Beer Colours: A Quick Guide to the Factors Determining Them

It is an interesting aspect to assess the quality of craft beer through its colour or the colour of the beer bottle. However, do these aspects have a connection with finding the best beer? Let us explore more about it.

Beer bottle colour and taste connection

Along with the knowledge of beer colours, it is important to know about the beer bottle colour and best colour for beer bottles. Since the 19th century, fresh beer is being packaged in clear bottles while modern technology has advanced its right usage. Around the time of the Second World War, when it was detected that these clear bottles let the sunlight pass through them and lead to a reaction with alpha acids in beer hops, the use of these bottles was reduced.

It happened because the reaction produced MBT (3-methyl-2-butene-thiol), a chemical compound that led to the beer’s skunky taste. Soon, the trendy green bottles and the most light-blocking brown bottles started replacing the clear bottles. However, the beer companies today also make use of the clear bottles that come with a light protective coating. Thus, the beer taste does not get affected by beer bottle colour, whether you are drinking from a clear bottle or a brown bottle that makes it the best colour for beer bottles.

Causation of different beer colours

After discussing the beer bottle colour and the best colour for beer bottles, let us review some of the major factors that determine the colour of the beer itself.

• Grain: Whether you enjoy the light lager, pilsner, porter or pale ale, the beer colour should be red at the molecular level. The reason you see the golden or brown colour in many of these beer varieties is the change brought to the grain. This change in the grain’s red pigmentation is brought through certain chemical processes.

• Chemical processes: Explore the Castle Malting beer or any other craft beer at a microbrewery and you will notice a variety of colours that alter with every beer type. While the connoisseurs can recognise hundreds of flavours through these colours, you also should be able to determine many. These colour changes are the result of two main chemical reactions, Maillard and caramelisation.

Due to intense heat, the amino acids link to the sugars when Maillard reactions take place. This results in several beer colours, aromas, and flavours. The browning process for grain is similar to the browning of your toast. The temperature and time matter the most to receive a specific flavour in Castle Malting beer. On the other hand, caramelisation reactions lead to a conversion of the starch into sugars and then the breaking apart of sugars at high temperatures. As the name suggests, you receive caramelised flavours, from coffee to toffee.

• Oxidation: It is an alert to maintain the right colour of the beer. If there is oxidation (oxygen interaction) of beer, its original colour and even the taste and flavours may get severely affected.

• Ageing: This factor causes the suspended particles in beer to collect at the vessel’s bottom. Resultantly, you can gather the remaining finer and darker craft beer.

• Additional factors: Whether we talk about Castle Malting beer or beer from any other craft brewery, it also receives a special colour due to factors like hops, yeast strain, pH level, and boiling duration. Other speciality ingredients used to flavour the beer also play a role in colour changes.

Although the above-mentioned factors impact the beer colour, it does not mean that you can easily judge the taste and flavours of beer solely by its colour. Colour just offers probabilities.