acid malt

i know this is a base grain but, is there anyway to steep this and make it work? i mean temp, time, whatever. i have no way to do pm right now, and i need to add a small amount to a guiness clone im working on. thanks for any help.

Stay away from the brown acid malt man.

Stay away from the brown acid malt man.


what does that mean? would you like to elaborate on what u just said dude. and thanks for the quick replies.

spottedbass said:

Stay away from the brown acid malt man.


what does that mean? would you like to elaborate on what u just said dude. and thanks for the quick replies.

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I think that he's making a drug/cultural reference.:fro:

1960's, Woodstock, Wavy Gravy making the following announcment.



"Don't eat the brown acid!"

Sorry it was meant as a goof.

I'm surpised to see acid malt in a Guiness clone. Generally this malt is used for pH adjustment of the mash. I'm also not sure if acid malt can be mashed by itself. It's produced differently than pilsner malt and may not have enzymes left. Even if you mash it with the same amount of pils malt I might be worried that the resulting pH would be to low for conversion.

Kai

Kaiser said:

I'm surpised to see acid malt in a Guiness clone. ...

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I learned long ago from Dan Listermann that it will replicate the "Guiness twang". I've used it ever since in my Dry Irish Stout and it does the trick.

Kaiser said:

I'm surpised to see acid malt in a Guiness clone. Generally this malt is used for pH adjustment of the mash. I'm also not sure if acid malt can be mashed by itself. It's produced differently than pilsner malt and may not have enzymes left. Even if you mash it with the same amount of pils malt I might be worried that the resulting pH would be to low for conversion.

Kai

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spottedbass, to expand on what Kaiser has started here I am going to give you information contrary to what 99% of the homebrewers doing Guinness clones will tell you about acidulated malt. It isn't going to give your beer a "Guinness tang". Any perceived tang is probably due to the placebo effect. Acidulated malt is made for just what Kaiser said. It's designed to be added to pilsner mashes to drop the pH. If it added any "tang" to the taste of the beer it couldn't be used for the purpose it was designed. BTW it can be mashed by itself, it's essentially just pilsner malt that has be sprayed with a little acid, probably lactic. If you want to add some of the mysterious tang to your stout you can do what Guinness does and add some soured beer. Let some beer go sour, then pasteurize it and add it to the beer at packaging. A 2% addition is an amount that is usually seen as a suggestion. Even easier just by a bottle of lactic acid at the LHBS and add small amounts until you get the tang you want.

I learned long ago from Dan Listermann that it will replicate the "Guiness twang". I've used it ever since in my Dry Irish Stout and it does the trick.



what he said...the guys i have talked to says it gives it the twang, the very same guys says its easier than waitin a week to sour a couple of bottles of guinness, and all the rest of the process. they say they can't tell the difference in taste. now im more confused than when i started.....

I used the 'soured beer' trick once and didn't get the result I wanted. With the acid malt I did. I say try it for yourself and see what you think. A pound of acidulated malt isn't expensive and you don't need but six ounces. All I can say is it works for me.

Rhoobarb said:

I used the 'soured beer' trick once and didn't get the result I wanted. With the acid malt I did. I say try it for yourself and see what you think. A pound of acidulated malt isn't expensive and you don't need but six ounces. All I can say is it works for me.

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Ditto. My dry stouts were never quite "right" until I started throwing in acid malt. And yes, a difference can be tasted with a bottle of my old formula and new formula side by side by people other than myself.

well im gonna have to ask...does the acid malt give it the twang or soured taste? and the other beer u talked about...did u sour beer for them?

BigEd said:

spottedbass, to expand on what Kaiser has started here I am going to give you information contrary to what 99% of the homebrewers ....It isn't going to give your beer a "Guinness tang". Any perceived tang is probably due to the placebo effect.......
it's essentially just pilsner malt that has be sprayed with a little acid, probably lactic. ......Even easier just by a bottle of lactic acid at the LHBS and add small amounts until you get the tang you want.

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I am not trying to start a fight... I am just reading this and applying logic.

So acid malt will not (according to BigEd) give any twang. He says either sour some beer and add it or go to the LBHS and buy **lactic acid** and add small amounts.

And to clear things up we learn that acid malt is just pilsner malt with **lactic acid** sprayed on it.


I think I see the reason 99% of home brewers agree that acid malt might give your guiness clone a twang.

But it is late, so I will go relax and drink my stout quietly in my corner. I might be prey to faulty logic.

mike

Take some of the pre-boil wort (a 22oz bottle works for this) and throw a hand full of grain in it. Put some tin foil on the top and let it sit around for a week. Boil it. Put into a new(sanitized) 22oz bottle and cap. Add to beer when bottling.

Doing this will add the desired twang that you are looking for.

well how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop....the world may never know. i have herd and read about sour beer and wort and when to add, bottle,freeze,amount,etc.,etc., the acid malt seemed the best way to me,

Will someone please do a side by side comparison of these two contrasting ideologies! it has been over 4 years since anyone has posted here so probably not.

I first used acid malt last year in a 10 gallon stout, but only used about 1.5% per the suggestion of the proprietor of the LHBS. (He said a little goes a long way). Couldn't detect any flavor contribution or sourness at that level, but the stout was pretty tasty ... a bit too sweet for my taste, however, and didn't have the Guinness twang.

Planning to brew another 10 gallon batch of Irish dry stout in a few weeks using the 3% acid malt method (0.44 lb. for 10 gallons). Local water is pH 8.5 and very soft. I used approx. 3 TB gypsum to the mash/sparge water last time. This time my salt additions will be more exacting, using a combination of gypsum, chalk, epsom salt, Calcium Chloride and baking soda. I may also add the roasted barley late in the mash (or mash it separately @ 160F) depending on the initial pH reading.

My understanding from reading Michael Lewis' book on Stout is that the Dublin Guinness brewery adds the roasted barley/sour extraction to the boil, as told to him by Guinness executives (this is also stated on the website). He states that they add it to the mash at the London Guinness brewery, and elsewhere around the globe. Methinks there is more than one way to skin this cat.* Cheers.

*No cats will actually be skinned in the making of this beer.

I've used 3%-8% of acid malt in my saisons, golden strongs, and other belgian ales to get a sour tartness in my finished beer, and I have definitely been able to taste it.

It works, it's easy, and you don't have to worry about contamination of brewing equipment.