A local Fish Smokehouse/Restaurant told me that they would smoke some of my pale ale malt. I am planning to take them a couple of pounds. What I want to know is how best to do it. Dry? Wet? Slightly damp? Any other advice that I should consider?
I vote dry. Wet/damp might invite mold.
I usually smoke dry. Slightly spritzed with distilled water may increase the smoke uptake, but not by much, and as Steve says, mold could develop if you don’t use it right away,
I have usually spritzed following the advice in Ray Daniels “Smoked Beer” book, but if you do dry I will try that.
- Cuts out some steps and minor fussing with the malt.
- You have been so successful with smoked beers, why argue with success.
Thinking about an AK Smoked Porter clone, soon.
That’s one I’ve been wanting to do for awhile. I was thinking of using apple or cherry wood in the smoker. Jeffy has a great track record - dry it is.
OK, dry it is.
In an interview on the Brewing Network, Anchorage Brewing Company’s Gabe Fletcher talked about using malt smoked in an old fish smokery (word?). He got an amount of smoked fish carry-over in the malt. I would expect probably an even more prominent smoked salmon aroma. Mostly Chinook salmon I think. I’m hoping that it will turn out more smoky (alder wood) than fishy. I just ordered some Chinook hops and am planning a Chinook2 Smoked Porter.
Several years back I smoked malt with alder, and it was not fishy. One thought of smoked salmon as that is the wood used. When drinking it, one would say this would be killer with a big hunk of smoked salmon. Yummo!
Perfect pairing - I love good smoked salmon.
I usually spritz lightly with water and stir when smoking 2-Row with Alder. Then into a paper bag in the garage (A.K.A. not in the house) for a couple weeks before using it. Helps mellow it out a little. Works well for my Smokehaus Porter… 
The brewer from Alaskan remarked at his talk at NHC a few years back that people constantly ask him how much fish is in the beer. He insists that the fish flavor or smell is inferred because of the use of alder wood for smoking. A lot of folks relate alder wood smoke with smoked salmon.
The brewer from Alaskan remarked at his talk at NHC a few years back that people constantly ask him how much fish is in the beer. He insists that the fish flavor or smell is inferred because of the use of alder wood for smoking. A lot of folks relate alder wood smoke with smoked salmon.
I was thinking that since the smoker is used primarily to smoke salmon, there would be some residual “fishiness” from the chamber itself.
AK brewing would spend a day scrubbing down the commercial smoker.
The linkage to salmon is high for alder smoke. Never had fish in my smoker, and people would say, Salmon! When during the alder smoked porter.
You definitely do not want the grain wet. Slightly moist on the exterior helps the smoke stick to the grain but you can get good smoke flavor without misting the grain if you use a sufficiently cool smoker. I would imagine they smoke the fish on the cool side. If they use a warmer temperature to smoke the fish quickly then I would dampen the outside of the grain with a spray bottle of water or gently pat the grain with a damp paper towel.
A lot of folks that are into smoked meats won’t smoke fish in the same cooker that they smoke beef, pork, poultry, etc in because they are concerned with carry over smells/tastes. The competition guys are extreme about stuff like this.