Lighter Ale Color?

[frankityfrank]

I just started fermenting a Blonde Ale, the kit is from Midwest Supplies. As with a previous hefeweizen I've made, the color is way too dark and I'm hoping someone here can tell me why and maybe give some advice about how to adjust the colors.

The hefeweizen had LME, so I wasn't surprised when it turned out too dark. The Blonde, however, has extra light DME, so I thought it wouldn't be an issue. Problematically, it seemed that as soon as the specialty grains started steeping, the liquid was already too dark. I had a 3 gallon boil, which I think might be part of the problem.

Does anyone have any advice on this? Thanks!

 

[rklinck]

What was the recipe?

 

[twistr25]

Almost always the more liquid there is the darker it's appearance will be. Down to the glass it is likely a lot lighter. Other things to try, late additions on any extract material as this can darken during the boil.

 

[frankityfrank]

The recipe was Midwest Supplies Blonde Ale:

3 lb. Wheat DME, 2 lb. Extra Lght DME, 8 oz. Caramel 10L, 8 oz. Flaked Wheat, 4 oz. Caravienne malt specialty grains, 1 oz. Willamette pellet hops.

When I took a small sample to do a reading, it was still very dark. Is there a chance it will lighten during fermentation? Again, it seemed like the specialty grains, right from the beginning, darkened the color quite a bit.

If I had a larger brew kettle, would that help?

 

[twistr25]

Not likely, you'd still have the same amount of material. The other issue is probably that it is not settled. If you dumped it all into your primary or even just after the boil, it went through a vigorous mixing. Fermentation will help by way of having it in a stable location to let all of the darker solid fragments fall out and into the trub. Cold crashing and extended primary are other ways to help make sure all of the break material settles out which should help to clear and lighten it.

 

[stvo]

3 gal boil all LME/DME at the start of boil will be darker due to the extract carmelizing sp? Next batch try add 1/3-1/2 of Extract at start then the rest at flameout or 5 minutes left of boil it will come out much lighter

 

[frankityfrank]

Thanks for the advice!

 

[DSorenson]

I've found that caramel malts at around 40 lovibond (1 lb per 5 gallons) can turn a pale into an amber. My second beer I augmented with late additions of malt extracts, and I noticed I came out much lighter in color. As twistr25 pointed out, fermentation kicks up a lot of refuse that can make your beer appear dark until it settles. Once it's in bottles it will appear lighter still.

 

[bacchusmj]

Also might be a little caramelization.

 

[grem135]

I would steeping the grains as directed then add 1 Lb of your DME and bring to a boil and start your hop additions. Add the rest of your DME at flame out stir it in real good to make sure its all dissolved and let sit about 10 minutes. Cool wort, pour in fermenter, top off, aerate and pitch yeast. I got a nice pale golden color in my patersbier using this method... And its awesome!