Search results

Rye is not spicy as in a hot chilie, spicy curry, or even a warm spice laden pastry might be. Rye "spiciness" is subtle and perhaps very slightly peppery like you might get from a good rye bread compared to wheat bread.

You could sub CaraMunich II in just about any recipe or beer calling for a medium crystal malt (~50L). Pale ales, bitters, porters, mild, brown ales, ESB, Scottish ales, etc.

Jamil has written books and I have not but I'll stand by my opinion. The is no need for a 122F mash step for an Irish Stout.

Your beer should be fine. I can't address specific questions re your Spike equipment but am curious to see the actual recipe. Calling for a multi-step mash in this beer style strikes me as odd. Beyond the style itself the preferred malts for an Irish stout are made for and work perfectly well...

Pattison's recipe lists the grist bill in percentages. Use those numbers and figure the amounts to use based on OG target and your system's efficiency.

I don't know of anything official. Over the years I've used malted MO from Crisp, Baird's, and Muntons and Baird's is my favorite followed by Crisp and then Muntons. I have used malt from Fawcett and Simpson but it was Golden Promise and lager malt respectfully. Both were excellent BTW.

The method is called a ramped infusion. Many years ago on a brewery tour of an Anheuser-Busch plant I encountered a tour guide who actually knew something about brewing. He told me they were doing a ramped infusion mash, starting at about 120F and raising the temp one degree per minute up to...

Agree with day_trippr, it's the mash pH not the water's pH you should be targeting. You're overthinking here. Follow the basic water guidelines for a light lager beer as suggested and brew away. Essentially you want water with low residual alkalinity as the profile supplied by Cheshire Cat is...

Crisp malt is delcious. An A-1 choice for UK ales.

Thanks for that link and info. Sounds like a very plausible explanation.

I find it difficult to believe that a company such as Weyermann could stay in business for the last 140 years without having a base of commercial brewing customers in Germany. Selling a 25kg bag occasionally to a small percentage of North American homebrewers isn't going to cut it.

OK, maybe I misunderstood his reply but I have only sensed that grapey background note in German beers that I knew were brewed with German malts. The quest continues.

Certainly malt that is not fresh won't make the best beer. However, I don't think the grapey flavor is a side effect of stale malt. I have detected it in some of my homebrews as well as purchased commercial German beers that were not stale themselves. All of the German malt (Weyermann) used in...

You're not puling enough material for the decoction. 1/3 of the total mash weight is where to start, not just the water. The majority of the pull should be grain not liquid as much of the enzyme content is in solution and you want to preserve it as much as possible. Hochkurz is a stepped...

Here's my standard dunkel recipe. Not a clone but fits the basic German parameters and makes a nice beer IMO. Munich Dunkel 10 Gallons 13.5 lbs German Dark Munich malt (10-12L) 3.5 lbs Pilsner malt .375 lb Carafa II malt .75 lb CaraFoam malt Decoction mash; 128F, 148F, 168F mashout 1...

That's a whopping amount of dark crystal malt. Agree with Airborneguy that I'd ditch it. A half pound of medium crystal (55-60L) wouldn't be bad. It will add a touch of background sweetness without getting in the way. What is your target IBU? Even with a modest AA% hop like Willamette you may...

Domestic Goldings aren't bad and a good way to stretch real deal EKG. I do like Mt Hood used in place of Hallertauer.

Here's a simple recipe that I've made several times. It's a take on Bluebird Bitter with a slightly higher gravity, maybe putting it into the special bitter category. You could certainly cut everything back 10-15% to make a standard bitter. My basic advice with this style is keep the recipe...

Certainly the water profile can vary over the seasons and some suppliers use multiple sources so the mix can change, but you have to start somewhere. IMO there is no need to fall down the rabbit hole with brewing water. Over the last twenty years I have seen the topic of water in homebrewing go...

You can also have your water specifically tested. Ward Labs is highly regarded and it's $30.