Tell Me Your Top 5 Specialty Grains

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
All,

Keen to know your most popular/favourite 5 (or more if that is the case) specialty grains that are in your AG recipes and grain stores at home.

I have done a number of searches and could not find a similar topic.

This shall help me start my specialty grain library to go with my base malts.

Cheers!

English Pale Chocolate 600 EBC
Munich 1
Caramunich 1
Caramunich 2
Dark Crystal

Pumpy :)
 
Haven't used caramalt but find I can detect the carahell sweetness in even small amounts ie. < 5%. For my palate, anyway. Got near 5 kg of carahell and have been too apprehensive about using much more than 5%. Gonna last me for ages unless I up the ante.

Caramalt is beauuutiful in heavily hopped american beers. The sweetness helps pull the malt forward and balance it out a little. almost a requirement for my AIPAs (except the next one, im doing a Vinnie C beer and he believed crystal has no place in an IPA! :p)
 
Munich is a base malt you silly people :p But if its classed as a specialty, it would be up there in my top 5 for sure cos I put it in everything!!!

Mine would have to be

1. CaraPils
2. CaraRed - I use carared and carapils exclusively in my AIPA's, with a bit of munich its the perfect combo IMO
3. CaraMunich II
4. CaraAmber
5. CaraAroma

In saying that, I try to have a big stock at all times, I probably have about 10 or more specialtys in stock atm... B)
 
These are what I have used most since and keep at least a kilo of each on hand since I went AG

Carafa II
Light Crystal
Choc Malt
Roasted Barley
Brown Malt
 
Munich is a base malt you silly people :p But if its classed as a specialty, it would be up there in my top

I have never used it as a base malt and have almost a full 25 kilo bag of it as I use it a fair bit. Interesting option, probably worth trying.

:icon_cheers:
 
I have never used it as a base malt and have almost a full 25 kilo bag of it as I use it a fair bit. Interesting option, probably worth trying.

:icon_cheers:


Good for Dunkelweizens so I've read/heard, I'm having a crack at a partial with 2kg on the weekend, 50/50 wheat/munich2. In my new mashtun :D :D
 
Grain Order #2.

Special B
Pale Choc
Caramunich 1
Caramunich 2
Carafa 2
Melanoiden


Slowly collecting the set... grabbing some extra caramunich 1 for some repeated upcoming brews. :icon_drool2:
 
A few people (myself included) mentioned biscuit malt. Recent readings suggest to me this is actually a malt that needs to be mashed. I throw all my grains in the tun together so that bit doesn't affect my brewing but I am curious. Is it defined as base or spec?
 
A few people (myself included) mentioned biscuit malt. Recent readings suggest to me this is actually a malt that needs to be mashed. I throw all my grains in the tun together so that bit doesn't affect my brewing but I am curious. Is it defined as base or spec?
Manticle,
According to Palmers "How to Brew ", page 124 ,Amber Malt 25 L ( eg Biscuit , Victory both tm) is a kilned malt that needs to be mashed.... so , i'm guessing its a base malt ?
As you throw it all in the tun , it's no prob !
Hope this helps
Cheers
Ferg
edit..further eading says typically its 10 per cent max of the garin bill..so maybe its a spec that must be mashed ?
Bugger...now i'm confused
 
From Dingemans' webpage:

Biscuit (Mout Roost 50) (18 - 27 L)
This toasted malt will provide a warm bread or biscuit flavor and aroma and will lend a garnet-brown color. Use 5-15% maximum. No enzymes. Must be mashed with malts having surplus diastatic power.
 
Imo - If you cant use it to at least 50% say of the grain bill (similar to say wheat) then I would wager it is a specialty malt - but happy to be corrected on this item.

I ordered some of it in my previous grain purchase - looking forward to using it!
 
A few people (myself included) mentioned biscuit malt. Recent readings suggest to me this is actually a malt that needs to be mashed. I throw all my grains in the tun together so that bit doesn't affect my brewing but I am curious. Is it defined as base or spec?

Imo - If you cant use it to at least 50% say of the grain bill (similar to say wheat) then I would wager it is a specialty malt - but happy to be corrected on this item.

I'd concur with it being a specialty. In my books, a specialty grain is one you would not want to make a beer with 100% of it for the grist.

Also, the higher the kilning of the malt, the lower the diastatic power it has (enzyme conversion). I'd say a grist with 100% amber/biscuit malt would struggle to fully convert itself anyway. Same thing goes for Melanoiden too. '

So they are not grains for steepers unless they plan on minimashing them with some base malt. Even 50:50 with pils malt would be worthwhile as pils has a high diastatic power to aid in conversion without having to add bucketloads of grain.
 
I'd concur with it being a specialty. In my books, a specialty grain is one you would not want to make a beer with 100% of it for the grist.

Also, the higher the kilning of the malt, the lower the diastatic power it has (enzyme conversion). I'd say a grist with 100% amber/biscuit malt would struggle to fully convert itself anyway. Same thing goes for Melanoiden too. '

So they are not grains for steepers unless they plan on minimashing them with some base malt. Even 50:50 with pils malt would be worthwhile as pils has a high diastatic power to aid in conversion without having to add bucketloads of grain.

I guess the thing I was getting at is whether a base malt is called so because it's generally the basis for a beer or because it needs to undergo conversion.

My guess is base= basis but it's good to clarify.
 
Grabbing 1kg of the following next week for some more brews...

Carafa Special

Bairds Brown Malt

Bairds Black Malt

Pale Choc

Choc Chit

Simpsons Imperial
 
Cool thread.

I love the following:

Caraaroma
Carahell
Brown
Bairds Pale Choc
Simpsons Med Crystal (with milk in the morning)

ED: perhaps the last entry should be Wey Munich II which I have been using a fair bit of recently.
 
Back
Top