If you want to avoid the dark color, use DME (dry malt extract) instead of LME (liquid malt extract).
I was editing my post when you posted this. I misread.OP did use DME.
Sure. Here is the recipe and a few photos while I was cooling the wort.That is dark for a Pale Ale. Still could be a good beer though.
Can you share the recipe?
I took a quick look at the recipe.Here is the recipe
@VikeMan 's observations on observing color in the fermenter apply to observing color in the kettle as well.They were pretty dark from the get go.
Yes full volume boil and I stirred in DME, at the end of the specialty grain steep, after bringing the water up to boil. I did notice that after I added the DME, everything became darker, which was odd because I used CBW Golden Light. I stirred vigorously so there was no way the DME could have burned. However, maybe the DME got dark because the heat was still a bit high? I thought you needed a higher head to dissolve the DME? Maybe i messed up by pouring too fast?? not sure.I took a quick look at the recipe.
Did you do a full volume boil (ending up with 5 gal at the end of the boil)? Or was it a partial boil (start with around 3.5 gal, then "top up" to 5 gal in the fermenter)? In either case, did you add all the DME at the start of the boil?
@VikeMan 's observations on observing color in the fermenter apply to observing color in the kettle as well.
For sure I'm think the beer will taste great. I'm not sure if color has any implications on flavor, but i'll post again in a week to show how light it has gotten. Fingers crossed***some pics from more beer reviewers show a wide range of colors for this beer. although thats not uncommon. i often notice reviewers posting what looks almost like different beers from the same recipe. there are prolly more variables at play that determine a beers final color than one would assume. many have already been mentioned in this thread. but other things prolly play a role too aside from things like camera lighting and screen contrasts. boil time timing of additions , additives, adjuncts etc.
just curious did you add the sparkles.
below is pics of your beer from morebeer. all the same beer with more than slightly different colors. but i def woudlnt say any of them are a pale ale.
i bet that this beer will be good reviews are pretty solid
rdwhahb
Thanks.full volume boil
used CBW Golden Light.
I did notice that after I added the DME, everything became darker, which was odd because I used CBW Golden Light. I stirred vigorously so there was no way the DME could have burned. However, maybe the DME got dark because the heat was still a bit high? I thought you needed a higher head to dissolve the DME? Maybe i messed up by pouring too fast?? not sure.
Welcome to the world of extract brewing (especially liquid extract) where beers will always be darker than expected due to the process of creating the liquid extract.
I haven't looked for any supporting papers, but my statement was more towards the idea that a recipe brewed with LME vs an equivalent beer brewed with grains, the LME beer will typically (I guess I can't say always here as that would be anecdotal) be darker than the all grain beer. I totally agree with you that all LME (and even DME) are not equal and I appreciate the link as well.Nope. Not always.
Impact Using Old Liquid Malt Extract Has On A German Pils (2017) | Brülosophy
There are a number of online suppliers of LME that use oxygen barrier bags for shipping LME. They repackage it fresh, it is shipped/delivered in a couple of days. Store it in the fridge when it arrives. Brew with it promptly.
There is a technique (from around 2015) that describes how to measure the color (and freshness) of lighter colored LMEs. I've used that technique (on both fresh and stale LME). It works.
There are a number of topics from 2019 - 2021 here at HomeBrewTalk where people show pictures of light colored beer made with LME.
That was covered in #3 with the statement that "extract beers will generally be a little darker than an equivalent all grain beer" (emphasis added).the idea that a recipe brewed with LME vs an equivalent beer brewed with grains, the LME beer will typically [...] be darker than the all grain beer.
That was covered in #3 with the statement that "extract beers will generally be a little darker than an equivalent all grain beer" (emphasis added).
I used around 7.5#. The guy at the store said to use 8# to kick up the ABV .5% and that it was okay to do so to match the liquid malt amount which is also 8#. I held back a little, not sure why.IME, yeast in suspension tends to lighten the color of the beer in the fermenter. The color will darken as the yeast drops out of suspension, and then (perhaps) lighten as the beer continues to clarify.
@Kornssj: be aware that the morebeer recipe may have used "extra light" extract when estimating SRM. Or they may have not re-estimated SRM for the "extract" recipe - and just used the "all-grain" recipe SRM.
You used "golden light" (not "extra light"). The color difference in the "extra light" and "golden light" is meaningful and your final beer color will be darker.
If you can confirm that you used 6.5# of "golden light" DME, I may make some time to run some color estimates using a couple of different receipe builders. OTOH, if you used 8# of DME, you brewed a significantly different recipe than the morebeer recipe.
recipe with | SRM (est) |
6.5# extra light DME | 5.9 (morebeer) |
6.5# golden light DME | 9.3 |
8.0# golden light DME | 10.2 |
recipe with SRM (est) 6.5# extra light DME 5.9 (morebeer) 6.5# golden light DME 9.3 8.0# golden light DME 10.2
For reference (note that colors will vary slightly between display devices):
View attachment 835735
I suppose it isn't a s simple as less DME = lighter color ?
I used around 7.5#. The guy at the store said to use 8# to kick up the ABV .5% and that it was okay to do so to match the liquid malt amount which is also 8#. I held back a little, not sure why.
I suppose it isn't a s simple as less DME = lighter color ?
In regards to your brewing experiences, I did mention in my first reply that my experience is anecdotal, and I have not looked for any papers saying one way or the other on the color of beers brewed with LME vs all grain. I believe you when you say you're experience is great. In my experience it has not been. Basically, anyone else reading this post, take my and @BrewnWKopperKat's experience with a grain of salt before assuming what color your beer will be and just go brew on your system. It's going to be difference across systems as well as procedures/techniques. You won't know until you try.
No insights into pre-milled grains (I have a mill).brewinwithkopperkat i know you have studied alot about color from your other posts, especially lme color. have you read anything simialr about milled grain.
It looks like the extract kit is an "algorithmic" conversion (just replace the pilsner malt with extra light extract).the reina del sol kit
a few weeks ago i bought the reina del sol kit . a dme recipe kit from morebeer. the ingredients included 4.5 lbs of briess pilsen dme , 2 lbs of flaked corn ( a lot i know) and a half pound of carapils. several of the reviews complained that the color of this kit was too dark and not a true mexican lager/pilsner color. i figured with those ingredients and maybe a late extract addition if needed, theres no way it would be dark and it must have been their processes. i have made many many lagers with those exact ingredients and they were completley straw colored to the point that i have sometimes considered adding specialty grains for the color addition. i wasnt concerned
then the kit arrived and the carapils didnt look like carapils. like not even close to caraipls.
below is the pic of the kits carapils on the right (which says briess- but doenst look like my usual briess) and my usual cara (single packaged briess) on the left . the pic isnt that great and its more pronounced in reality but clearly the colors are way different. what gives? is the range of spec malts so variable that one carapils may not look like another from the same manufacturere or maybe from another crop? or is it just an old kit. does age affect the color of grains like it does the color of extract? brewinwithkopperkat i know you have studied alot about color from your other posts, especially lme color. have you read anything simialr about milled grain. i know i should google but i figured you may have alreadyy done the research
thanks
i am not going to use this dark carapils except in a porter or amber.
i thought the color difference was really odd.
View attachment 835854
yes and yes. i got it to meet a minimum shipping order after i forgot to get the fermzilla ring lid for my flat bottom fermzilla which comes with a twin carry handle lid instead. it was the kit of the week or something and i got it for i think 19.99 . i use flaked corn pilsen dme and carapils in a lot of different recipes so i can use all the ingredients and they were cheap. i also was very surprised the kit says to steep corn . i have done it and you get some starchiness that hazes up the beer and some corny sweetness but without base malt or enzymes i dont think it added any fermentable sugars to the wort. so 2 pounds steep is really a disservice to a "mexican lager" or any recipe. not complaining about more beer i love there shipping and prices especially small stuff like tubing and fittings etc. i recently have been looking at a lot of kit recipes online and have been surprised at a lot fo the grain bills.I buy a lot of stuff from MoreBeer and am generally quite happy with them. But they really wet the bed on this recipe kit. There's no way that malt on the right is regular carapils. Just a shot in the dark (no pun intended)...it could be Carapils Copper Malt, but it looks maybe a little too dark even for that. And steeping 2 lbs (or any amount, but geez, 2 lbs) of flaked corn without a base malt is just a bad idea.
Kits recipes and instructions can be a source of really good (as well as really bad) ideas and techniques.i recently have been looking at a lot of kit recipes online and have been surprised at a lot fo the grain bills.
then the kit arrived and the carapils didnt look like carapils. like not even close to caraipls.
below is the pic of the kits carapils on the right (which says briess- but doenst look like my usual briess) and my usual cara (single packaged briess) on the left .
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