My buddy and I made two batches of beer yesterday from the same mash. We did a 10gallon mash, splitting the wort into two 5-gallon batches. He was making a pale ale, and I chose to make an IPA.
Both beers boiled for 60min and cooled down at the same rate. The only 2 differences were:
Amount of hops used (Pale vs IPA)
He brewed his on a propane burner, and I did mine on the stove. His reached boiling temp almost 20min faster than mine.
The end result was that his beer is a very lovely pale (as expected), and my IPA is a darker amber.
We’re wondering what would cause the color difference? Is there possible “scorching” on my IPA to give it a darker color? Are hops able to, at all, affect the overall color of the beer? Could the speed at which the beer came to a boil be playing a role in the color?
Was the entire 10 gallons of wort run into one vessel, mixed, then divided? In other words, it’s not a batch of first runnings and a batch of 2nd runnings?
Were the boil-offs/starting volumes/original gravities the same?
The first runnings would be more concentrated and have more color.
I would say if you were to do it again pull all the wort (mash and sparge) into a single vessel. Mix it up and then split it up. This way you both actually have the same wort.
If you did the above then I would look into the possibility that you boiled a lot harder etc…
When you say stove, do you mean an electric stove? I remember reading way back that some carmelization could take place when using an electric stove. I know there are lots of folks out there who use electric, so maybe they could weigh in.
I brew on an electric stove and propane and sometimes my wood stove. I never split a batch between two heat sources but I have never noticed a difference, even with the same recipe.
How are you determining color? Are you looking at the two side-by-side in the exact same glass? Wort color in the fermenter can be drastically different than how the finished beer will look, and different fermenters will make the same beer appear different. Also - yes, the quantity of hops can certainly have an impact on the appearance of the wort. I’d withhold judgement until both beers are completely finished.
Did you take a separate OG reading from each batch? If one of the beers has a higher OG, then it should be darker. If that is the case, then I’ll echo the other suggestions that runnings concentration or boiloff rate are the most likely culprits.
suspended hop material will refract more light making the IPA appear darker. that’s my bet. once both beers are bright they will be very close indeed. unless you dry hop the IPA then all bets are off.
Longer boils (presumably longer heating) will develop more color but I think that Mort’s refraction theory is the principal difference. Let us know what happens when the beers are bright.
I would love to upload a photo, but I’m not sure how…There don’t seem to be any options for attaching an image. “insert image” doesn’t seem to do anything, and the “Attachments and other options” button doesn’t offer any way to attach an image…
Obviously we can’t say for sure, but to me it looks like the one on the left just has more yeast in suspension. I would guess that the IPA either is getting a slower start or is ahead of the pale in flocculation. Is there a difference in amount of yeast cake on the bottom?
I might be seeing an optical illusion but the carboy on the left seems to be taller and narrower than the one on the right. Between the more narrow cylinder on the left and the greater quantity of hops on the right you can account for most of the color difference. The real test will be in the glass.
A couple things, it looks like Slowbrew is right, the lighter color brew is in a narrower carboy and also closer to your light source. The darker brew appears to be in shadow. Also the darker has the carpet behind it while the lighter has the wall and heater register. Add to that the brew hauler that is also black and there are a lot of things that could be making the darker one look darker.
