Substituting roast barley for toasted malt

Conno · 10-14-2007, 04:46 PM

I'm about to start brewing 'No Sham Shamrock Ale' from The Complete Homebrewers Guide (Papazian). The recipe calls for 225g of toasted malt barley a description I found to be quite vague and so for better or worse I bought roasted malt instead. I am new to this game but I have the feeling the roasted malt may at the same amount be quite overbearing.
Does anyone have suggestion for how much roasted barley I should use as a subtitute for the toasted malt barley?
Thanks in advance

**bradsul** · 10-14-2007, 05:08 PM

You can think of roasted malt as WAY toasted malt.

It is definitely not the same flavour into your beer and won't give the same results. You can actually toast your own malt if you have some extra 2-row laying around. 350F in your oven for 15 minutes or so would give a nice toasted flavour.

If you still want to go with roasted, I would use VERY little, maybe 75g or so. It will give you a very dark colour and lots of roasted (as opposed to toasted) flavours. Hope that helps!

Conno · 10-14-2007, 05:19 PM

Thanks Brad
I'm apprehensive to say the least, I don't want to ruin the brew which is a possibility with such a strongly flavoured grain as roasted malt. I do have some crystal malt knocking about, could I toast that or am I really going off track now??

the_Roqk · 10-14-2007, 05:54 PM

This might be

But... can, or has anyone used pearled barley (grocery store) for stouts and roasted them to use in the mash? I know that pearled barley is not the same as malted barley. Just a question of if can be used after being roasted.

Conno · 10-14-2007, 06:04 PM

Yep it sure is

No offence Roqk

**bradsul** · 10-14-2007, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_Roqk

This might be

But... can, or has anyone used pearled barley (grocery store) for stouts and roasted them to use in the mash? I know that pearled barley is not the same as malted barley. Just a question of if can be used after being roasted.

I have no idea myself, could be an interesting experiment though.

**bradsul** · 10-14-2007, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conno

Thanks Brad
I'm apprehensive to say the least, I don't want to ruin the brew which is a possibility with such a strongly flavoured grain as roasted malt. I do have some crystal malt knocking about, could I toast that or am I really going off track now??

You wouldn't get the same flavour out of the crystal even after toasting. But you could just use the crystal by itself. It won't be the same but I imagine it would work quite well. On the other hand you could try toasting it and using it just to see how it would turn out.

Experimenting is half the fun.

For myself, I'd be inclined to use the crystal malt as is rather than the roasted barley. Or hold off on your brew until you can pickup some 2-row and toast it yourself. It just depends how close you want to stick to the recipe.

Conno · 10-14-2007, 06:28 PM

Quote:

For myself, I'd be inclined to use the crystal malt as is rather than the roasted barley. Or hold off on your brew until you can pickup some 2-row and toast it yourself. It just depends how close you want to stick to the recipe.

Thanks Brad
Getting HB supplies is a slow enough process where I am so I am inclined for the time being to just make do with what I have.
This is the recipe

5lb's amber malt extract
1lb crystal malt
.5 lb toasted malted barley
1oz Northern Brewer hops
1oz Santium or Tettnanger hops.
American type ale yeast (I'm using Irish Ale yeast)

I am going to go ahead and brew tomorrow regardless, the issue is what formulation I should come up with to remain as close as possible to the original recipe.
I am inclined to use maybe 1.5 lbs of crystal and forget the roasted barley but as I type I think why not use a touch roasted barley as it is the key ingredient of Irish Ales after all (is it not??)
Any body out there who has an opinion please feel free.

**bradsul** · 10-14-2007, 06:42 PM

1.5lbs is quite a bit of crystal, I'm not sure I'd go that high personally. There's definitely nothing wrong with a bit of roasted flavour (in my opinion anyway, but I do love stouts

). I just wouldn't go overboard (1/4lbs or so) as it is pretty strong stuff and will easily dominate your beer very quickly. It should nicely compliment the caramel flavour of the crystal.

the_Roqk · 10-14-2007, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conno

Yep it sure is

No offence Roqk

Oh... well, MY BAD! BTW none taken.

Prolly should start my own thread.