Help with malt bomb

I am gonig for a malt bomb and would like some critique of my recipe so far.

11 lb Munich Malt 36 3
8 oz. Cara-Pils/Dextrine 33 2
8 oz. Acidulated Malt 33 2
8 oz. Malto-Dextrin 43 6

60 mins 0.75 Hallertau Mittelfruh info pellet 3.9
30 mins 0.50 Hallertau Mittelfruh info pellet 3.9

Wyeast German Ale (1007)

I should end up with:
OG 1.059
IBU 15.3

The carapils is for head retention.
The Acidulated malt is for my high PH water (I'll also use some ph 5.2).
The Malto-Dextrin is for mouth feel.
I just took a stab at the yeast - I've never used this one before.

Needs more crystal, mmmm

I would ditch the carapils and the malto dextrin, they wont add malty flavor. Don't worry about head retention and mouth feel as crystal malt and mash temp will have the same effect on head retention and mouth feel. Its just a matter of picking crystal malts to match the malty flavors and colors you want.

For color, I am going for something in the copper to amber range. I am new to creating recipies, but I thought crystal was pretty much for color.

As for head retention / mouth feel, what mash temp would you suggest to achieve this with a grist like this?

Drop all that acid malt. If you're new to recipes, you should hold off on water adjustment too.

If you want malty, use some MO and Munich. Throw in a 1-2 lbs of crystal. Go with a bittering addition only, there's no need to taste hops.

Also use a lower attenuating English ale yeast that will accentuate the maltiness and not dry the beer out too much.

Mash at 156 and be sure to mash out.

Patirck said:

The Acidulated malt is for my high PH water (I'll also use some ph 5.2).

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The ph of your water is not important, it's the mash ph you need to be concerned about.

I don't think your talking about "Sweet Malt" just malty and a clean yeast like you might get in a helles, vienna amber or octoberfest. (please note these are all lager styles) Lager = clean yeast flavor (or lack of yeast flavor). The closest yeast (In my opinion) Are 1056-001 and Cal ale (anchor steam). I would also consider WY 1450 "Dennys Favorite" as a good choice.

As for your malt selection: the acid malt or more 5.2 is your choice. The Caraplis and malto-dextrin is such large amouts are going to give you a dextrin Bomb not a Malt bomb flavor. Dextrins do have a flavor in high concentrations like your recipe above. I would never use above 4.0z of malto-dextrin in a 5 gallon batch. If I add Malto-Dextrin I would also use a 149 Mash Temp, because you could get quite a bit of dextrin contribution from a higher mash temp.

Hope this helps.

This is all very interesting.

I like the yeast sugessions - I'll probably go with 1007 if they have it at the lhbs.

I think I'll stick with the acid malt and 5.2 for now until I figure out my mash ph issues.

I have a bag of malto dextrin so maybe I'll use that instead of the carapils and I'll drop it to two ounces.

A higher mash temp sounds good as I'm going for a fuller body.

Have you seen this thread? https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/pursuit-perfect-malt-bomb-157839/

Might be somthing like what you're going for.

Patirck said:

This is all very interesting.


I think I'll stick with the acid malt and 5.2 for now until I figure out my mash ph issues.

Click to expand...

Unless you've confirmed with a reliable pH meter that you have issues, don't go chucking in 8 oz acid malt to your mash. It's likely OK as is.

I have confirmed with a ph meter - my tap water is 8.8 ph! Even with Five Star 5.2, it only comes down to 5.8 or 5.9. I did cut it down to 4 oz but here is what I ended up with:

11 lb Munich
4 oz Carapils
4 oz Acidulated malt
4 oz Melenoidin
Maybe or maybe not 4 oz malto-dextrin

1.25 oz hallertau 3.8% 60 min

Wyeast Euro ale 1338 (I wanted a few others but this is what the lhbs had in stock).

This should put me at:
og 1.058
ibu 17
srm 12

beercalculus says it will finish at 1.018 which seems a bit high. Not sure what to do about that.

I will brew this weekend after I get the starter going.

Patrick,

When you add malt to mash your pH will be significantly reduced. You should check the pH of your mash before you add acidulated malt. It's likely your mash pH will be okay. Check this out - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

I need to check the mash ph for sure - I only checked the water ahead of time. For this beer, I will dunk the ph meter in the mash. Any clue as to when in the mash process I should do this? If I am mashing at 156 for 60 minutes, do I measure the ph at dough in or 15 minutes later or some other time? I also need to somehow correct for temperature I am sure - does this mean I should take some mash water out and chill it (in an ice batch for iinstance) and then measure the ph?

I'd dough in, wait about 2-5 min, pull a sample, quickly cool then measure pH. If you're too high, add in some sauermalz and wait a couple more minutes, then test pH again.

Good luck! And keep us updated on how the beer turns out!