Melanoidin in Pale Ale

Had a long conversation tonight with a head brewer and at one point we started talking about the grain bill for a new pale ale they had on tap.

I thought it was fantastic, when I guessed the grain bill and mentioned crystal he quickly said “NO”. He doesn’t like it, and doesn’t use it in most of their beers. He did mention that this beer had melanoidin malt in the bill along with 2-row.

What’s been your experience with this malt?

It’s supposedly an alternative (a cheatsy shortcut if you insists) to doing a decoction mash (which I’ve never done -yet-). I’ve used it sparingly in a couple of brews to subtly amp the malt flavours. I reckon it could very well do just that in an IPA as well, though I wonder if it would suffice t provide the rich backbone you need for juicier IPAs.

Melanoidin malt is kind of like a really Munichy Munich Malt. So if Best Makes Munich I (regular) and Munich II (dark) them Melanoidin malt would kind of be like Munich III (if there was such a thing, which there klinda is - it’s called Melanoidin Malt).

yep i like melanoidin in my pale. at around 27 lovi add nice color. i also like carared and will use cara 45 sometimes.

+1

2-3% is about right for my taste in a pale, though I’ve used around 7% I think in an American Barleywine.  Very malty.

Yep, I like Keith’s thinking. A sort of super Munich.