Grrrr - Caramunich

[MVZOOM]

Did it again. Made recipe, went to Daves in Nth Sydney (people lined up pretty much out the shop today, he needs more staff and more shop space - great to see!), to purchase the specialty malts. I have 1kg of cascade flowers to use, so APA on the cards. Also have 25kg of Marris Otter in the garage, so all good - went to get a couple of kg of light munich to bulk out the grain bill.

However.. saw caramunich and it looked really interesting, so I bought it and am nearing the start of the boil. Two questions:

1) Why can't I just stick to a plan (recipe) and not change my mind when I'm in the shop??

2) I don't know much about cara malts at all, what should I expect with the caramunich?

Grain bill is:

6kg Marris Otter
1kg Wheat
1Kg Caramunich

Have I made a huge furfee? The wort looked / tasted good going into the boiler... mind you they all do!

Cheers - Mike


PS - hit just under 85% again. Unreal.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Did it again. Made recipe, went to Daves in Nth Sydney (people lined up pretty much out the shop today, he needs more staff and more shop space - great to see!), to purchase the specialty malts. I have 1kg of cascade flowers to use, so APA on the cards. Also have 25kg of Marris Otter in the garage, so all good - went to get a couple of kg of light munich to bulk out the grain bill.

However.. saw caramunich and it looked really interesting, so I bought it and am nearing the start of the boil. Two questions:

1) Why can't I just stick to a plan (recipe) and not change my mind when I'm in the shop??

2) I don't know much about cara malts at all, what should I expect with the caramunich?

Grain bill is:

6kg Marris Otter
1kg Wheat
1Kg Caramunich

Have I made a huge furfee? The wort looked / tasted good going into the boiler... mind you they all do!

Cheers - Mike


PS - hit just under 85% again. Unreal.

Whoa, Ikg of Caramunich (I II III ?)_ is a shed load, its going to taste real strong, a few hundred grams would have been enough.
GB

 

[cliffo]

Thats about 12.5% of the grainbill for the caramunich so to my pallate I'd say that is way too much.

You'll probaby end up with quite a sweet tasting beer but hey if that's what you like then you're laughing.

Personally, I tend to limit my use of crystal grains to, at the most, less than 6% of the grain bill.

What temp did you mash at?

cliffo

 

[MVZOOM]

Whoa, Ikg of Caramunich (I II III ?)_ is a shed load, its going to taste real strong, a few hundred grams would have been enough.
GB

Brilliant - thats what I want to hear

What's the 'strong' taste going to be like? Ie... toffee? Biscuit? Sardines?

Cheers - Mike

 

[buttersd70]

link

It'll be fairly saturated colour wise, and fairly heavy caramel flavour.

 

[MVZOOM]

OK, great. I could change the hops and yeast and IPA it I guess. Did some searching and didn't turn up much info, so thanks!

 

[MVZOOM]

Thats about 12.5% of the grainbill for the caramunich so to my pallate I'd say that is way too much.

You'll probaby end up with quite a sweet tasting beer but hey if that's what you like then you're laughing.

Personally, I tend to limit my use of crystal grains to, at the most, less than 6% of the grain bill.

What temp did you mash at?

cliffo

Mash temp 65degC.

Cheers - Mike

 

[Effect]

mate, 1kg of cara munich is too much for me...

if you haven't read how to brew by john palmer, there is an online version. When using malts you haven't used before, have a look at recipies in the database and calculate the percentages. you'll find that most people use caramunich between 0.5 and 5-6%.

Also, when you buy a malt you haven't used before, or formulating a recipe, I would recommend chewing on the malt to get an idea of how it tastes and what it will contribute to a beer.

Hope this helps mate.

Cheers
Phil

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Brilliant - thats what I want to hear

What's the 'strong' taste going to be like? Ie... toffee? Biscuit? Sardines?

Cheers - Mike

Depending on which type you have, it could range up to a strong burnt caramelised coffee flavour.This grain can be quite over powering, once you taste it you will not forget it.
GB

 

[technocat]

What's the 'strong' taste going to be like? Ie... toffee? Biscuit? Sardines?
Cheers - Mike

Combined with MO I would go biscuit after a few weeks in the can or 'cough cough" the bottle

 

[Fourstar]

1Kg Caramunich
Have I made a huge furfee? The wort looked / tasted good going into the boiler... mind you they all do!

As already noted, 12.5% of Caramunich is a truckload of Crystal. The most crystal i have ever added into a beer had been 18% in an american amber. this was well balanced with a wall of hops but still quite sweet (as it should be). Ive always found with Caramunich II (the only Caramunich i have access to) its quite cloying anything above 5-6% without any other crystal malts to balance out the caramel/toffee. It can become very one dimensional @ high %'s. Dont stress too much, If its caramunich I it might be a little softer on the palate. I just found out at a local micro in Vietnam, their Crystal Ale has 13% Light JW Crystal and is no where near being too cloying. At a balanced 4.8%, its quite refreshing!

 

[MVZOOM]

Thanks gents - it's Caramunich I, so hopefully will work ok. I've not read JP's How to Brew as yet and should have tried a little harder to get some advice prior to purchasing, however as question 1 suggests - I can be impulsive at times!

Here's to a toffee sweet, biscuity beer balanced out with a nice hoppy bitterness. :lol:

Cheers - Mike

 

[buttersd70]

I just found out at a local micro in Vietnam, their Crystal Ale has 13% Light JW Crystal and is no where near being too cloying. At a balanced 4.8%, its quite refreshing!

fourstar, you should put up a post in the pub or offtopic section expanding on this, and your other beer experiences on your recent trip; sounds quite interesting.

 

[troopa]

Wont tell you guys that i did my last brew with 15% Caramunich 1 and 15% munich 1 then.. cause that would be bad
Yes it smacks you in the face a little but with a shud loads of fuggles and a mash temp of about 63-64 has knocked back the sweetness a little and its turning out be rather nice (1 weeks in the fermenter) and i think with a few more weeks and carbing up itll be rather yummy

Tom

 

[Stuster]

The 15% Munich is fine. Munich is really nice in a lot of beers and 15% is not too much at all. :icon_drool2:

 

[cliffo]

The 15% Munich is fine. Munich is really nice in a lot of beers and 15% is not too much at all. :icon_drool2:

Too much Munich is never enough! :icon_drool2:

 

[tipsy]

I was buying grain on line while at work and because I was in a hurry clicked on Caramunich 2 instead of Munich 2

It was 20% of the grain bill and it did take a while to get through the keg.

I ended up mixing it with other beers.

 

[Fourstar]

fourstar, you should put up a post in the pub or offtopic section expanding on this, and your other beer experiences on your recent trip; sounds quite interesting.

Due to time constraints during this trip its difficult to upload pictures, resize, crop etc and keep a blog roll going. i was planning on doing it but i would spend 1/2 my day updating it. Most likely next Sunday (when i get home) i'll make a vietnam trip breakdown of all the beer festivities ive been involved in. as well as tasting notes of the beers that i have noted/remember.

The best commerical beers ive had here are (in no particular order) Bia Hoi Ha Noi, Bia Saigon, Bia Hanoi and Bia Hue. Another interesting one is Beer Larue, its export is good but its local midstrength is pretty average.

Just got to weigh up, one MONSTER thread or split up between, whats in the glass, whats on the plate and a small beers/travels thread?

Cheers!

 

[MVZOOM]

Just an update on this one - it's kegged and I had a little taste..... it's goooood! Really nice, full bodied, hoppy beer. Slightly sweet, has those biscuit tones and a good malt vs hop bitterness balance.

Happy that I double batched and have a load left!

Cheers - Mike

 

[HarryB]

The best beer I ever made was an imperial IPA with 1kg in 8kg of light crystal (similar to caramunich I). This was a single batch mind you
It took some aging but after 9 months or so it was spectacular.