Smoked Malt In A Scotch Ale

[kevin_smevin]

Hi all.

I going to brew a scotch ale/wee heavy and want so have a subtle smoke flavour/aroma. I want to be able to detect it without having to look too hard for it but definitely want it to be a background flavour. I was planning to use Weyerman smoked malt which i have never used before. Anyone had any experience with this malt and have any idea how much to use to achieve the flavour i'm after in a 25L batch.

Cheers

 

[brettprevans]

YYY - theres a couple of scottish ale threads with answers to this question. cant remember the general concensus, but ive used 300g of peat smoked in a 21L batch of scotish heavy and it came out nicely., it can be overpowering and mine was a scottish heavy (~11%), so if you doing a lighter version you might want to only use 200g or so.

 

[petesbrew]

Ask Doc, he made an awesome scotch ale a couple of years back. I'm pretty sure it was peated malt.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Technically speaking, scottish ales aren't supposed to have smoked malts added (see the BJCP notes)

That out of the way, if you like a smoky flavour / aroma, you have two options.

1. Rauchmalt - smoked malt that must be mashed (sub for ale malt). I've used up to 60% to get a healthy smoke flavour and aroma (though the aroma dulled as the bottles aged). For subtle background think 30% and don't go overboard on hop bitterness.

2. Peated Malt - not made for beer makers but adds a smoky kick. Use sparingly (strong stuff). I'd ignore acquiring / using this stuff on your first effort unless an expert gives you precise measurements.

When you are talking about scotch ale / wee heavy, when you planning on drinking - fairly soon after ferment or you thinking about cellaring for a few months ? In my experience the time in the bottle will have an impact on the amount of rauchmalt you use.

 

[BoilerBoy]

Hi all.

I going to brew a scotch ale/wee heavy and want so have a subtle smoke flavour/aroma. I want to be able to detect it without having to look too hard for it but definitely want it to be a background flavour. I was planning to use Weyerman smoked malt which i have never used before. Anyone had any experience with this malt and have any idea how much to use to achieve the flavour i'm after in a 25L batch.

Cheers

Im thinking of doing something very similar and don't worry about the Wey smoked malt being a background flavour "ITS ALL YOU WILL BLOODY GET!"
Just done a smoked Porter with 3kgs of smoked malt nearly 50% of the grain bill and still just noticeable <_<

So like you I was thinking of using the rest if it in a Scottish ale of some sort, I know it maybe technically out of style guidelines, but I think it would work really well,

Cheers,
BB

 

[newguy]

My standard Scottish ale recipe uses a very small amount of peated malt, only 40g in a double (42l) batch for a 1.050ish OG. I can taste it at that level, but just. There are members of my brew club that like a smokey/peaty Scottish but I really hate them. It all comes down to your personal preference. If you're looking for a very low smoke level which will mainly add to the complexity of the brew, go very easy on the smoked/peated malt. Peated malt especially is very powerful stuff. If you're looking for something more substantially smokey, go wild.

 

[jonocarroll]

I've used (not 100% on the exact numbers) 500g of wey smoked malt in my oatmeal stout (15L), and I don't think I can pick it (then again, I haven't tried a matured one, I'm doing that tonight). I've also just recently used 100g of peated malt in a scottish (20L) - it's still in the fermenter, but I can't pick the peated malt from hydro samples. Hopefully maturation will bring it out. I had really expected to find it, then again that was the first time I bought grain online, and I never saw it go through the crusher. h34r:

From all the evidence I've heard - you need a lot of wey smoked, or a little peated to get the desired effects.

 

[newguy]

From all the evidence I've heard - you need a lot of wey smoked, or a little peated to get the desired effects.

I couldn't agree more. Peated malt is remarkably potent. I bought 1kg of it 8 or 9 years ago and I still have 250g left. I guess I shouldn't need to buy more for another 3 or 4 years.

 

[crundle]

I am making a smoked robust porter using Jamil's recipe from his book, and after reading a bit more widely about making smoked beers, you need to look at how long the beer is likely to be in the bottle before drinking, as the smoke flavour, being made from fairly unstable compounds, deteriorates over time into other less noticeable flavours. So if it is to be drunk young, then you will be needing less smoke flavour than a beer that is going to be stored for a year to get a balanced result.

Crundle

 

[kevin_smevin]

Thanks for the help guys. I think i might use bairds peated malt. Still dont really know how much i will use though... Any other help greatly appreciated.

Cheers

 

[petesbrew]

Would you say the peated malt would add the scotch style smoke flavour?

 

[Thirsty Boy]

fresh Rauch malt is bloody fantastic strong stuff, easy to go overboard and get it all bacon tasting.

But getting it fresh is a different story - all the way from Germany, not all that popular...... do you reckon that even the busiest HB shop gets through too many bags of that stuff in a year??

You could pop some in a tray in a weber and smoke it yourself... then you could have whichever smoke variety tickled your fancy. I think that Graham Sanders talked about smoking his own on a few of his podcasts... might be worth a listen.

or just use the peated malt

 

[BoilerBoy]

fresh Rauch malt is bloody fantastic strong stuff, easy to go overboard and get it all bacon tasting.

But getting it fresh is a different story - all the way from Germany, not all that popular...... do you reckon that even the busiest HB shop gets through too many bags of that stuff in a year??

You could pop some in a tray in a weber and smoke it yourself... then you could have whichever smoke variety tickled your fancy. I think that Graham Sanders talked about smoking his own on a few of his podcasts... might be worth a listen.

or just use the peated malt

True..... however I'm sure others like Tony would agree that the Hoepfner smoked malt was superb! and you could use 3-4 times less than the Weyerman and get a better result.

I'm not in any hurry to buy anymore Wey smoked and I agree it would be worth investigating smoking my own.

Cheers,
BB

 

[Fatgodzilla]

True..... however I'm sure others like Tony would agree that the Hoepfner smoked malt was superb! and you could use 3-4 times less than the Weyerman and get a better result.

I'm not in any hurry to buy anymore Wey smoked and I agree it would be worth investigating smoking my own.

Cheers,
BB

Bought a half sack of Weyermans Rauchmalt in a bulk buy last year and will not repeat the experience. I've made 4 brews with the contents (with a bit left) and only one got the results I really wanted .. smoky (almost exoticly so) the rest were bacony (fine for the fun but really not a great thing for 66 litres of drinking !)

The trouble with smoked beers is that they are fantastic when you have one or two out of the blue, or a few well crafted brews of the ilk, but a whole keg or 30 longnecks in the cellar and you start thinking "Enough !!"

 

[Pumpy]

For God sake dont use peated malt it tastes like Sh*T

In fact I have drank a fair bit of Scottish ale living nearby and I cant remember tasting any smokey flavour in the beer there most of it made me feel sick ,think they should keep to making Whisky which they are very good at .

No offence to any of our Scottish forum members

Pumpy

 

[Barry]

Scottish ales are not smokey. American Scottish ales are. The guidelines for Scottish ales should not have smoke in them but they do. I will not make a Scootish ale with smoke in it. I love rauchmaltz but it is not too style in Scottish ales. A smokey Scottish ale might be a wonderful beer but it should be in the specialty class. This I believe .

 

[Fatgodzilla]

For God sake dont use peated malt it tastes like Sh*T

In fact I have drank a fair bit of Scottish ale living nearby and I cant remember tasting any smokey flavour in the beer there most of it made me feel sick ,think they should keep to making Whisky which they are very good at .

Pumpy

Kinda covered the smoke in scottish ale early in the thread... sorry you couldn't have been there. The original poster said he wanted a smoky flavour, so people answered along those lines.

Pumpy, old son, keep thinking if you drunk a fair bit of scottish ale and it made you feel sick you should have stopped drinking it earlier .... though people from that part of the world have struggled with that problem for years :icon_chickcheers:

I keep thinking the "smoky" overtones in a "scottish ale" are more to do with the yeast acting on a malt based ale with minimal hop presence. Will be happy to confess my mistake is someone proves otherwise.

 

[Pumpy]

I keep thinking the "smoky" overtones in a "scottish ale" are more to do with the yeast acting on a malt based ale with minimal hop presence. Will be happy to confess my mistake is someone proves otherwise.

Thats alright FGZ perhaps in olden days they used to use peat fires to heat the kettle and burning peat and the fire was notoriously smokey and the smoke precipitated in the wort .

No need to confess .

I think you made that up

pumpy

 

[Fatgodzilla]

No need to confess .

I think you made that up

pumpy

Bugger .. caught out again :icon_cheers:

 

[Batz]

True..... however I'm sure others like Tony would agree that the Hoepfner smoked malt was superb! and you could use 3-4 times less than the Weyerman and get a better result.

I'm not in any hurry to buy anymore Wey smoked and I agree it would be worth investigating smoking my own.

Cheers,
BB

I can't agree more, Hoepfner was great,a few guys tried my smoked porter soon after I moved over here and loved the Smokey taste. Since then I have never brewed a beer like it, the Weyermans smoke has been very disappointing,in fact I couldn't even taste it.

For God sake don't use peated malt it tastes like Sh*T

With you there Pumpy, I tried it to re-brew my old smokey porter,results were terrible. My next trick is to smoke my own :unsure:


Batz