Special B?

OK

Gotta brew! But no crystal! No 20, no 60, not even any 120

But I do have a couple of pounds of Special B.......

So here goes:

I want a clean malty brew with a bit of color:

10 gal AG batch:

12 lbs Pale Malt
5 lbs Vienna Malt
3 lbs Munich Malt
1 lbs Special B Malt

Mash at 154 for 60 min
Batch sparge at 168

Want some clean hops:

1 oz pearle 60 min
1/2 oz galena 30 min


And a good clean yeast:

S-05 (Chico)

So, what do you think?

What style is this closest to?

Can't say what style (the grain bill has Belgian influences, but the hops and yeast don't match that profile). If I had to put a label, maybe a type of pale ale? The special B will had a fair amount of color (I got an SRM of 13.5), so you are good there. I think if you added some more hops (maybe a full oz of the galena) and possibly swapped the order you could have a really nice and balanced pale ale, especially with that yeast. Your call though if you want it maltier or not.

I think you may be right.

I'm gonna bump the galena up to a full oz at 30 min.

This should give me 26 IBU, and a bitterness ratio of 0.51.

marris otter is great for clean and malty. maybe sub 2-3 pounds for some of the pale malt? who cares what style it is, as long as you love it!

Special B= Carmel 120. Same stuff.

Bernie Brewer said:

Special B= Carmel 120. Same stuff.

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I could have sworn Special B is a dark crystal, around 180L

Freezeblade said:

I could have sworn Special B is a dark crystal, around 180L

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According to the guy at my LHBS, Special B= Crystal (Carmel) 120.

OK, after doing a really quick Google, Special B is anywhere from 120- 220 Lovibond, depending who you ask. So take that for what it is worth............

Special B has a different flavor profile as well... your LHBS guy is full of it

notwoohoo said:

Special B has a different flavor profile as well... your LHBS guy is full of it

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+1

C120L is "sorta" a substitute for Special B, but doesn't come anywhere near the raisin/plum/fig that Special B has

Seems like an Oktoberfest inspired ale to me. I'm not sure what style it really approximates, but it should be a fine session beer.

Yeah special B is just a super dark crystal malt.

I'd agree with the folks that say Special B isn't the same as Crystal 120L. Based on actually chewing on both, they had very different flavors to me. The Special B I got from my LHBS had much more going on and was much darker than the Crystal 120L.

Nothing imparts the dark fruit like Special B. At least nothing else that I've used anyway.