So I was going to try my hand at some graff, now having done a number of regular cider batches. I noticed it has some ingredients that need to be substituted, namely the malts.
I'm guessing the DME can be replaced by Briess sorghum syrup, and I can always just scrap the torrified wheat as the head isn't too important. It would be nice if there was a suitable substitute though. I am unsure how I am going to sub the Crystal malt though - what can I use?
edit: from further reading, it seems the crystal malt is for body, color, and flavor/sweetness. Can I sub something like maltodextrin or a dark sugar (candi, muscovado) as a sub perhaps? I am not too concerned about nailing the original graff flavor, as I have never had it, and the sorghum is already going to change the profile quite a bit I imagine. I just want a decent substitute/approximation with the benefits of the graff over cider.
Recipe:
Clean fermenting yeast I have used Nottinham and Safale-05, both are good
.5 lbs of Crystal 60L If you use cheap store brand juice, I reccomend 120L. Cheap juice tends to turn out a tad tart and this will balance it.
1 oz of torrified wheat ( head retention, I've never used more than 2oz)
4 Gallons of apple juice.
1 gallon of water
2 lbs of DME ( I use 1 lb. amber and 1 lb. light DME)
0.5 oz of you favorite hops ( right around 6% AA, I have used 18.5% AA summit hops before and it took a month after kegging for strong bitterness to blend nicely)
I'm guessing the DME can be replaced by Briess sorghum syrup, and I can always just scrap the torrified wheat as the head isn't too important. It would be nice if there was a suitable substitute though. I am unsure how I am going to sub the Crystal malt though - what can I use?
edit: from further reading, it seems the crystal malt is for body, color, and flavor/sweetness. Can I sub something like maltodextrin or a dark sugar (candi, muscovado) as a sub perhaps? I am not too concerned about nailing the original graff flavor, as I have never had it, and the sorghum is already going to change the profile quite a bit I imagine. I just want a decent substitute/approximation with the benefits of the graff over cider.