What is the Morey formula?

Morey's equation is SRM = 1.4922 × MCU^0.6859, where MCU (Malt Color Units) = Σ(grain weight in lb × grain color in °L) ÷ volume in gallons. It is a power-law curve fit to brewing data that stays accurate across a wide color range.

Why not just sum the MCU directly?

Color does not add linearly. A simple MCU sum overestimates dark beers badly because color perception and light absorption are non-linear. Morey applies a power exponent of 0.6859 to compress high MCU values into realistic SRM figures.

How do I convert SRM to EBC?

EBC = SRM × 1.97 (commonly rounded to 1.97 or simply 1.97). This calculator shows both. EBC is the European color scale; an SRM of 10 is roughly EBC 20.

What Lovibond value should I use for each malt?

Use the color rating from your maltster's spec sheet, in degrees Lovibond (°L). Base malts are around 1.8–3 °L, crystal malts 10–120 °L, and roasted malts 300–550 °L. The screen swatch is approximate; real beer color also depends on clarity and serving glass.

Is Morey better than the Daniels or Mosher formulas?

Morey is the most widely used because it tracks observed SRM well across pale to dark beers. Daniels and Mosher diverge at the extremes. For cross-checking, use both Morey and Daniels and expect a few SRM of difference on dark beers.

SRM Beer Color Calculator (Morey)

This calculator predicts the color of your beer in SRM (Standard Reference Method) and EBC using Daniel Morey’s formula, the de-facto standard in modern brewing software. Enter each malt’s weight and Lovibond color along with the batch volume, and the tool returns a numeric SRM/EBC value plus an approximate on-screen color swatch.

How it works

Beer color starts from Malt Color Units (MCU), the volume-weighted sum of each grain’s color contribution:

MCU = Σ(weight_lb × color_°L) / volume_gal

Because light absorption is non-linear, raw MCU overstates dark colors. Morey fit a power curve to real brewing data:

SRM = 1.4922 × MCU^0.6859

EBC, the European scale, is then:

EBC = SRM × 1.97

Worked example

A simple amber ale in 5 gallons:

Grain	Weight (lb)	Color (°L)	MCU contribution
2-row pale	8	2	(8 × 2) ÷ 5 = 3.2
Crystal 60	1	60	(1 × 60) ÷ 5 = 12.0
Total			15.2 MCU

Apply Morey:

SRM = 1.4922 × 15.2^0.6859 ≈ 1.4922 × 6.55 ≈ 9.8 SRM
EBC = 9.8 × 1.97 ≈ 19.3 EBC

That places the beer in the amber range, which matches the recipe intent.

Tips and notes

Use post-boil volume. Boiling concentrates color, but it is the final packaged volume that determines how diluted the color appears.
The on-screen swatch is an approximation derived from SRM. Real perceived color depends on beer clarity, glass shape, and lighting.
For very dark beers (stouts, 40+ SRM) any formula is only a rough guide — visually they all read as “black.” Morey stays sensible far better than a raw MCU sum, which would balloon to absurd numbers.
Cross-check against the Daniels MCU formula for a second opinion on the same grain bill.