Cold Soaking Dark Grains To Adjust Your Beer Color

 It happens to all of us at some time. That beer that you wanted brown is copper instead or maybe your stout is just a shade more brown than black. What's a light in the color brewer to do? Do what the Germans do and make up a homemade batch of Sinamar, which is a Weyermann malt extract product used to adjust color.

    To produce your own, soak a pound of Carafa malt in a quart of cold water for 24 hours. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth, a fine mesh strainer or a coffee filter. The resulting black inky mixture can be saved in a sanitized jar for over a month.

    To use your new color extract, carefully pour a small amount into the brewpot, stir and pull a sample to look at the color. Keep adding small amounts of colorant until satisfied. tpb