Undermodified Crystal Malt?

[Shunty]

Afternoon All

Been brewing a few single hop pale ales lately, messing around with a few of the high alpha NZ hop varieties. Basic recipe has been 4kg of Weyerman pils and 300g of light crystal/cara malt.

The 2nd batch of this recipe I did (late hopped with pacific jade to 30ibu from 15 minutes to go in the boil) threw a haze on me - not chill haze as it is there at 25 degrees. It's hazy to the point that I cant see the hydro stem through the sample tube. I chalked it up to unconverted starch, although the mash was a single infusion for 75min at 67 degrees - which is usually enough to convert in my experience.

So, I did a couple more with the same recipe (one hopped with NZ cascade, another with pacific gem) and they turned out fine, clear as a bell. Then the one I did last night (100g of b saaz between 15 min and flame out) threw a haze as well. same mash time/temp, thoroughly de-doughballed.

Looking back at the notebook - both the hazy batches used Czech cara malt, rather than the bairds cara in the 3 non-hazy batches. I cracked open a few grains of the Czech cara this morning, and although the majority of the grain is crystallized, about 1/3 is still white and quite glassy. My gut tells me that if this was fully modified malt, the entire endosperm would have converted during the stewing process, so I think this particular cara may be made from undermodified malt. Can anyone confirm that undermodifieed malt will produce a haze if not decocted? Or am I on the wrong track altogether?

Cheers
Shunty

 

[warrenlw63]

No you're right and probably answered your own question Shunty OTOH small amounts of undermodified malt such as a crystal addition shouldn't be an issue. I'm assuming you're using no more than 10%? Weird stuff being able to source Czech crystal malts of any kind right from the outset. Not aware of who stocks them? What's the brand? :unsure:

Sorry to go OT on you Shunty. The hops sound fascinating... Never heard of Pacific Jade? Any good?

Warren -

 

[Shunty]

It was 300g in a 4.3 kg grain bill, so i wouldn't have expected the amount of haze i got out of it. Might do a steep tonight and see what it looks like

I picked up the malt from a HBS in auckland on a trip up there. He got it from a local micro, who imported it to experiment with, then didn't end up using it. There was no branding on the bag except for 'Cara-malt' and country of origin

Pacific jade are a nice hop from the hydro samples, similar to NZ Cascade, but quite sharp. linky; http://www.nzhops.co.nz/varieties/pacific_jade.html

Havn't tasted the finished beer yet, it's been in CC for a month tring to drop the haze (with no luck - might have to filter)

 

[warrenlw63]

I picked up the malt from a HBS in auckland on a trip up there. He got it from a local micro, who imported it to experiment with, then didn't end up using it. There was no branding on the bag except for 'Cara-malt' and country of origin

Could explain a few things Shunty. A lot of people claim that Carapils should be mashed. Perhaps the Caramalt you speak of needs the same. Very likely if it's of Czech origin it's undermodified by our lofty standards. Perhaps you also now know why the local micro gave it a wide berth. :lol:

Thanks for the link on the Pacific Jade. Already found the same info. They sound a very interesting hop that will be quite popular when they hit our shores I reckon. B)

Warren -