AG newbie "tour of malts"

[yogensha]

I made the AG leap 2 weeks (and 2 brews!) ago, and It's really added a new depth to the craft for me. I picked a couple of kits to start out with and get used to my setup and now I'm ready to be creative.

Much of my motivation for going AG is to make lots of good cheap beer. Alot of savings come from not using extract, and there are further gains to be had by buying grains in bulk.

There are lots of different kinds of malts out there and it's a bit overwhelming so I'm looking for a good place to start.

My plan is to buy a 50 lb sack of American 2-row, a pound of American hops and a pound or two of various crystal and specialty malts. The idea is to brew a series of very similar session ales, light to moderately hopped and using a neutral yeast strain. IOW, restrict the variable to a small quantity of spectialty grains to see how they alter the character of the product.

The basic recipe:

8 lbs. American 2-row
1 - 1.5 lbs specialty malt
Single infusion mash @153F for 60 min.S
1 -1.5 oz American hops (probably Amarillo) for full boil length
Safale US-05 (or maybe Danstar Nottingham)

I've chosen various crystal malts (40,90 and 120L), roasted barley, biscuit and chocolate malts to start. The idea is hop for enough bitterness to balance things out but not overwhelm the contributions of the specialty malts.

I'd appreciate any input at all!

 

[greencoat]

I have no real input, as I'm still an extract brewer, but this sounds like a really interesting idea. You'll have to do reviews with each batch!

 

[jpc]

Sounds interesting. I'm not sure what input you're looking for, though. Anything specific?

 

[yogensha]

More of a sanity check than anything, but specifically, is the base recipe appropriate for what I'm trying to accomplish? The selection of malts is fairly narrow, but they seem to be relatively common across recipes that I'm interested in. Any other malt suggestions?

I didn't mention that the recipie is for 5 gallons.

 

[IrregularPulse]

This is a fantastic way to gain knowledeg. Also another way is instead of 2-row with diferent specialty malts. you can do different base matls with no adjuncts or specialty malts.

Search SMaSH brewing. It stand for Single Malt and Single Hop. It's a great way to learn malt and hop character.
pick one hop and do a batch will all 2 row, then all Marris Otter, then all Vienna and so on...

 

[DKershner]

SMaSH brewing would be a great way to learn the base malts character.

For the specialty, I would go with a SMaSH brew first, with just 2-row, then add each malt to see what changes. Also, I would add more of the specialty malt and less base if you really want to see what they do, though your beer might be a little less drinkable. I would also use something more clean and neutral for your hop like a Goldings or a Hallertauer. Again, probably less drinkable but you'd learn more.

Also, depending on your setup, you can brew 1 gal batches instead and not "waste" so much material on learning. Just divide everything by 5 and make a series of starters out of the yeast.

 

[HIM_Tattoos]

SMaSH brewing would be a great way to learn the base malts character.

For the specialty, I would go with a SMaSH brew first, with just 2-row, then add each malt to see what changes. Also, I would add more of the specialty malt and less base if you really want to see what they do, though your beer might be a little less drinkable. I would also use something more clean and neutral for your hop like a Goldings or a Hallertauer. Again, probably less drinkable but you'd learn more.

Also, depending on your setup, you can brew 1 gal batches instead and not "waste" so much material on learning. Just divide everything by 5 and make a series of starters out of the yeast.

Link to SMaSH

I also plan on doing this soon due to my new found love of AG brewing

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I've chosen various crystal malts (40,90 and 120L), roasted barley, biscuit and chocolate malts to start. The idea is hop for enough bitterness to balance things out but not overwhelm the contributions of the specialty malts.

Some 'specialty' malts are or can be used as base malts. Munich malt and Vienna malt are prob the most common but that can vary because some maltsters Munich/Vienna are 6-row and some are 2-row (you'd want 2-row for a 100% Munich or Vienna brew). You could use up to 100% Munich or Vienna and make a great beer. Even Dark Munich although the same caveat about 2-row vs. 6-row applies and usually Dark Munich has just barely enough diastatic power to convert itself.

Some other really nice malts you didn't mention are Honey malt, Melanoidin malt, and Aromatic malt. All three of these malts should have just enough diastatic power to convert themselves. The specialty malts you listed do not have any diastatic power. In many cases, all three could be interchanged because all 3 have a similar color (about 20-25 L) and similar flavors/aromas. In some cases, Aromatic and Melanoidin might be essentially the same thing but from different maltsters. Honey malt is a malt made using a special process by Gambrinus...it's good stuff. I always like to have Honey malt and either Aromatic or Melanoidin on hand.

Also might want to try the common 'head retention' malts...Wheat, Carapils, and Flaked Barley (imho, Flaked Barley actually works the best...but can leave some slight haze).

 

[mkling]

I think this is an excellent plan. Your base recipe looks just fine, enough malt and hops to lend some depth to the beer but not overwhelm the specialty grains. Pretty much all of your beers will qualify as American Ales regardless of specialty grains used given your base, hops, and yeast.

I've brewed a number of SMaSHs, but for shear interest & taste, this sounds more interesting to me. Do it up & tell us how it goes. The great thing is that with your base grainbill you could do everything from blonde ales to a porter or stout-like beer with that one simple variation.

 

[yogensha]

Great feedback all, thanks!

I've considered doing some gallon batches on the stove, and I probably will at some point especially with dkershner's suggestion of significantly increasing the ratio of specialty malts. I wouldn't want to brew 5 gallons of something "less drinkable"

SMaSH recipes also look like alot of fun. I'll probably head down that road after a couple of sacks of 2-row.

SpanishCastleAle, great suggestions for other malts as well. They're all on my radar.

 

[Teacher]

And then, when you're done sampling the malts, do the same thing with different hop varieties.