Brewing something similar to a schwarzbier and am curious what I should do with my water. I am planning for ‘brown balanced’ water profile with a mash pH of ~5.57. Does this sound like a decent plan? Color is 25 SRM
that’s what I do on water and PH.
Good to know. Thanks Ken!
You might find that mashing this as a pale grist first and then adding the roast addition at the end of the mash is a good option for this beer. You won’t need to have the level of alkalinity that the Brown water profiles have if you are mashing the pale grist. Reserving the roast to the end does help diminish the roasty flavors, which are not really desirable at significant level in the Schwartzbier.
FWIW and IMO…using carafaII-III in the mash is actually quite nice. the chocolate and coffee subtly that is really nice and balances well with the right malt and hop profile, and the higher PH makes this everything but bitter and harsh burnt roast…which is what you don’t typically want with this style.
just my two cents.
This has carafa iii special so the roast is already pretty limited. I may experiment with adding the carafa later but it may not be necessary.
Yeah experimenting is good. At the end of the day, if what you want is a black pils, just forgo the roast and add some sinamar. If you want the contribution , IMO you need to add it in the mash. I’ve tried tossing it in at the end and just didn’t get what I wanted, so I’ve adjusted to meet my desired outcome.
I normally mash everything but in the case of adding Carafa just for color, adding at vorlauf is a good move. Obviously Schwarz doesn’t want a lot of roast character anyway.
I Guess that’s where I may differ here…I’m not just looking for color in Schwarzbier. IMO subtle smooth roast , chocolate and coffee nots are great, and blended with malt from Munich and pils with good hop balance makes it so tasty.
I didn’t mean to say a schwarz shouldn’t have a subtle roast. I like that in it. Just seems to be a beer where you could mash it or not to get that. I’m sure yours is killer, no doubt. That’s a style I haven’t brewed in quite a while !
I agree with this. Mine has a couple of quirky things that keep it from being a traditional schwarz so I don’t concern myself too much with trying to match the style.
Understood…I just haven’t gotten what I expect out of it when I tossed it in at the end for Schwarzbier. End of the day it just depends on what you expect and what you want…no right or wrong answer.
There are some very different Schwarzbier out there. For me, the ones wth noticeable Munich malt, and subtle roast that adds notes of chocolate and coffee are to my liking.
I want some roast. I think I will reserve the late additions for something like a black IPA
Mine has 4.6% carafa II and 1.1% midnight wheat. The rest is 55% light Munich, 37% pils, 2.3% caramunich
This one is very similar to yours but with the amounts of pils vs Munich pretty much swapped. I use some amber malt for no reason whatsoever but I like it.
Brew what you like for yourself and guests - there are no rules and a nice roasty lager can be quite flavorful. But if entering into competition, a significant roast flavor is usually dinged - the Schwarzbier should not be terribly roasty and definitely not acrid…so for me, I get that sweet spot by adding Carafa III at vorlauf. YMMV.
I just note what I hear at comps while judging…
Just my opinion…if someone hands you a Schwarzbier and you are blind folded and when you taste it you think " that’s a great pils" then you don’t have a true to style Schwarzbier . There should be subtle coffee and chocolate roast. It’s smooth and not bitter or harsh. You pick it up ever so slightly in the nose. as you sip, it presents itself but doesn’t linger or bite in the finish. While there are different varieties out there, I also prefer the ones with a noticeable Munich contribution vs just pils.
I agree, which is exactly what I get by adding the Carafa at the initial vorlauf. Munich is a nice add, but you need restraint with that to avoid stepping into Dunkel territory. I have also heard that Danish Lager yeast gets the right yeast profile for this style. I will be brewing it again as soon as I kill off the 10 gallon batch I am drinking now. Enjoy! It’s a great style.
My recipe has 33% munch 9l which seems about right for what I like. I just used 34/70 out of convenience. What is an example of a Danish strain?