Colour Converter

BrewCo Brew Tools

Convert between the most common methods for measuring beer colour — SRM, EBC and degrees Lovibond — with a live swatch preview.

How to use it

  1. Enter your colour value.
  2. Choose which scale it's in (SRM, EBC, or °Lovibond).
  3. See the converted values and an approximate colour swatch.
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What's the difference between SRM, EBC and Lovibond?

SRM is the US colour scale, EBC the European scale, and Lovibond an older scale still used for describing individual malts. Roughly, EBC = SRM × 1.97 — most UK maltsters publish EBC, most US recipes and software use SRM/Lovibond, so converting between them is a common task when following recipes from either side of the Atlantic.

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SRM, EBC and Lovibond explained

What it does: beer and malt colour is measured on three common scales. UK maltsters usually quote EBC, while American recipes and software usually use SRM for beer and degrees Lovibond for malts. This tool converts between all three and shows a rough colour swatch.

How to use it: type in the number from your recipe or malt spec, choose its scale, and read off the other two values.

The formula in plain words: EBC is about 1.97 times SRM. Lovibond is converted with the common formula SRM = (Lovibond × 1.3546) − 0.76, which works the other way too.

Worked example: an American recipe gives a beer colour of 10 SRM. That's about 19.7 EBC, or 7.9°L, which is a mid-amber, a typical pale ale or best bitter colour. Going the other way, a UK crystal malt listed at 150 EBC is about 76 SRM.

The swatch is a guide only. Real colour depends on glass size, light and how clear the beer is.

Frequently Asked Questions
Is EBC exactly double SRM?
Not quite. The usual conversion is EBC = SRM × 1.97, so doubling SRM gets you close enough for most recipes.
Why do malts use Lovibond and beers use SRM?
Lovibond is an older scale that is still used to describe malts, especially by American maltsters. SRM was designed to measure finished beer. At low colours the two numbers are similar.
Can I predict my beer's colour from the malts?
Roughly, yes. Recipe software estimates beer colour from each malt's colour, weight and your batch size. This tool simply converts a single number between scales.