Hefeweizen LME beer is VERY dark

[CaliBrewnia]

I'm brewing my first beer and panicking a little. The local shop I went to had Breiss hefe LME and I used two 3.3lb containers as I read that 1-1.5lbs of LME should be used for every gallon of water. I like a more flavorful beer so I erred on the heavy side and used all the syrup.

However, the beer looks almost like a stout in the carboy. I used white labs hefeweizen liquid yeast. I pitched at about 75 degrees. The LME didn'the hit the bottom, my brother in law and I brewed it and were stirring quickly. I read that sometimes too little water can cause dark brews so we boiled the hops in 4 gallons of wort. Is the beer going to taste weird with how dark it is? Was my extract bad? I did get curious and taste a little... seemed fine.

I'm about 16 hours in and there is no bubbling yet. Back pressure sucked some sodium percarbonate sanitizer from my airlock into the carboy, maybe half an ounce in of 1tlbs/ gallon dilution. I switched to vodka in the airlock after that happened. Stick on thermometer my kit came with reads 64 degrees on the carboy. It is pretty cold where I am, even if the beer is in aneed indoor closet. Is the temp affecting fermentation? I don'the think the small amount of sanitizer affected it.

 

[Yooper]

Boiling extract darkens it, there is just no way around it. But the good news is that looking at beer through a carboy is different than through a glass- if you take a sample of the beer and put a bit in a glass you will see that it is much lighter than it appears in the carboy.

For you next batches, try adding the majority of the extract at flame out instead of during the whole boil, as that will reduce mallaird reactions- those darkening reactions that cause browning and a bit of caramel flavor.

 

[alexacuna]

I just did a LME Hef yesterday and noticed how dark it was, too. I used Crystal 30 for a little darker brew anyways (i'm usually more into stouts). Used DME on a previous batch and it was very typical hef color.

Also, It's a bit cooler right now and noticed that might explain the slow start for airlock activity. I've seen them start within an hour, or sometimes take up to 48 hours.

 

[CaliBrewnia]

Since I posted it has taken off and has a really thick foam, nearly up the neck of my 6 gallon carboy. It not bubbling in the carboy, just releasing co2 through the airlock now. Guess I'll let it sit for 2 weeks in my closet before bottling the see how it comes out, even if it's oddly dark hefe with some caramel notes.

 

[wyccad915]

Id say it was all the LME. If you do another hefeweizen in the future try DME.

 

[phil74501]

I brewed a Hef earlier this year. Even after it finished fermenting, bottling, and in the glass, it was kinda dark. Definitely not a pale. I think that may be how Hefs are.

 

[Where_the_Redfern_Brews]

I brewed a wheat beer yesterday and added half of the LME at the beginning of the boil and the rest with only 15 minutes left to try and help in keeping the color lighter. The color was nice so I think it definitely helped adding that second half in late in the boil.

 

[Subdivisions]

Just for future reference sodium percarbonate is one of the active ingredients in oxiclean. It's a cleaner, not a sanitizer. Stick with vodka or starsan in your airlock.