What Are The Various Factors That Affect The Color Of Craft Beer?

Craft beer equipment is a very popular equipment in recent years, because more and more people like to drink craft beer. Craft beer is brewed only with malt, hops, yeast and water, without adding any artificial additives, and the production process is relatively traditional. Since craft beer contains more malt ingredients and more hops in the brewing process of craft beer equipment, the brewed wort is not only higher in concentration, but also rich in flavor and color.
The color of craft beer is expressed in chromaticity units. The main reason for the discoloration of craft beer is the oxidation and polymerization of caramel, melanin and polyphenols produced during malt roasting and wort brewing. So what are the various factors that affect the color of craft beer?
1. Malt
An important raw material for beer is malt, especially barley, and in most cases, grains such as wheat, oats, and rye can also be used. The grain itself has a certain color, mainly yellow, such as various domestic green sticks and foreign ones, which come from the basic color brought about by the germination and drying of barley malt. The barley used to make malt can take on different colors depending on the variety and is also directly affected by the malting process. During baking, the air humidity is too high and the temperature is too high to burn, thus forming a large amount of melanin. If barley has more polyphenols, the malt it produces will appear darker in color.
If the malt dissolves too much, the content of sugar and low molecular amino acids will also increase. At the same time, when barley is germinated, its rich protein and starch are decomposed into soluble amino acids and sugars, which can provide more Maillard. The reactive components accelerate the leaching of the pigment substances. It is worth noting that the color of malt is the main condition to determine the color of beer. Generally, under relatively fixed brewing conditions, the color of wort and beer can be adjusted by adjusting the color of malt and using different proportions of raw materials.
2. Hops
The hops have been stored for too long, or have been oxidized and deteriorated. Excessive phenolic acids, catechins, anthocyanins and other substances will cause the bitter taste of beer and deepen the color of beer. Good hops should be yellow-green, and aged oxidized hops will turn brown or red; the tannins and iron salts in hops are blue-black, and the tannins turn into red tannins after oxidation. It adds color to the beer. In addition, excessive hops and different addition times will also affect the color of beer to a certain extent.
3. Brewing water
If the carbonate content in the water is too high, the color of the mash will increase, which will increase the color of the grape juice. In addition, if the pH value of the preparation water is too high or the water quality is too harsh, it will increase the possibility of leaching of pigment substances, and even cause excessive dissolution of polyphenols. Therefore, soften the water and adjust the pH before brewing beer.
The color of beer in craft beer equipment appears to be colored. You can find the reason from the above-mentioned malt, hops and brewing water. Because barley contains a lot of polyphenols, the color of wine produced by it will appear darker. Excessive hops and different addition times will also affect the color of beer to a certain extent. At the same time, the pH value of brewing water will also affect the color of brewed wine.