Victory malt

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WVbrewer

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Hi everyone, I'm curious to hear anyone's comments on victory malt. I've used it twice and am not sure if what I'm tasting is consistent with it's qualities.

Here are the 2 recipes and the tasting notes: English/ Scottish pale ale

1st use:
8lb 2-row pale
1lb victory malt
3 oz british peated
8 oz american crystal
8 oz honey malt

60 min mash (152f)

Kent golding (bittering)
Fuggles (flavor and aroma)

Ibu 28
srm 8
og 1.048
fg 1.011
s-04 yeast
68 f fermentation

Notes: 3 weeks in bottle..A touch sweet and thin, a little bland actually despite the complex grain bill, a touch band aid like....peat malt...but pleasant. Nice aroma, solid head, a bit cloying on the side of the tongue. finish is not very dry.

After tasting this, I wanted to tone down the sweetness and the peat flavor, so I eliminated the honey malt and cut the peat in half. My ibus were ok with the OG for the style, so for batch 2 I came up with this:

7 lb english pale
2 lb victory malt
8 oz british crystal
1.5 oz british peated

Same hop schedule as above, but added .5 oz fuggles for a dry hop.
Same mash,yeast, and fermentation schedule

Tasting notes: 3 weeks in bottle: Nice malty flavor, hop aroma. Peat is in the background, , but still getting a cloying tang.....thought skipping honey malt would eliminate it. Something hitting the side of the tongue. finish is still off.

I expected a more biscuit like quality from victory malt with a cleaner finish. Ibu's are fine with the style and my preferences. Any thoughts on this malt? Sorry for the long post. Thanks, Dave
 
1.011 and it's 'cloying' and 'not very dry?' I'm not sure I share the same ideas about what those descriptors mean. Victory (and to a much lesser extent, Maris Otter) create bread-crust or 'grape-nut' flavours, which are usually described as biscuity, grainy, or 'malty' (but not in the sweet sense of the term).

I have no idea what would come from those recipes that would be considered 'cloying' other than the crystal (but probably not in that small amount). S-04 is actually quite clean at that temperature, and it's quite an aggressive attenuator as well - as indicated by your FG. I don't think the 'problem' is yeast related.
 
Thats a lot of victory malt. When I use victory malt, I get a distinct biscuit character like a Fat Tire has. This is different than the biscuit character of Maris otter. I've used it in high quantities before, and have since backed off to no more than about 5%. I can easily pick it out even in low quantities.
 
I guess "cloying" may be to harsh a description Prosper. There is a distinct side of the mouth flavor, perhaps "tartness" would be a better descriptor. I've read some other posts about this malt, and most folks seem to use up to a 1lb...not 1.5-2lb like I used. Could that be the cause of the off-flavor I'm trying to describe? Too much victory? And no, in case anyone is wondering...There was no infection or acetobacter issues.
 
Wow...beat me too it jmo. I suspect that's my problem...too much. I'll try again with more base grain. Do you like this malt in the proper proportions?
 
Have you used 04 yeast before in other recipes? I'm just asking, because it's a yeast that many love, but some dislike. I'm personally not a big fan of its esters/flavors, but if you have used it before and liked it, then that's obviously not an issue...
 
Wow...beat me too it jmo. I suspect that's my problem...too much. I'll try again with more base grain. Do you like this malt in the proper proportions?

I like it. I prefer it in brown ales. I keep it out of my pales for the most part, mainly because it sticks out too much. I like the way it blends with chocolate malt though. I used to use a little bit, like 2-4oz, of victory malt with US 2-row to try to get a English character like Maris otter. The problem with that was that it just came out tasting American. American biscuit is really different than English biscuit character you get from Maris Otter. So, I stopped doing that and really only put it in American brown ales and some amber ales.
 
I can see this flavor working in a brown or porter. Perhaps I'll try again with only 8oz victory. If that doesn't work I think I'll try some biscuit malt in combo with the english pale malt. Thanks all..

Oh.. and to answer artguy. I love s-04. Use it for just about everything except lagers, belgians, and wheats.
 
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