What Went Wrong with my Tripel's Appearance

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by axeman9182, Apr 23, 2012.

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  1. axeman9182

    axeman9182 Initiate (0) Aug 5, 2009 New Jersey

    I brewed a hoppy tripel back in March that was bottled about a week ago. I opened a bottle tonight because I'm impatient and wanted to see how it's coming along, and while I'm relatively happy with the flavor, the color looks to be way off from what I was expecting/aiming for.

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    For the record, the grain bill consisted of 15#s of pilsner malt, .5# each of flaked wheat and aromatic malt, and 1.25#s of sugar (added near the end of the boil). According to Beersmith the color should be at 5.9SRM and be much closer to the golden/dark yellow color I was anticipating. I'm guessing one of these is the culprits:

    1) Beer darkened from scorching. This batch underwent a fairly sturdy 90 minute boil, and I haven't been stirring during my boils. From reading another thread, I was thinking maybe this could have darkened my wort.
    2) Beer darkened from use of hops (this beer used 2oz of hops in the boil, 2 at flameout, and two more for dry hop
    3) Beer darkened from the homebrew store including a different, darker grain by mistake. I don't think it was this one though, as my previous beer, a double IPA, had a similarly darker-than-expected look.

    Anyone have any insight?
     
    #1 axeman9182, Apr 23, 2012
  2. Tebuken

    Tebuken Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 Argentina

    What was the color at the moment you were bottling it?
     
    #2 Tebuken, Apr 23, 2012
  3. Patrick

    Patrick Initiate (0) Aug 13, 2007 Massachusetts

    It could be oxidation.
     
    #3 Patrick, Apr 23, 2012
  4. kjyost

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

    If AG, scorching is unlikely, I think you'd mean melanoidin formation... Hmmm... What is your water profile like? Your water profile (harder is tougher ) can affect your ability to produce a pale beer (hence Pilsen producing pale beers while Burton-on-Trent producing deeper 'pale' ales)
     
    #4 kjyost, Apr 23, 2012
  5. JCTetreault

    JCTetreault Initiate (0) Mar 19, 2008 Massachusetts

    That beer looks more like one made w a base of pale ale malt vs pils. Otherwise im stumped. Unless you added a whole lot of yeas nutrient?
     
    #5 JCTetreault, Apr 23, 2012
  6. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    Dirty glass? Kidding. I agree that the beer looks much darker than I would expect from all you said. Also stumped.
     
    #6 pweis909, Apr 23, 2012
  7. premierpro

    premierpro Savant (1,060) Mar 21, 2009 Michigan

    That looks pretty dark for your grain bill. My guess is someone gave you the wrong recipe. Were you there at the store when they packaged this?
     
    #7 premierpro, Apr 23, 2012
  8. telejunkie

    telejunkie Savant (1,107) Sep 14, 2007 Vermont

    do you remember if the aromatic malt looked like normal base malt or have a darker color...cause it looks like possibly special B was added and not aromatic.
    You don't need to stir during the boil.
     
    #8 telejunkie, Apr 23, 2012
    gdkersey likes this.
  9. PangaeaBeerFood

    PangaeaBeerFood Initiate (0) Nov 30, 2008 New York

    This is my thought. Every suggestion people have made thus far would contribute to a slightly darker than anticipated color. Given the malt bill you quote above and the beer in the photo, the only thing that would make THAT big of a color impact is a wrong ingredient. My guess is Special B in place or Aromatic, or a dark candi sugar in place of clear candi sugar.
     
    #9 PangaeaBeerFood, Apr 23, 2012
  10. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    Not sure I can add anything to this, but you've got quite a bit of yeast in that glass as well which will make it look darker than that same beer cleared. Looks really muddy. Maybe give it some time to finish carbing, and awhile in the fridge to drop clear before you make a full judgement on the color. I doubt it will become golden, but it might get closer w/o all that yeast in there. I did a tripel last year and the yeast in that was dark brown and clumpy from the start and just wouldn't clear. A brewpub here in town just did a Belgian Single that the yeast didn't clear on and it was much darker than it should have been as well.
     
    #10 jbakajust1, Apr 23, 2012
  11. axeman9182

    axeman9182 Initiate (0) Aug 5, 2009 New Jersey

    Thanks for the feedback everyone. I ordered my ingredients from Brewmaster's Warehouse, so I wasn't there when they packaged everything up

    Yeah, I'm hoping a couple weeks to carb and some time in the fridge will improve things somewhat, but I wanted to get some feedback now as I'm brewing what should be another light colored beer (a wit) today and wanted to see if there was anything on my end that might be causing it.
     
    #11 axeman9182, Apr 23, 2012
  12. telejunkie

    telejunkie Savant (1,107) Sep 14, 2007 Vermont

    At next tasting see if you can get any slight raisin/plum flavors out of the beer. To me, it would be easy for the guy packing the grains to confuse Belgian Special B with a Belgian Aromatic in his head. Mistakes like that can & will happen on the shipping end and as always we learn from mistakes. Learning to identify when mistakes occur and stop them before they affect the outcome is the key. If that is indeed what happened...have no fear, the beer will still will be excellent, just not a BSGA.
     
    #12 telejunkie, Apr 23, 2012
  13. sergeantstogie

    sergeantstogie Initiate (0) Nov 16, 2010 Washington

    It's ugly but ...does it taste good? Man, that statement reminds me of high school
     
    #13 sergeantstogie, Apr 23, 2012
    drperry11 likes this.
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