Stout came out a dark brown

[ariesbrewing]

Hey!!

First time poster, long term reader. Wanted to brew a Stout for Christmas time but when I took the last reading it came out a dark brown and when it tasted it, it had a light body but had all of the flavor characteristics I was going for...anyone have any ideas/recommendations to maybe darken the beer, or will it darken with time in the bottle?

Any help would be great!!

 

[WharfRat]

What about steeping some roasted barley, crushed, overnight In a small amount of water, filtering out, boiling and pitching the liquid? Personally, I'd rdwhahb and go with it, but the "roasted barley tea" might work, although I have not heard of anyone doing this. Not sure how much you'd have to use as I don't know where you are starting. You'd want to be careful not to screw up your gravity too much. I also wonder if the beer appears lighter because you are looking thought the narrow cross section of your hydrometer vial?

 

[BPal75]

I personally wouldn't worry about the color if your happy with the flavor. Any adjustments you make to color would then alter the flavor profile. If it's not for competition I especially wouldn't worry. If it's seems too thin in body for your liking, you could dissolve some maltodextrin in water and add this to your beer at bottling/kegging. It will increase body/mouthfeel without affecting flavor.

 

[cluckk]

Lot more information needed. I also don't know how many batches you've brewed so I don't mean to patronize. My first thought, is to ask how long it has been in the fermenter. I brew lots of stouts and know that my "blacker than a well digger's heart" stouts still have a brown tone early in fermentation because of all the yeast in suspension. Sometimes I pull an early sample to see how things are going on esthers, etc. and this sample will always have a muddy look to it. Once they allowed to finish and clear they are always nice and dark black. If you have it in a clear fermenter you can even watch the muddiness settle out over the last days of fermentation.

If this is not the problem, then you have a recipe issue. How about posting your recipe so we can see?

 

[Dr. Francois]

My long-shot guess: Breiss Roasted Barley. I call it "stout ruiner."

It is much too light for a traditional English or Irish roasted barley. Breiss makes a Black Barley that is much more appropriate for stout.