Smoked Barleywine

[zwalter]

Just looking to get some feedback on this recipe I’m concocting.  This will be my first time using smoked malt and I don’t want to overdo it.

If anyone has ever had the Nøgne Sunturnbrew, trying to do something similar.

Batch - 5.5
OG - 1.100
FG  - 1.021
IBU - 66
SRM - 28.1

6 lbs        Marris Otter    (30%)
5 lbs        Smoked Malt    (25%)
4 lbs 5 oz Rye                  (22%)
3 lbs 8 oz Belgian Wheat  (17%)
0 lbs 8 oz Chocolate        (2.5%)
0 lbs 8 oz Roasted Barley (2.5%)

60 minute - Chinook    1 oz
20 minute - Columbus 1 oz
10 minute - Columbus 1 oz
  5 minute - Amarillo    1 oz

WLP 001 California Ale (existing cake from Session IPA - OG 1.050)

90 minute mash @ 152
Mash Water = 8 gallons (1.25 qt/lb)
Sparge Water = 2.7 gallons

From my research it seems they use 1/3 of the grain bill as Rauchmalt - I decreased this because that seemed like a lot to me.  Any and all comments/thoughts are welcome.  Thanks!

[ajk]

The trouble with smoked malt is the level of smoke varies greatly with the age of the malt. Which smoked malt were you thinking of using? Weyermann?

One thing to be very careful of with any smoked beer is to ensure your water contains no chlorine or chloramines.  That usually means starting with RO water or treating your tap water with something like potassium metabisulfite (Campden).  Chlorine or chloramine in your water will result in the wrong kind of phenol in resulting beer (Band-Aid instead of smoky).

[reverseapachemaster]

@ajk

The trouble with smoked malt is the level of smoke varies greatly with the age of the malt. Which smoked malt were you thinking of using? Weyermann?

One thing to be very careful of with any smoked beer is to ensure your water contains no chlorine or chloramines.  That usually means starting with RO water or treating your tap water with something like potassium metabisulfite (Campden).  Chlorine or chloramine in your water will result in the wrong kind of phenol in resulting beer (Band-Aid instead of smoky).

All of this. Try to get smoked malt from whatever shop you have available that is most likely to have the most grain turnover so you can get the freshest smoked malt you can. The older the grain the more smoke flavor will mellow into a musty smoke and eventually there will only be a hint of stale smoke. It takes a long time to reach that final destination but freshly smoked malt will be far more intense than grain months old.

[troybinso]

@reverseapachemaster

@ajk

The trouble with smoked malt is the level of smoke varies greatly with the age of the malt. Which smoked malt were you thinking of using? Weyermann?

One thing to be very careful of with any smoked beer is to ensure your water contains no chlorine or chloramines.  That usually means starting with RO water or treating your tap water with something like potassium metabisulfite (Campden).  Chlorine or chloramine in your water will result in the wrong kind of phenol in resulting beer (Band-Aid instead of smoky).

All of this. Try to get smoked malt from whatever shop you have available that is most likely to have the most grain turnover so you can get the freshest smoked malt you can. The older the grain the more smoke flavor will mellow into a musty smoke and eventually there will only be a hint of stale smoke. It takes a long time to reach that final destination but freshly smoked malt will be far more intense than grain months old.

While I agree you want to use fresh malt, I don’t understand how you can expect to get fresh malt. There is no telling how fresh your malt is from the homebrew store.

[erockrph]

@troybinso

@reverseapachemaster

@ajk

The trouble with smoked malt is the level of smoke varies greatly with the age of the malt. Which smoked malt were you thinking of using? Weyermann?

One thing to be very careful of with any smoked beer is to ensure your water contains no chlorine or chloramines.  That usually means starting with RO water or treating your tap water with something like potassium metabisulfite (Campden).  Chlorine or chloramine in your water will result in the wrong kind of phenol in resulting beer (Band-Aid instead of smoky).

All of this. Try to get smoked malt from whatever shop you have available that is most likely to have the most grain turnover so you can get the freshest smoked malt you can. The older the grain the more smoke flavor will mellow into a musty smoke and eventually there will only be a hint of stale smoke. It takes a long time to reach that final destination but freshly smoked malt will be far more intense than grain months old.

While I agree you want to use fresh malt, I don’t understand how you can expect to get fresh malt. There is no telling how fresh your malt is from the homebrew store.

You can’t know for sure, but a shop that has a lot of turnover is more likely to have fresh malt on hand. A small mom & pop shop may go through a sack a year, while a shop like MoreBeer or Northern Brewer may go though a couple sacks a month. Yes, you could get to either place the day they open their sack, but you are far less likely to get old malt from the major retailer.

[troybinso]

Yeah, I guess the open sack thing is key. It’s not like Briess is making new batch of cherrywood smoked malt every day. For all I know, they might only do one huge batch in the fall and then package and sell it all from the same lot.

[jeffy]

It is fun and rewarding to smoke your own malt.  You don’t have to get as fancy as I have with a cold smoking box.  You can smoke a little over a rotisserie type deal or put the malt in a cardboard box and send smoke into it.  The colder the smoke the better for me as it doesn’t change the character of the malt as much as roasting over direct smoke, but if you are using it in a beer with some roast flavors it won’t be too much of an issue.
If you do smoke your own you can use whatever wood you want.  My favorite is pecan, but I’ve used citrus, maple, alder, beech, and some others.  They’re all good.  In a barleywine I think pecan would be lovely, especially if you smoked Munich malt.

[hopfenundmalz]

@jeffy

It is fun and rewarding to smoke your own malt.  You don’t have to get as fancy as I have with a cold smoking box.  You can smoke a little over a rotisserie type deal or put the malt in a cardboard box and send smoke into it.  The colder the smoke the better for me as it doesn’t change the character of the malt as much as roasting over direct smoke, but if you are using it in a beer with some roast flavors it won’t be too much of an issue.
If you do smoke your own you can use whatever wood you want.  My favorite is pecan, but I’ve used citrus, maple, alder, beech, and some others.  They’re all good.  In a barleywine I think pecan would be lovely, especially if you smoked Munich malt.

+1 smoking your own malts assures freshness, and different wood varieties is another knob that you can fiddle with.

[klickitat_jim]

Oh, and keep it away from my Scottish! Peat smoked malt is for Scottish beers that are brewed in France where they are not known for beer or peat…

[zwalter]

Yes, will be using weyermann.  Hopefully I got some fresh sacks from the store.  Maybe next time I do a smoked I’ll try my own smoking, but a bit advanced for me right now.  Thanks for the campden info, will be utilizing them.

Also, update - Will be using Special B in place of the chocolate for more flavor contribution, if it will even come through with that much smoked.

[morticaixavier]

@zwalter

Yes, will be using weyermann.  Hopefully I got some fresh sacks from the store.  Maybe next time I do a smoked I’ll try my own smoking, but a bit advanced for me right now.  Thanks for the campden info, will be utilizing them.

Also, update - Will be using Special B in place of the chocolate for more flavor contribution, if it will even come through with that much smoked.

those are two very different malts. chocolate is a roasted malt while special be is a very dark caramel malt. not saying it will be bad but they are not interchangeable if you are expecting a similar result. Chocolate malt gives a light roasty, coffee, chocolate flavor and a perception of dryness like a dark roast coffee. Special b is more of a dark fruit, caramel, toffee note.

[zwalter]

Thanks, yea - I know they’re different, I think the Special B will provide more of what I’m looking for.  Just wanted to update the recipe.  I developed this based on research of others trying to clone the Sunturnbrew and many used chocolate, but upon further thought changed my mind.