# Roast Barley Vs Carafa 2



## tintin (29/8/06)

I'm knocking together a stout soon and I need some advice please. The recipe (a partial mash) is only going to contain pale malted grain (munich maybe), roasted grain and flaked barley. And perhaps a tad amber grain. My question is should I use traditional roasted barley, or Carafa II, or both. I've never used Carafa so I don't know what to expect. I've read on this forum that Carafa II doesn't really impart a huge roastiness.


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## Gough (29/8/06)

tintin said:


> I'm knocking together a stout soon and I need some advice please. The recipe (a partial mash) is only going to contain pale malted grain (munich maybe), roasted grain and flaked barley. And perhaps a tad amber grain. My question is should I use traditional roasted barley, or Carafa II, or both. I've never used Carafa so I don't know what to expect. I've read on this forum that Carafa II doesn't really impart a huge roastiness.



G'day Tinitin,

I love the Carafa malts and have used quite a bit of the Carafa III in particular. That said, if you are brewing a stout and are after the true 'roasted' flavour that a stout has you IMHO need some roast barley in there somewhere. Carafa on its own will give plenty of colour and an appealing intense dark chocolate flavour and aroma (for want of a better descriptor) but it doesn't give the roasty astringency that Roast Barley does. Perhaps you could use both for some added complexity? My last foreign extra stout used both to what I though was good effect. Just don't go overboard with either and you'll be right  

Good luck,

Shawn.


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## Duff (29/8/06)

If you like roast barley in a stout, then try some roast wheat instead. It gives a very smooth roast flavour instead of the sharpness which I usually find with roast barley.

Cheers.


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## Gough (29/8/06)

Duff said:


> If you like roast barley in a stout, then try some roast wheat instead. It gives a very smooth roast flavour instead of the sharpness which I usually find with roast barley.
> 
> Cheers.



It's a pretty good topic this all round really. There are so many options now that you can definitely get away with brewing a really tasty roast barley free stout quite easily. I've actually swung back to the ol' RB a bit of late though. Maybe I just needed a break from the flavour for a while, but I'm a roast barley fan again :lol: 

Shawn.


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## Voosher (29/8/06)

I wouldn't substitute Roast Barley for Carafa II where the Roast Barley is a significant feature. They're quite different roasted grains. Carafa II is very subtle by comparision with Roast Barley which has distinctive grain bitterness.

Duff,
Roast Wheat sounds interesting.
Do you just substitute the same amount of Roast Barley with the Roast Wheat?


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## Duff (29/8/06)

Voosher said:


> Duff,
> Roast Wheat sounds interesting.
> Do you just substitute the same amount of Roast Barley with the Roast Wheat?



Yep, well that's all I do Voosher. IMO I think it has a real edge over Roast Barley.

I even prefer a couple % in porters, seems to suit very well.

Cheers.


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## Voosher (29/8/06)

Duff said:


> Voosher said:
> 
> 
> > Duff,
> ...



Sounds good.
I like the thought of some Roast Wheat in the Irish Red currently on my brew schedule.
Cheers.


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