Smoothing Out The Dark Malts, How?

[mje1980]

I love a good dark ale. But i just cant seem to make one that isnt harsh. Any tips from you guys??, mash temps, msh time, malt amount etc?.

Cheers.

 

[neonmeate]

how do you mean harsh? acidic/sour? you could try adding chalk or only adding dark grains in the sparge. or cold steeping them. have you measured the pH of your dark beer mashes?

 

[jayse]

Use less have you made a 80/ before? can be dark but is always smooth and lovely.
For porters you don't have to overdo the dark malts, choc shouldn't be too harsh or you used to much, match it up with some munich malt for malt depth and you have it.

I can see a heap of brewers arking up saying add the dark grains to the sparge but i think if you get the recipe and everything right to start with there no need for that.

Anyway theres a start.



Jayse

 

[AndrewQLD]

I agree with Jayse' comments, also what type of dark malts are using. Roasted barley can be a big contributer to harsh flavors if you use too much as can Black malt.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[geoffi]

Try using Weyermann Carafa dehusked malts. Very smooth.

 

[Adamt]

I've read adding darker malts (roast, chocolate, etc) later in the mash reduces the harshness they contribute. Never tried this myself though.

 

[glennheinzel]

I can't comment on AG variables, however I have done two 2 can recipes that were nearly identical in recipe but one was harsh in flavour.

Both brews involved 2 cans of goo (stout+pale ale) with 150g of choc grain and 100g of dark grain.

The only differences was that smooth stout used the yeast that came with the Country Brewer kits + licorice whilst the harsh brew used White Labs Irish Ale liquid yeast (and no licorice).

The harsh beer fermented at a higher temp so I assume this is what caused the harsh flavours.

The moral of the story is not to alter two variables at once!

 

[lou]

2 simple answers

1) use dehusked dark malts as above (but some ordinary roast barley and black malt is nice in the mix)

2) add the dark grains at the end of the mash . then just sparge (I prefer batch when using this method)

I use this method every time for my stouts and they come out spectacular.

The difference is between drinking coffee that has been steeping for an hour and a fresh espresso. think about it !

you don't want the malts steeping for too long - so you need to use much more dark malt but for a much shorter time

also - use a fruity yeast for those yummy choc flavours

lou

 

[rwh]

Could it be your water? Chlorine can result in chlorophenols.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

 

[PostModern]

Could it be your water? Chlorine can result in chlorophenols.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

Nah. Chlorophenols taste like bandaids. Yes, I've tasted them

 

[Guest Lurker]

Nah. Chlorophenols taste like bandaids. Yes, I've tasted them

Tasted bandaids? With scabs or without?