Choc Chit

[roach]

I have some Choc Chit malt I picked up from Goliaths a few months but yet to try it. I wonder what people's experiences are with it and what i could use this successfully in. I have heard that some people have chucked their brew after using it.

 

[Boots]

Keep it away from brown ales

I used it in a brown ale and it TOTALLY dominated. I ended up chucking it coz it was way out of balance.

I would keep it to stouts / maybe a strong porter ... tho I'm sure you'll get some suggestions from more qualified people than me.

Cheers
Boots

 

[roach]

might ditch the choc chit and use carafa II since i don't have any chocolate on hand atm

 

[wessmith]

Hi Roach, Choc Chit is an 800 EBC chocolate malt - a bit lighter in colour than Carafa 2. You would normally use it in place of a Chocolate Malt to take advantage of its lower astringency properties. The malt is a cross between a roasted malt and roasted barley, technically a roasted malt though. Joe White developed Choc Chit to take advantage of the milder roasted flavour Chit Malt presents when roasted.

You would normally only use at the same rate as a Chocolate Malt - ie sparingly. Great for porters and stouts. I have also used it in a Saison (about 1%) and a Schwartzbier (6%).

Wes

 

[wessmith]

Oh, BTW ment to mention that Carafa is also a chocolate malt.

Wes

 

[roach]

thanks wes. that's the way i was gonna originally use the choc chit but have been scared off by people's bad experiences with it. given the lower astringency should this translate to a change in mash temp.

what % do you then recommend in the grist for the choc chit - 2%?

 

[wessmith]

There is no need to change mash temps - just run with your normal program. what style are planning to brew? If you look at my last 2 uses of Choc Chit you will see 1% for the Saison which yielded a nice subtle background roast flavour or the Schwartzbier at 6% where I wanted a much stronger roasted character. I general, follow the recommendations for a chocolate malt.

Wes

 

[roach]

thanks Wes for the informative advise. i will be brewing a brown porter 2morow

 

[Jovial_Monk]

Any chocolate or darker malt, other than the Carafa Special I, I would cold steep overnight.

This way, if you want to use a reasonable amount of the malt there is no danger of any astringency. I add the cold steeped roast malt to the mash tun just b4 the last of the sparge water is used, again maximising extraction of flavor without extracting any astringency.

Choc malt is only about 10% fermentable, doubt there will be huge bacterial count in the steeping dish but you could steep in the fridge if you like, but cover the steeping mix really well. A mix of pale and normal choc malt will provide some extra complexity

Jovial Monk

 

[big d]

great info wes.i was going to purchase some choc malt but now i dont have to as ive enough carafa malt.


cheers
big d