I made two very close to identical one gallon batches. They both had the same amount of speciality grains seeped, although one had about 2 more ounces of DME.
One batch I seeped at around 155 for 15 minutes which turned out much darker than the second batch. The second batch I seeped for 15 minutes from about 100 degrees up to about 175.
Can the temp affect how much color I’ll get from grains?
which one had more DME? two ounces in a one gallon batch is significant.
sure the steep could affect how much color was extracted but my instinct is to say that it is not the answer in this case.
Also how was your boil in each? you get a fair amount of color in the boil
What he said, plus clarity can effect color.
It’s possible too that the higher temp steep dissolved more sugars out of the grains. Add to that the extra DME effects (was the extra DME one the darker one?)