Constantly darker than expected beer?

[bazbart]

Hi,

Just looking for any advice. All my brews (10+) have all turned out darker than expected. Even beers I expect to be "straw" color is coming in far darker like a red ale or close. I use a peck boiler and keep the temp as close to mash temp as possible and try to avoid scorching etc. Is there anything else that would make my wort darker than what it should be?

Thanks.

[nigel_c]

How are you formulating your recipies?
Most people use beersmith which allows you to adjust the ingredients color.
What was the recipe you weren't happy with. Post it up and we can have a look.
Most times when this happens its when someone mistakes the color or crystal malts or darker malts like that.
They follow an american recipe posted in Levibond without converting to EBC which is what most Irish suppliers deal in.
If you are not using beersmith I would highly recommend getting it and getting to know how it works.
If this does not help feel free to post to contact for detailed recipe breakdown.

[Tom]

Yeah, EBC / Lovibond (SRM?) the most likely culprit. Doesn't take much character malt to darken a beer. And colour has a marked effect on perception. Does it taste good? That's key.

[DEMPSEY]

One other thing to consider is water. Hard water will make a beer darker.

[delzep]

One other thing to consider is water. Hard water will make a beer darker.

Really?

Why?

[bazbart]

How are you formulating your recipies?
Most people use beersmith which allows you to adjust the ingredients color.
What was the recipe you weren't happy with. Post it up and we can have a look.
Most times when this happens its when someone mistakes the color or crystal malts or darker malts like that.
They follow an american recipe posted in Levibond without converting to EBC which is what most Irish suppliers deal in.
If you are not using beersmith I would highly recommend getting it and getting to know how it works.
If this does not help feel free to post to contact for detailed recipe breakdown.

This was my last order which I've in bottles atm. They are Ed Ale color or just slightly lighter in color but was expecting a more golden colour. 

Crisp Finest Maris Otter Pale Ale (EBC 5.0-7.0)[5Kg] [400G] , Weyermann Munich Malt Type 1 (EBC 12 - 18)[0Kg] [510G] ,
Lightly Kilned Malt:No Thanks
Caramel Malt:Weyermann Carapils Malt (EBC 2.5 - 6.5)[0Kg] [220G] , IREKS Crystal Oak Bavarian Malt (EBC 25-35)[0Kg] [220G] , Weyermann Melanoidin Malt (EBC 60 - 80)[0Kg] [220G] ,
Flaked & Unmalted adjuncts:No Thanks

Does it look ok?

Thanks.

[irish_goat]

I'd blame the crystal oak. A local micro in Derry was brewing a pale ale using it and it was coming out nearly red as well. Imo, crystal just doesn't really work in pale ales.

SRM guide here might be useful. What sorta number you aiming for?

[DEMPSEY]

One other thing to consider is water. Hard water will make a beer darker.

Really?

Why?

The carbonates in hard water react. It is the same if you make tea with hard water, the tea is more black than with soft water

[bazbart]

I'd be looking for anything from 3-8. Would the Crystal be to blame even in such a low volume?

What would you suggest changing it to?

[Tom]

The carbonates in hard water react. It is the same if you make tea with hard water, the tea is more black than with soft water

And godawful tea.


You've also got half a kilo of Munich in there and a quarter of Melanoidin. Not much of a mystery.

Stick your recipe in here https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator and it'll show you what colour you can expect.

For my ultra pale beer I switched from US05 to WLP007 and noticed immediately a darkening of the beer, by about an SRM degree. Not useful in this conversation, but still interesting (I thought).

[bazbart]

Thanks. Was taking recipes from forums etc but really like the looks of some of these recipes. Will be using some for future. Thanks!

[neoanto]

I would second the recommendation to get Beer Smith.
It's definitely worth the money and it shows you an approximate colour of your finished beer