I’m thinking of using 15L instead of Munich 9L in my dunkel. Any opinions on how it will change the taste? Grain bill below…
60% Munich (9 vs 15L)
35% Pilsner
2.5% Carafa II
2.5% Malanoiden
I have even used 100% Munich II. It becomes a richer, maltier beer, but within the BJCP style guidelines.
https://www.bjcp.org/beer-styles/4b-munich-dunkel/
Cheers!
I haven’t brewed dunkels, but what do you have to lose? It will still be a drinkable brew and everyone’s taste buds are different based on genetics and experience.
As an example in a different style, after reading mastering Homebrew by Randy Mosher, I started using brown malt --not a common ingredient in many published porter recipes–in my porter brews. I’ve yet to hear any dark beer fans say anything negative about it and I get a lot of compliments.
Another example, my local brew club had a very informal competition among the members for brewing a pale ale. We had about 15 entries and the method of judging was as follows:
The beers were lined up on a bar in no particular order and each member in attendance was given one colored ticket similar to those commonly used in raffle drawings. After ample time to sample each entry, you voted for your favorite by putting your ticket in front of the one you preferred. The winner was the one with the most tickets in front, but it only received three more votes than some of the others.
My point is, everyone’s taste buds are different; some will like the change, and some may not.
Just do it!
The reason I’m thinking about switching to a darker Munich is I brewed the original Dunkle with light Munich. It was really good, but then it started tasting much much much better. I realized the thermostat was out in my kegerator and the beer was about 1/3 frozen so what I was actually drinking was concentrated in flavor and alcohol. It was fantastic. So I’m trying to change the recipe recipe to get close to what that tasted like in gravity and increasing richness.