Man, I am glad this was asked as I have a related question. I'm not wanting a thick syrup or anything, but I also didn't want to use crystal malts in my brown. I know, I know, it would be easier, but it is a challenge I have taken on. I planned on toasting some of my pale ale malt and munich malt into amber and brown malts, but I was also debating a 1 gallon first runnings boil to caramelize some of the wort. My question was, will the chocolate malt I am using in the mash add a bad flavor if caramelized like this. At the brewery we used to do this small boil in our amber ale to get the flavor we wanted, but I am in unfamiliar territory with chocolate malt. I have never used chocolate malt ever!!! Very excited to try it out, but thought I'd ask opinions.
So, what would everyone do to make a good brown with only Pale ale, Munich, and chocolate 400L? Like I said, I have heard to toast some of the malts into amber malt and brown malt, but I am looking for more advice and ideas. If the chocolate sounds ok to caramelize via a small boil then great, but I am scared to just try it without some conversation.