Anyone have any experience with this stuff? I’m in the process of formulating a partial mash Scotch Ale recipe. I’m also thinking peated malt, biscuit, heather tips, and WY1728 at this point.
I used it back in the day when I was still doing extract. Made for a very tasty “mocktoberfest”.
I’d recommend no more than .00000001 grams of peated malt. But that’s me ;) The rest sounds good.
Is that because you don’t like smoke in general, or the peated malt in particular? I ask because I use a pound of cherry-wood smoked malt in my gotlandsdricke and really like the results. I’ve got no experience with the peated malt.
I like smoke malts, but I don’t like peat-smoked malts. So, I agree with Tom. Any amount is too much.
I make a dopplebock with 100% rauch malt - I love smoked beers. But peated malt only belongs is whisky IMO, it easily overwhelms beer with just 2 oz.
+1 I remember an old post in HBD from the mid-'90s. Someone used a pound of peat-smoked malt and said their beer tasted like “an open grave.” I agree; maybe an ounce or two is all you’d ever need in a 5 gal batch, but my choice would be Weyermann rauchmalz instead. I wasn’t a fan of the Briess cherrywood, myself. However, the best smoked beers I’ve tried are ones where people home-smoked their own malt. I like good smoked beers but don’t like the taste of dirt.
+1 Peated malt imparts a very strong flavour, so use with extreme moderation. Or not at all.
I do like a peaty scotch (Laphroig being a favourite), though.
IMHO the proper amount of smoke in a Strong Scotch Ale is where you have to ask, Is That Smoke?
And do use something other than peated malt. Not more than 2 oz of Rauchmalt
I do like Smoke beers, just not in this style. But if you are not looking for stylistic accuracy go nuts.
Thanks a bunch for everyone’s input. I’m going to play it safe and go with a small amount of the Briess cherrywood smoked malt, which I know that I like a lot. Authenticity and BJCP guidelines are usually pretty far down on my priorities list compared to catering to my own personal tastes. I’ll probably do a secondary over oak chips as well.
To bring things back on topic, I understand that the LME is 50/50 pale 2-row/Munich. Does 6 lbs. of the LME per 5 gal. sound reasonable in a 1.080 OG recipe?
Credit where credit is due. The one comercial beer that I think properly uses peated malt is Sam Adams Scotch Ale. The reason… restraint. I once had a scotch ale from a John Harvards that had an overwhelming peat and all I could think was “dirty socks” in my life this may be one of the only non-infected beers that I couldn’t choke down.
I was looking around for some smoked beer ideas and came across this. The opinion of no peat smoked malt in a beer is a bit wrong IMHO… Stones Brewing Co. out of San Diego makes a very good smoked porter and they use Peat smoked malt in it. I would just say it’s a matter of taste preference and you should keep the amount low. Half pound or less in a 5 gal batch. ;D
Fixed it for you 
Have you ever used peated malt? You can do whatever you like, but if you’ve never used it I strongly recommend you use less than 1% in your grist. It should still be drinkable that way. 8 oz is 7 or 8 oz too much.
But you don’t have to take my word for it, brew a batch with 8 oz and let us know what you think. I hope you like it, but I’d be surprised.
This will be the first time I’ve ever posted a “+1”
And I mean it.
Hahahahaha. Nice, Tom. My opinion of peat smoked malt is like making a dry martini. Just walk through the room with an open bottle of vermouth (or bag of peat malt). Can’t stand the stuff. On the plus side, it’s a great way to study for the BJCP exam since it simulates “infected” really well.
I used 4oz of Peat Smoked in a Robust Porter. While the hydrometer sample when transferring to secondary tasted like someone had dumped an ashtray in it, by the time it was bottle conditioned, it was awesome.
What % of the grist? How many years did you age it? 50? 60? ;D
I’m glad you liked it, but the beers I’ve had with 4 oz of peated malt were mostly undrinkable. You’ve got to know your limits with peated malt. This is just a cautionary tale, peated malt is not a toy.
Dude looked like the love child of Eminem and Vanilla Ice backed up by the reanimated corpse of Joey Ramone.
There are two grades of peat smoked malts, and Stone uses the lower intensity one in the Smoked Porter. The intensity is the phenolic level. I really don’t care for the Stone Smoked Porter, though, and I loved smoked beers. Too acrid for me, and the aroma reminds me of the stinky muck fires that burned some summers when I was a kid - hated that smell.
2.56% Going through my notes, it looks like I had the balls to enter the thing in four comps…
“good example of a smoked beer… smoke is a little low”
“peat comes through but not as a prominent smoky flavor. Use more peat”
“The subtle peat is a nice addition”
“could use a little more smoke”