Is there a way to approximate a small amount of Briess Special Roast in a recipe? A favorite recipe from the AHA site, Herbal Joe’s Best Bitter, calls for a small amount of Special Roast (8 oz in the recipe, I use 4 oz in a half-recipe). My LHBS discontinued it and the nearest LHBS (50 miles away) doesn’t carry it. I could order it online and bite the bullet on shipping fees, but I don’t feel strongly about this ingredient per se. At the quantities I brew, I wouldn’t meet minimum free shipping on any site I’ve seen so far, and I do like to patronize the LHBS.
I noticed that this recipe took NHC Gold for Best Bitter two years running (2021 and 2022), with slightly different ingredients (but the Briess Special Roast stayed constant):
I’ve heard Victory is the Briess term for Amber by most other malsters. Likewise, Special Roast is the Briess term for Brown by most other maltsters. Not exact but that’s due to a maltster’s effort to market product differentiation. Maybe your LHBS has Brown malt and you could ck it out.