Cold smoking

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skankin_brews

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I am very new to brewing, I have 4 extract brews under my belt. I was wondering if any one has ever messed around with cold smoking anything, particularly hops. I have a chef friend who uses the technique in the kitchen to impart smoke flavor without having to cook the ingredient. I just didn't know if it would work for brewing.
 
Smoking malt is pretty standard, there are commercially made cherry, beech and peat smoked malts. A little goes a long way.
 
Most people smoke a base malt, that way it doesn't get too dark from the extended heat. Here are some instructions and guidelines
http://***********/stories/beer-sty...s/309-brewing-smoked-beers-tips-from-the-pros
 
Cold smoking which is usually done at temps below 100F, so heat is not an issue.

I have a smoked porter that I'll be kegging sometime this week. I recently bought a Pro-Q Cold Smoke Generator and cold-smoked the entire grain bill over cherry wood. I've never considered cold smoking the hops, but that's an interesting idea. It might be worth trying to do that in addition to smoking the grain bill, but I don't think only smoking the hops would give you much smokey character...seems like it would get lost.
 
I cold smoked base grain for a porter I made a while back. It's really simple to make your own cold smoker as well. Follow me here, Get a new soldering iron (Has to be new), a can from canned goods (Chilli, beans, etc...) open the can about 1/2 way and dump the food out (or eat it) On the other end of the can poke a hole the size of the soldering iron (Only the metal part, not the plastic handle). I also drilled some really small holes on the top (When its laying down its the top, but you lay it on its side to smoke) of the can for more smoke to escape. Get some small wood chips (I use Alder wood) and put them in the can from the side that you opened half way then bend it back so the wood chips dont fall out. Insert the soldering iron all the way until the handle hits the base of the can at the end you poked a hole in and plug it in. Bam your cold smoking. I put my cold smoking contraption in my weber charcoal BBQ on the bottom and built a screen that holds my grain up top. Smoke to taste. Any questions feel free to ask.

**EDIT, clean the can out before you use it. Oh and don't let your neighbors see what your making cause they will think your a tweaker...
 
Nice job Coldies. That sounds interesting, not a fire hazard or anything?
 
Nice job Coldies. That sounds interesting, not a fire hazard or anything?

No flare ups to date and even if there was one it would be small enough to be okay in the weber BBQ. I thought the wood chips were gonna ignite but its a nice steady smoke for a few hours with a full can of chips. I don't soak the chips in water either. I have smoked a lot of stuff with this method and it works great. A very cool DIY with a tasty reward.
 
Totally going to do that DIY cold smoker with some salmon, along with some dry ice for good measure. Thanks for sharing man!
 
Totally going to do that DIY cold smoker with some salmon, along with some dry ice for good measure. Thanks for sharing man!

Salmon is one of my favorites with this method. When I smoked my porter base grain I smoked some salmon with it. I was trying to duplicate "Alaskan Brewing Company" Smoked porter. Came out good too.
 
If you already own a grill that has a "chimney" type exhaust pipe, you can cold-smoke grain. Procedure also works great on peanuts.
1.Get a new, non-linty dryer exhaust hose and run one end all the way down the pipe.
2. Run the other end into some sort of mostly closed box. I built mine out of old popcorn tins, but you could use wood or cut a hole in the top of a plastic bin or whatever. Don't worry if a lot of smoke comes out of the cracks; the grain will get its share.
3. Find a way to arrange the grain inside box so that it's not in one big pile. Surface area is the key. Window screens, pasta strainers, etc...
4. Build a fire with your wood of choice and close as much of the grill as you can without starving your fire of oxygen. As long as you have a smoky fire going, this would be a good time to throw some meat on the grill.

I smoked mine for an hour or so; the grain never got appreciably hotter than outside temps. A month or so after smoking, I used about a pound per gallon in my recipe; the smoke is noticeable and pleasant, but not harsh or overpowering.
 
I posted this a few months ago. It's all about meat but shows my smoker that I use for hot, warm, and cold smoking. I just use a hot plate to generate heat and smoke. I cold smoked 1 ln of grain for 10 gallons of porter I'm about to keg. It's gonna be on the light side of smoked but let me tell you, that grain smelled great going in.

Let me know if you have any questions.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f172/pig-down-meat-smoked-290346/
 
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