About this tool
The Beer Color Calculator is a free, in-browser homebrewing tool that predicts the finished color of your beer from its grain bill. Enter your batch volume and the weight and color rating of up to three malts, and it returns the color in SRM (Standard Reference Method), EBC (European Brewery Convention), and degrees Lovibond, along with a live on-screen swatch of the expected shade. Both US units (pounds and gallons, °Lovibond) and metric units (kilograms and liters, EBC malt) are supported. Everything is computed locally in your browser.
The method first finds each malt's Malt Color Units: MCU = grain color (°Lovibond) × weight (lb) / volume (gal), summed across the grain bill. The total MCU is then run through the widely used Morey equation, SRM = 1.4922 × MCU^0.6859, which stays accurate across pale-to-dark beers where a straight linear estimate overshoots. EBC is SRM × 1.97 and beer Lovibond ≈ (SRM + 0.76) / 1.3546. Metric inputs are converted first — weight lb = kg × 2.20462, volume gal = L × 0.264172, and grain °Lovibond = EBC ÷ 1.97 — so the underlying calculation is identical.
As a worked example, 9 lb of 2 °L base malt plus 1 lb of 60 °L crystal and 0.5 lb of 350 °L roasted malt in 5 gallons gives about 51 total MCU and roughly 22 SRM (about 43 EBC) — a deep amber-brown. Predicted color assumes normal boil caramelization; a long, hard boil or decoction darkens the wort beyond the estimate, and the color of the final beer can look lighter in a thin glass than in the fermenter.