Mashing Carafa Special III

Just got done with my Imperial Pumpkin Ale and I am going to be doing my Christmas Ale next. While the Pumpkin Ale was pretty straight forward (for a high OG that is) the recipe I am doing for my Christmas Ale calls for Carafa Special III.

The last time I used Carafa III I was still doing extract so I steeped it which seemed to work fine. Now that I am an AG brewer I did a little research on how to use some of the speciality grains and read that its best to add Cararafa III prior to the sparge and not add it to the grist for mashing. The suggestion is to sprinkle it on top of the mash right before you are about to sparge.

I read something similar to this for using pumpkin if you didn't want to use rice hulls to prevent a stuck sparge so putting ingredients on top and sparging thru them makes sense but in this case the reason stated was to prevent the bitter astringency that can result from darker malts.

Has anyone done this or read something similar to this ?

David

When I've used carafa, it's been just for color and it's gone in the mash. Small amounts are pretty flavorless in a batch.

The point of removing the husks is to prevent the bitterness and astringency. That's what makes it special. Crush it and mix it in.

You still might get some roastiness from it. If it's a concern, throw it in the mash with about 10 minutes to go...