Beer Color Calculator (SRM / EBC from Grain Bill)

How it works

MCU = Σ (lb × °Lovibond) ÷ US gallons; SRM = 1.4922 × MCU^0.6859 (Morey); EBC = SRM × 1.97

Beer colour is predicted from the grain bill by adding up malt colour units — the pounds of each malt times its Lovibond rating, per gallon of beer — and then compressing the total, because colour is not linear: doubling the dark grain does not double the darkness the eye perceives. Dan Morey’s power curve is the standard fit and works from pale lagers to stouts up to about 50 SRM, beyond which everything is simply black. EBC, the European scale, is roughly twice SRM. Actual colour also depends on boil length, wort pH and how much colour the crystal malts really deliver, so brewers expect the prediction to be within a couple of SRM.

Worked example

4.5 kg of 2 °L pale malt, 0.5 kg of 40 °L crystal and 0.25 kg of 120 °L dark crystal in 20 L (5.28 gal): MCU 24.6 → SRM 13.4, EBC 26 — medium amber.

Frequently asked questions