Beer Color Calculator (SRM & EBC)

SRM, EBC and °Lovibond

Three scales measure the same thing. SRM (Standard Reference Method) is used in the United States for beer. EBC is the European equivalent, and EBC ≈ SRM × 1.97. Degrees Lovibond is the older visual scale still printed on malt bags; for practical purposes °L and SRM are close enough to treat as interchangeable when reading a malt spec.

The Morey equation

Color is not additive — doubling the dark malt does not double the SRM. The standard approach is to work out malt color units first:

MCU = Σ (malt weight in lb × malt color in °L) / batch volume in gallons

then apply Morey’s correction, which is what turns MCU into something that matches what you actually see in the glass:

SRM = 1.4922 × MCU^0.6859

For a pale beer, MCU and SRM are close. For a stout they diverge sharply — the beer is opaque long before the arithmetic stops climbing.

SRM reference chart

Using it on a whole grain bill

Run each malt through separately, add the MCU figures together, then apply the Morey step to that total. A 5 kg base malt at 4 °L plus 300 g of chocolate malt at 350 °L is a very different beer from what either produces alone — and the dark malt dominates completely.

Inside Brewgravity this happens as you type, and the recipe shows the color against the target range for whichever BJCP style you are brewing.