Patagonia Black Pearl 340L

Well... Has anyone used it? Went to my LHBS last night and they didnt have Carafa III for a Black IPA Im doing. The owner suggested I try the Black Pearl Malt. Said it was great for black IPA's. So in the spirit of being adventurous I said, sure why not. But the problem is... I cant seem to find any info on it. None of the recipe builders I use have it as an option. I went to BSG's website and the Patagonia website and they list the Lovibond values and recommended uses, etc, but nothing to do with PPG, which would be nice.

My understanding (correct me if Im wrong) is that you can do yield * 46 = ppg.

Heres the info that BSG gives for it...

Malt Type: Roasted
Grain Origin: Chile
Wort Color: 300-380 °Lovibond (800-1010 EBC)
Protein: 12.5% max.
Moisture: 5% max.
Extract (dry): 65.0% min.
Diastatic Power: 0 °Lintner
Usage: 15% max.

Im assuming Extract = yield. So would that mean that the PPG for this grain is 29.9 (30)?

Other than that, has anyone used this grain? What were your experiences with it?

Thanks!

That's correct and the minimum you can expect. Compare to Carafa III Special (dehusked) which has a dry base extract of around 65%.

Is yours dehusked?

Looks like Patagonia has finally made it to the stores... We've been trying to get their base malts for over 2 years. Nada!

Just looked it up, at 300-380°L your Black Pearl is actually closer to Carafa I (300-375°L), with similar dry base extraction @65%. But using 15% of it is crazy. 5% max I'd say, and about 10% for all the deeply roasted malts together.

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IslandLizard said:

That's correct and the minimum you can expect. Compare to Carafa III Special (dehusked) which has a dry base extract of around 70%.

Is yours dehusked?

Looks like Patagonia has finally made it to the stores... We've been trying to get their base malts for over 2 years. Nada!

Click to expand...

Yes it is dehusked. Thank you for your response!

I was wondering why Ive never seen this product before. The owner/brewer of my LHBS seemed to really like it, and was pretty excited about it so I thought I would give it a try.Everything I read about it on Patagonias website for intended uses makes me happy about using it

IslandLizard said:

Just looked it up, at 300-380°L your Black Pearl is actually closer to Carafa I (300-375°L), with similar dry base extraction @65%. But using 15% of it is crazy. 5% max I'd say, and that's the usage of all the roasted malts together.

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Ya I up'ed the chocolate malt in my recipe to compensate for the loss of carafa III. And I agree with the statement about 15%. That seems way high.

Im only using 5% chocolate and 3.75% Black Pearl

I fixed a few numbers (70% ==> 65%) and added some info after I looked it up on Weyermann's website.

Yeah, these Patagonia malts are supposedly among the finest, if you can get them. BSG has been advertising them for 2 years quite aggressively but each time we put in an order they were never available. Time to try again.

I steep those dark roasts on the side @140-150°F, outside the mash, and add the 3-4 quarts of jet black potion to the kettle after flameout, when the whirlpool has dropped to 175-180°F. It's incredibly smooth and fresh that way with no astringency or boiled coffee flavors. It's safe, anything added above 165°F gets pasteurized.

IslandLizard said:

I fixed a few numbers (70% ==> 65%) and added some info after I looked it up on Weyermann's website.

Yeah, these Patagonia malts are supposedly among the finest, if you can get them. BSG has been advertising them for 2 years quite aggressively but each time we put in an order they were never available. Time to try again.

I steep those dark roasts on the side @140-150°F, outside the mash, and add the 3-4 quarts of jet black potion to the kettle after flameout, when the whirlpool has dropped to 175-180°F. It's incredibly smooth and fresh that way with no astringency or boiled coffee flavors. It's safe, anything added above 165°F gets pasteurized.

Click to expand...

Only problem is that I mixed them with the C80L that Im using too. Could I just mash the 2-row by itself and still do the side mash with the choco, black pearl and c80L?

Heres my grain schedule by the way...

12lbs American Pale 2-row
1.2lbs Crystal C80L
.55lbs Black Pearl
.75lbs American Chocolate.

One other question, will I still have astringency issues if I ad the "jet black potion" to the boil at the beginning? Or maybe halfway through?

Absolutely, there are no convertible starches left in C80. Do adjust your mash pH for the non-inclusion of the dark malts there. It will likely need some extra acid. Your mash water calculator will tell you how much is needed.

IslandLizard said:

Absolutely, there are no convertible starches left in C80. Do adjust your mash pH for the non-inclusion of the dark malts there. It will likely need some extra acid. Your mash water calculator will tell you how much is needed.

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Good call. Ill give that a go. Thanks for the help!

kev211 said:

... One other question, will I still have astringency issues if I ad the "jet black potion" to the boil at the beginning? Or maybe halfway through?

Click to expand...

The idea is not to boil the dark roast liquor at all. So add it after flameout, when the wort has cooled to around 175-180F. It will pasteurize within a minute. Then chill to the next step if you're doing a hopstand (whirlpool) for the late hops, or down to pitch temps.

I got this idea from Gordon Strong.