Halloween Ale is way too blonde

[TheArmada]

Hey guys,

I was aiming for a brownish Halloween Pumpkin Ale to drink tonight but couldn't resist and cracked open my bottles yesterday.

It was a small 1-gallon batch with a OG of 1.048. The beer was just fine and I felt the alcool buzz. The problem was the color. I wanted a brownish ale but it turned out as a blonde. The recipe was;

Type: All Grain
Yeast: 7 g of dry Cooper's yeast
Batch: 1 Gal
OG: 1.048
35 mins boil

Malt Profile:
2.4 lbs of Pale Malt
2.4 lbs of Munich Malt
60 mins @ 156 F

Additions:
0.3 oz Centennial (8.5%) after 10 mins (Pellets)
1 sliced pumpkin after 15 mins
Irish Moss after 15 mins
0.3 oz Centennial (8.5%) after 20 mins (Pellets)
2 teaspoons cinnamon after 35 mins
1 teaspoon ginger after 35 mins
half a cup of table sugar after 35 mins

Fermentation was 2 weeks in primary and 1 week in bottle.

I thought the Munich malt would bring out a brownish color ? Was it the short boil ?

 

[BlackGoat]

you used two pale (well munich is typically pale-ish) malts. If you wanted a darker color a teeny bit of roasted or black malt would make a color adjustment, or throwing in some C60 crystal or chocolate malt would help a bit. Sounds like the pumpkin didn't add much color, and I wouldn't have expected the spices to add any color either.

 

[brokebucket]

Just curious, why the short boil?

 

[TheArmada]

I seriously thought the Munich would add some color. Guess I was misinformed. Didn't expect the Pumpkin or spices to bring out any color really, it was all about the Munich ! My bad.

As for the boil, not sure really, I usually boil for 60 mins but I guess I just got impatient on brewing day... or something. Will definitely get it up to 60 mins next year! And will use some darker malts...

 

[BlackGoat]

Dark munich would have added some color, but its harder to find in most local homebrew shops... and even then its still only about a 10L so its still on the lighter side. Its really important that you boil for at least 45-60 minutes when doing all-grain to boil off DMS precursors, not to mention getting the proper bittering levels from your early hop additions if sticking to a recipe. If time/impatience is an issue, you might be better off with extract + steeping grains where you can get away with a short boil.