Disguising Light (coloured) Beers As Dark

[Phrak]

Hi guys,

Ok, here's an idea I've been thinking about.
Make a beer as you normally would - any old beer - but add enough choc or dark malt to the mash to make it look like coke once bottled. Bottle it into coke bottles (with the label still on) and take it to the beach/easter-show/footy/cricket or wherever else they frown upon or over-charge for beer.

So, is this the best way to darken the colour of the beer without affecting the flavour too much? Does anyone have the EBC code for coke? Any other ideas?

Has anyone done something similar and can share their tricks?

Cheers,
Tim.

 

[Voosher]

Now that Coke comes in those gold bottles it's just too easy.
:chug:
Previously I've been happy to brew porters, alts, stouts, bocks etc and live with a genuine dark beer.
If you're going to use something just for colour try something like Carafa II which gives a much softer flavour profile while still providing significant colour.

 

[Kai]

3-4% carafa special II is a good start.

 

[Beerpig]

Most sporting venues will open Coke bottles & give them a sniff

Cheers

 

[Phrak]

oh hey, don't get me wrong - I love my darks and would be happy with a genuine dark beer... but it some of the mates don't. It's easier to tell them it's just a normal "light" beer that's been coloured dark to evade scornful looks and security.

But Voosher, you have a very good point about the gold bottles! Time to invest

Thanks for the head-up on the carafa special II as well. All good info, keep it comin'!

Tim.

 

[NRB]

Most sporting venues will open Coke bottles & give them a sniff

Unless of course you get some PET back caps and fill a bottle of "Coke Zero" which has a black cap. They'll see the complete seal and leave it alone.

[edit] spelling of "unless"

 

[Jazman]

got to be quick withthe gold bottles as they were a promotional thing for the world cup i got a few so great or beer

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

Beer can pass for a variety of softdrinks.

Ginger beer, creaming soda, etc... even portello for your porters (even the name works :lol: ).
Depends on the colour, but you'll always find the right bottle at the supermarket

PZ.

 

[Adamt]

Kinda off topic... but this reminds me of pouring a glass of my dark ale, told my beer-hating brother it was coke, he took a good 2 or 3 swigs before he asked "what the hell is that?!"; and suddenly after realising it was beer said he didn't like it.

I reckon you could disguise a dark coloured beer in a Chinotto bottle pretty easy, that stuff is pretty bitter and feral.

 

[Beerpig]

Most sporting venues will open Coke bottles & give them a sniff

Inless of course you get some PET back caps and fill a bottle of "Coke Zero" which has a black cap. They'll see the complete seal and leave it alone.

They will still open them regardless of the seal .................. it's happened to me (luckily it was actually coke)

Just trying to save people the embarassment

Cheers

 

[homebrewworld.com]

Yep,
Did the old Stout in 2L Coke bottle many times at the cricket years ago. God it made test cricket good to watch!
But yeah as they say now they sniff ya brew!
No nose hair in my stout brother !!! :angry:

 

[Phrak]

hmmm, maybe coke bottled are too obvious. I guess it depends on the venue.

You could always go with one of those sporting "camel-pack" back-pack... The bladder in most of those can be disguised reasonably easily. You only then have to worry about keeping it cool.

 

[NRB]

They will still open them regardless of the seal .................. it's happened to me

Damn. I stand corrected. I haven't been to a ground for a while, but I've never been asked to open a "sealed" bottle with an intact tamper-evident seal.

 

[Weizguy]

Want colour without taste?
One word - Sinamar.
Saw it at a brew shop in Newcastle, so it's out there, if U want it.

There have been a few other threads on stealth beer storage. See the Beer Belly thread.

Seth

 

[Phrak]

Sinamar ey? Use the same ratio (3-4%) as kai suggested for carafa II?

 

[NRB]

Phrak, I think Sinamar is a liquid colouring agent, I read about it in BYO or Zymurgy last year. The details can be found here on the Weyermann site.

 

[Darren]

Now that Coke comes in those gold bottles it's just too easy.

Not for long though

cheers

Darren

 

[Darren]

If its beer into the footy that you want, a wine cask taped to your body would work just as well.

Carafa malts (or anything without a husk) would work well too.

cheers

Darren

 

[Weizguy]

Sinamar ey? Use the same ratio (3-4%) as kai suggested for carafa II?

I have read that U need a 100ml bottle to make a 19 litre batch 16 SRM darker.

Dunno what that means in Australian, but I'm sure that brewing software would help to decode it.

Jus' tryin' 2 help.
Seth

 

[Josh]

hmmm, maybe coke bottled are too obvious. I guess it depends on the venue.

You could always go with one of those sporting "camel-pack" back-pack... The bladder in most of those can be disguised reasonably easily. You only then have to worry about keeping it cool.

That's how my mate got his bottle of bourbon into the 2001 NRL GF. Man did I need a strong swig of that by halftime.

We find the hip flask in the pocket works much easier. Just take in a genuine bottle of coke and voila, something to drown the sorrows of another September choke.