Why Is My Lager So Dark?

[clatty]

Hi All

Just wondering if anyone could shed some light on why my brew has turned out alot darker than anticipated?

I was going for an easy quaffing lager.


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 21.00 L
Boil Size: 30.44 L
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 6.1 EBC
Estimated IBU: 18.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.60 kg Pilsner, Malt Craft Export (Joe White) (3.Grain 100.00 %
20.00 gm Hallertauer, New Zealand [7.00 %] (90 minHops 18.5 IBU
10.00 gm Hallertauer, New Zealand [7.00 %] (0 min)Hops -
1 Pkgs Southern German Lager (White Labs #WLP838)Yeast-Lager


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 4.60 kg
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
90 min Mash In Add 14.00 L of water at 69.2 C 64.0 C


Notes:
------
Mash pH 5.2, temp 64

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just moved it to the kegerator to carb up and I took a sneaky sample. To my surprise it turned out like this

I'm thinking i must have mixed the kegs up but after triple checking that is not the case.
This is the second generation WLP838. The first brew i put down with the WLP838 was 85% pils 15% munich and it was nowhere near this colour.
It smells fine but tastes harsh (not sure how to describe) I brewed it on the 2nd Jan so I wouldn't think it would be green?
I'm starting to think it may be infected? Is there an infection that darkens the colour of a beer?

 

[Muggus]

It smells fine but tastes harsh (not sure how to describe) I brewed it on the 2nd Jan so I wouldn't think it would be green?
I'm starting to think it may be infected? Is there an infection that darkens the colour of a beer?

Interesting.
Two possibilities come to mind for me: caramelisation and oxidisation.

What was the colour of the wort like before fermentation? Did you do an extended or intense boil?
An intense, long boil, may have caramelised or even burnt your wort...and being really sweet to begin, the burnt character may have been masked. That's one possibility.

The other thing that come to mind is oxidisation, which will inevitably dark/brown all beer with time, but its particularly obvious with pale styles.

 

[clatty]

Interesting.
Two possibilities come to mind for me: caramelisation and oxidisation.

What was the colour of the wort like before fermentation? Did you do an extended or intense boil?
An intense, long boil, may have caramelised or even burnt your wort...and being really sweet to begin, the burnt character may have been masked. That's one possibility.

The other thing that come to mind is oxidisation, which will inevitably dark/brown all beer with time, but its particularly obvious with pale styles.

Hi Muggus, honestly I cannot remember the colour of the wort before fermentation. I'm pretty sure it was normal otherwise I would have noted it. I did filter the beer too and I can't recall the beer being that dark. The boil was for 90mins with the usual 2400w immersion heater which I have done previously without problems.

Maybe oxidisation is the culprit. I filtered the beer straight into the keg (with lid off) from the cold fermenter without filling the keg with Co2, but I did purge the keg once it was full then put it in the fridge to condition.

Hmm... has got me buggered. I've taken the keg out of the kegerator and put it back in the fridge to ponder on it for awhile.

Anyway thanks for the suggestions.

Cheers
clatty