🌾 SRM Color Calculator
Add each malt's weight and colour rating with your batch volume to predict your beer's SRM using the Morey equation — complete with an approximate colour preview.
🌾 Predict Your Beer Colour
What is an SRM Color Calculator?
It predicts the colour of your finished beer from the grains you plan to use. Enter each malt's weight and its colour in degrees Lovibond, along with your batch volume, and the calculator estimates the beer's SRM using the Morey equation — the model most homebrew software relies on.
Use it to hit a style's colour range, to see how a handful of dark malt will shift a pale base, or to match a commercial beer you're cloning. Because colour builds non-linearly, the tool sums each grain's Malt Colour Units before applying the Morey curve, then shows an approximate swatch of the result.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How does the SRM color calculator work?
For each malt it computes Malt Color Units (MCU) from the grain's colour in degrees Lovibond, its weight, and your batch volume. It sums the MCU across the whole grain bill, then applies the Morey equation — SRM = 1.4922 × MCU^0.6859 — which corrects for the fact that colour deepens non-linearly as you add darker or more malt.
What is SRM and how does it relate to EBC?
SRM (Standard Reference Method) is the scale used mainly in the US to describe beer colour, running from about 2 (pale straw) to 40+ (jet black). Europe uses EBC, which measures the same thing on a different scale; you can convert with EBC ≈ SRM × 1.97. A pale lager sits around 3–4 SRM, an amber ale near 10–17, and a stout above 30.
Why use the Morey equation instead of just adding up MCU?
Raw Malt Color Units overestimate colour once you get past very pale beers, because colour doesn't scale linearly — the first dark malt darkens the wort far more than the tenth. The Morey equation applies a power curve to MCU that matches observed beer colour much more closely across the full range, which is why it's the homebrew standard.
Will my beer look exactly like the predicted colour?
It's a close estimate, not a guarantee. Actual colour is also affected by boil length and intensity (Maillard browning), mash pH, water chemistry, oxidation, and even the depth of beer the light passes through. Use the SRM figure to compare recipes and target a style, and expect the glass to land close but not identical.