Color issue in 1st stout

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Garlicjosh, Aug 16, 2012.

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  1. Garlicjosh

    Garlicjosh Initiate (0) Jan 17, 2012 Pennsylvania

    Bottling day has arrived for my very first batch and I have come to find that my stout is an off brown. Like an unfiltered brown ale. I added my priming sugar and bottled the first case.
    (in which during capping, have busted the necks of 3 bottles) While it smells like beer, i'm not getting the characteristics it should have...or at least on the level I was expecting from the bottles but the smell was somewhat more right in the 5 gallon amount.
    Thoughts?
     
    #1 Garlicjosh, Aug 16, 2012
  2. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Recipe?

    Edit: It sounds like you haven't finished bottling. Do that, then come back. There's really nothing you can do today about color.
     
    #2 VikeMan, Aug 16, 2012
  3. Garlicjosh

    Garlicjosh Initiate (0) Jan 17, 2012 Pennsylvania

    kinda tough to give you the recipe when it's spread out amongst a full sheet (midwest brew supplies irish stout)
     
    #3 Garlicjosh, Aug 16, 2012
  4. mnstorm99

    mnstorm99 Initiate (0) May 11, 2007 Minnesota

    Edit: nevermind you replied...Wait it out, I would be suprised if a MW brew kit was off in color.
     
    #4 mnstorm99, Aug 16, 2012
  5. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Just the ingredients would do for starters if color is your major disappointment. Nobody will be able to help you without details. (And you did crush your grains, right?)
     
    #5 VikeMan, Aug 16, 2012
  6. Garlicjosh

    Garlicjosh Initiate (0) Jan 17, 2012 Pennsylvania

    6 lb. Dark liquid malt extract, 4 oz. Chocolate Malt, 4 oz. Caramel 10L, 4 oz. Roasted Barley, 4 oz. Flaked Barley specialty grain, 1 tsp. Gypsum, 1/2 oz. Nugget, 1 oz. Willamette pellet hops

    grains added at 150 and held at 155-60 for a half hour. Brought to boil, removed from boil, added malt extract and gypsum. Brought back to a boil and added 1/2 oz of bittering hops and boiled for an hour. Added 1oz of aroma hops at the last two min. of boil... cooled the wort. Pitched the yeast. Fermented strong for about 3 days, slowed down and let it go for a full two weeks even though the temp was higher than should have been.
     
    #6 Garlicjosh, Aug 16, 2012
  7. Garlicjosh

    Garlicjosh Initiate (0) Jan 17, 2012 Pennsylvania

    yep
     
    #7 Garlicjosh, Aug 16, 2012
  8. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    With those extracts/grains, you should have got at a color of at least 40 SRM, which is dark for a dry stout. Have a look at the 40 SRM swatch on this color chart (at the bottom of the page at this link)...

    http://www.thescrewybrewer.com/p/brewing-tools-formulas.html
     
    #8 VikeMan, Aug 16, 2012
  9. Eriktheipaman

    Eriktheipaman Pooh-Bah (2,303) Sep 4, 2010 California
    Pooh-Bah

    Did it look that way in the bucket as well as a small glass or hydrometer tube as well? I've noticed the opposite a lot where the beer will look all dark in the carboy but is a much lighter color once bottled and in a nice glass.
     
    #9 Eriktheipaman, Aug 16, 2012
  10. Garlicjosh

    Garlicjosh Initiate (0) Jan 17, 2012 Pennsylvania

    in the bucket it was really nice and dark. when it was traveling through the tube during the siphon i noticed it was really off. in the tube, I would say about 29 srm

    in a glass against light I've got this>
    [​IMG]
     
    #10 Garlicjosh, Aug 16, 2012
  11. jivex5k

    jivex5k Initiate (0) Apr 13, 2011 Florida

    Yeah that looks like a barelywine color.
     
    #11 jivex5k, Aug 16, 2012
  12. Garlicjosh

    Garlicjosh Initiate (0) Jan 17, 2012 Pennsylvania

    yeah kinda what i was thinking when I looked at it. dark in the middle but super redish brown as you travel out from it. Roasty notes are hardly there. Generally just frustrated with my first batch.
     
    #12 Garlicjosh, Aug 16, 2012
  13. 3rdto1st

    3rdto1st Initiate (0) Dec 1, 2011 California

    I get a 34 SRM if I put numbers in, but it also depends how big the batch was. For example if i put that you got 6 gal into the fermenter instead of 5, it goes to SRM 30, which would match your guess of 29. Know how big your batch was?
     
    #13 3rdto1st, Aug 16, 2012
    Eriktheipaman likes this.
  14. FarmerTed

    FarmerTed Pundit (928) May 31, 2011 Colorado

    My guess is that you left out the roasted barley, or maybe didn't steep it long enough or at the right temperature.
     
    #14 FarmerTed, Aug 16, 2012
    Eriktheipaman likes this.
  15. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Hard to say from the pic, but it sort of looks like the beer has a lot of yeast in suspension, which can make it look lighter.
     
    #15 VikeMan, Aug 16, 2012
  16. Eriktheipaman

    Eriktheipaman Pooh-Bah (2,303) Sep 4, 2010 California
    Pooh-Bah

    Also if it was premixed grain maybe they left something out? I would email Midwest just to see what they think. I'm not blaming them at all as maybe you topped off with too much water, but maybe they will have a suggestion.
     
    #16 Eriktheipaman, Aug 16, 2012
  17. kjyost

    kjyost Initiate (0) May 4, 2008 Canada (MB)

    Real stupid question, but are you sure they sent you the right extract (I'm assuming it's obvious - having never used dark extract) as that would vastly change the colour of the beer...
     
    #17 kjyost, Aug 16, 2012
  18. Garlicjosh

    Garlicjosh Initiate (0) Jan 17, 2012 Pennsylvania

    the extract was right. My batch was just over the 5 gallon mark on the side of my bucket. That was my next question, will it darken over the next two weeks - month?
    I will shoot them an email. Was thinking of doing it but didn't want to do such things while I was upset over it. I need to go get my hands on the oh so important brew knowledge books before my next batch. Thanks for all the help guys.
     
    #18 Garlicjosh, Aug 17, 2012
  19. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    To the extent it's due to suspended yeast, yes, they should eventually settle out. To the extent that the original extract/grains may not have had enough color, no, the color isn't going to change much over time. Well, I suppose oxidation might darken it a bit, but you don't want that.
     
    #19 VikeMan, Aug 17, 2012
  20. Garlicjosh

    Garlicjosh Initiate (0) Jan 17, 2012 Pennsylvania

    haha no I don't. I just shot midwest an email regarding it along with that picture and another. I just find it so strange that the kit has great reviews and this happened so it could have just been something I did that I didn't realize I did. Probably shouldn't kick myself too hard over my first.
     
    #20 Garlicjosh, Aug 17, 2012
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