract and it came out WAY darker than it was supposed to. Belgian Witbier should have the color close to Blue Moon, and this came out as a dark amber color... Is this from over caramelization? I followed the recipe to a T... What will help me maintain the color I am supposed to achieve?

 

[freisste]

Late extract addition helps - add about a pound per gallon of water boiled, then add the rest at flameout or a few minutes before.

Regarding the current batch, is it done and bottled and you looked at it in a glass? If not, keep in mind that beer looks much darker when you look through a full volume vs just a glass. So it may not be as bad as it seems. Also, even if it is that dark, the color is mostly aesthetic. You may get a little flavor change from the darkening, but usually it is pretty minor.

 

[BesteBrew]

I always have trouble with my extract beers coming out darker than I would prefer. Look into adding the majority of your extract at flameout. That should prevent caramelization and scorched wort tho I have never done it myself.

 

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

It actually tastes quite good. A lot better than I expected.

 

[GASoline71]

It's just the way it is with extracts. Like mentioned above... try boiling 1/3 of your extract for the full boil, and then adding the last 2/3 extract at either 10 minutes left in the boil, or at flameout.

Gary

 

[Rockn_M]

^+1. With extracts the longer they boil the darker they will be.

 

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

That's what I figured also. Still tastes great, no complaints there. Just really dark for a Belgian Witbier.

 

[stpug]

LME will begin darkening from the moment it's produced (before it ever gets to the store shelf) due to it's intrinsic properties, whereas DME does not do that. DME will only begin darkening when rehydrated. Additionally, a concentrated boil will darken quicker than a full boil. Therefore, when aiming for a really light beer like a pilsner, wit, some saison, etc, then you should aim to use the lightest DME you can find and add the majority of it at the end of the boil (5 minutes or less is fine). Also, to help keep additional color changes from occurring during the boil you should aim to boil as much as feasible in your BK which should help keep the maillard reactions to a lesser degree.