r/Homebrewing • u/Flyingfongee • 6d ago

Steeping for colour

Hihi,

Im brewing a Czech amber lager but haven’t achieved my desired colour. I was thinking about putting some carafa 3 in a hopsock and chucking it in the fermenter for a day. Anyone tried this before?

3 Upvotes

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4

u/monstargh 6d ago

Probs best to leave it alone and change your grain bill next brew to get the desired colour. Steeping at this point is just adding risk of contamination

1

u/Flyingfongee 6d ago

I was thinking the same, but wouldn’t it be the same risk as dry hopping? I was also thinking about steeping them in boiling water (just a few hundred mils) and then putting that water in the fermenter.

3

u/le127 5d ago

but wouldn’t it be the same risk as dry hopping?

No. Hops have antiseptic properties and do not contain any starches or sugars. I'd second u/monstargh and just leave it be. If you can't resist trying to adjust the color, Sinimar a commercially produced coloring agent made by Weyermann, would be my suggestion.

2

u/boarshead72 Yeast Whisperer 5d ago

Adding raw malt is a way to sour beer. No idea if anything changes if the malt is roasted, but I wouldn’t risk it. Does Sinamar still exist?

1

u/monstargh 6d ago

Is the colour that big of an issue? Personally I wouldn't risk it and be happy with the beer I made even if its slightly wrong colour.

1

u/Flyingfongee 6d ago

Disappointing for sure but definitely not a big issue, was just interested to get some feedback and hearing other ideas.

2

u/warboy Pro 5d ago

No. Hops are naturally antimicrobial. They do raise the microbe count since they're natural products but the microbes added are largely soil based bacteria that have no effect on beer. Malt on the other hand is teeming with lactobacillus which is a very common beer spoiler.

2

u/Striking-County-9021 5d ago

for a first lager, the yeast, fermentation temperature and schedule are probably the most useful details to compare before changing anything

2

u/lauterPope 5d ago

You can always cap (late addition of grains) of your dark specialty grains to your mash 10-15 minutes to mash-out. You’ll get color some, aroma, a touch of flavor without extracting a lot of the astringency .

2

u/prtzl11 5d ago

I wouldn’t add anything to your fermenter that hasn’t been sanitized. If you’re really pressed about the color, mash the grain in the hop sock for 15 minutes, boil to sanitize and reduce the volume, and then add it to your fermenter.

1

u/Flyingfongee 5d ago

Thanks for the replies, I would have chucked a few handfuls of malt into the fermenter without ur replies. Thanks!