What's went wrong?

[Blinky]

I brewed what was supposed to be a pale ale with pale malt and caramel and a touch of wheat. It all looked ok when brewing and looked from what I can remember pale enough. Bottled a couple of weeks ago and I opened the first tonight - it looks like a Scottish 80 shilling, it's so dark! What's went wrong? Only thing I can think of is I got the wrong ingredients from the brew shop? It's got a **** loads of hops in it and I was really expecting it to be really really hoppy but it's not. I'm gutted! Thinking of onestly giving this brewing up as I just can't seem to make a hoppy brew and I'm sure a few other of my pale ales have also turned out darker than when I brewed them now I think of it. Could it be an infection.
Here's the recipe btw http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/437306/-better-offer-2

 

[Gerryjo]

You must have your recipe locked to private as there is no access.

Sent from my Hudl 2 using Tapatalk

 

[MickDundee]

How dark was your crystal malt?

 

[Blinky]

Here is a link to the shared recipe http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/437306/-better-offer-2
The malt was 9.9-15 lovibond http://www.brewstore.co.uk/simpsons-caramalt

 

[terrym]

Here is a link to the shared recipe http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/437306/-better-offer-2
The malt was 9.9-15 lovibond http://www.brewstore.co.uk/simpsons-caramalt

I have today posted about using Crystal Malt http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=652657#post652657
The EBC 140 malt I used produced beers similar to yours, the EBC 82 did not. My guess is you have been supplied the wrong Crystal Malt. If it's quite sweet then that may well be another clue.
That said, if it tastes OK, I would not get distracted by the colour, I would just drink it :thumb:

 

[Blinky]

Does not drink ok, there is no massive happiness ispts basically non existent and the beer although ok has slightly spicy taste but the main thing is it neither looks nor tastes like a pale ale. This I reckon is at least the third batch with the same issue. Did a punk clone at Christmas and it took a couple more weeks but has now gone the same way. I have no idea what's going wrong!

 

[Ajhutch]

That doesn't look like you would expect it to given the grain bill so the wrong crystal malt is a possibility. Maybe try to brew the recipe again exactly the same but with no crystal malt and see where that is in terms of colour and calibrate from there. If you still don't get the hoppiness you're after then potentially you've got bad hops, do you keep them in the freezer and how long did you have them before brewing this?

What is your boiling method, stove/electric kettle, inside/outside? Do you have a particularly vigorous boil or find you have to top up afterwards because of unexpected boil off? If you have an electric boiler does the element get scorched? To reduce colour change in the boil and given all your hops are late additions you could consider dropping the length of the boil to 45 or maybe even 30 minutes, though you'd need to be sure your boil was vigorous enough if doing that.

 

[IainM]

I doubt it is an infection. Like the others I suspect it is either you were given the wrong grain, or more likely it is scorching in kettle. My peco element is a nightmare for this. My worst affected batch was also a pale, it also came out dark, the scorching also muted the hops, and it also gave a distinctive spicy taste which made me initially think it was an infection. Take a look at my 'does this sound like an infection?' thread and the pics in my brew day thread.

My suggestion is to make sure the element is really clean - scrubbing and acid are you friends. After an initial scrub, soak it in cheap distilled vinegar or strong citric acid solution for a couple of days, then scrub again. If you can, try a vorlauf too, which will remove some of the particle which get stuck to the element. Finally, reduce your boil time. I did a pale yesterday with a 35min boil, and even then it was starting to scorch.

 

[BeerCat]

John Bull IPA kit is that colour. Don't give up though. I have made loads of crap beers but love brewing too much to let it bother me. Best of luck.

 

[Blinky]

But it was only in the bottle that it changed colour? Out of th boiler and fermenter it looked and tasted fine....
It's an electric boiler I have though with a big kettle element but as I say it seemed fine after the boiler and fermenter. Just went to the brew store and bought 2 new plaster fermenters and a stainless steel paddle so that's all the plastic replaced.

 

[Robin54]

I have today posted about using Crystal Malt http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=652657#post652657
The EBC 140 malt I used produced beers similar to yours, the EBC 82 did not. My guess is you have been supplied the wrong Crystal Malt. If it's quite sweet then that may well be another clue.
That said, if it tastes OK, I would not get distracted by the colour, I would just drink it :thumb:

I think Terry has hit the nail on the head there. The higher EBC malts will give your beer a very back sweet taste, which, personally I don't find very pleasant.

 

[Blinky]

Well i asked for caramalt today, that's light and not a dark crystal malt. As I say, coming out the boiler and fermenter it's fine, lovely golden colour, only after being in the bottle 2 weeks has the colour darkened

 

[wfr42]

Clear or brown bottles?

If they're clear make sure they're stored out of sunlight.

Does anyone know if skunking can affect colour - I've never had it?

Just a thought.

 

[Ajhutch]

I've done some reading up. The American forums are shouting one word at me loud and clear: oxidation. So bottling practices, use a bottom filling wand, no splashing and make sure your caps are tightly sealed. Your carbonation level looks ok in the picture but is it as high as you had expected? If not, then it could be a cap issue. If carbonation is ok then your problem is somewhere in the transfer from FV to bottle. Oxidation will kill hop flavour and darken the beer.

This was not the only thread I found on this but is indicative.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=527061

 

[Fil]

not i supose a mislabeled bottle??

i had an unexpected dark brown brew quite a few years back and it turned out i had mislabled a crate.. DOH!!

 

[Grizzly299]

But it was only in the bottle that it changed colour? Out of th boiler and fermenter it looked and tasted fine....
It's an electric boiler I have though with a big kettle element but as I say it seemed fine after the boiler and fermenter. Just went to the brew store and bought 2 new plaster fermenters and a stainless steel paddle so that's all the plastic replaced.

Darkening can occur as a result of the beer being oxidised, though darkening to that degree seems a bit extreme. If it was fine in the fermenter, perhaps it's worth examining your priming and bottling process.

 

[Grizzly299]

I've done some reading up. The American forums are shouting one word at me loud and clear: oxidation. So bottling practices, use a bottom filling wand, no splashing and make sure your caps are tightly sealed. Your carbonation level looks ok in the picture but is it as high as you had expected? If not, then it could be a cap issue. If carbonation is ok then your problem is somewhere in the transfer from FV to bottle. Oxidation will kill hop flavour and darken the beer.

This was not the only thread I found on this but is indicative.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=527061

Missed this. But if it's changing colour post bottling then oxygen is likely the culprit.

 

[Blinky]

Just in my second one this evening, these ones seem not to bad, not as light in colour as I would expected but a lot better, guess there must have been a few that maybe never sealed correctly and oxidised in the bottle!