Experience with CaraAroma?

[J_Flint]

My LHBS was running a sale on grains so I on a whim grabbed a ten pound bag of Weyermann CaraAroma. After popping a pinch in my mouth I was very surprised by how unexpected the flavor was. It had a dark roast flavor and then a zingy sourness in the finish. I really wanna like this malt because I now have ten pounds of it, but I'm afraid to use it in anything because the flavor is so different. Does anyone care to share experiences they've had with this malt?

 

[bucketnative]

I used it in place of SpecialB in dubbels, at the same rate as Special B would have been used. Worked well.

 

[J_Flint]

I used it in place of SpecialB in dubbels, at the same rate as Special B would have been used. Worked well.

So how many ounces would produce the desired result in a 5 gallon batch? Does it add any sort of sourness? I think it tasted alot like unsweetened chocolate with a little fruitiness too, but as I said it has a weird sourness that I don't want in my beer. What flavors do you get from it?

 

[monkeymath]

The tang of the malt itself is not really prominent in the beer ime. It's quite strong stuff, so only in rare occasions will you want to use more than 3-4% of it. 10 pounds of it go a loooong way...

I once made a Weizenbock with quite a bit of CaraAroma; the yeast - cultured from dregs of Schneider Weisse - transformed the malt's fruity tones quite beautifully. In moderation, it gives a nice bready-fruity twist to a bigger stout or porter. I'm sure it'll do great things in dark Belgian beers. I would not put it in a lager, though.

 

[schematix]

It's a highly underrated malt in my opinion. It lends flavors akin to raisin or other dark fruits. It's very similar to special B.

10lbs is going to be a ***** to use at home brew scale. Hope you got a good price. That's enough to make at least 30, if not 50 gallons of dark malty beer.

 

[J_Flint]

It's a highly underrated malt in my opinion. It lends flavors akin to raisin or other dark fruits. It's very similar to special B.

10lbs is going to be a ***** to use at home brew scale. Hope you got a good price. That's enough to make at least 30, if not 50 gallons of dark malty beer.

The whole ten pounds was only 5 bucks. Lol. That's why I whimsically bought it. Maybe I'll try it in my next dark ale. Can think of anything else it would be appropriate in. I am unfortunately plagued with an intolerance of Belgian yeast. They destroy my stomach for some reason. Probably one of the phenolic compounds don't agree with my gastric tract.

 

[J_Flint]

It's a highly underrated malt in my opinion. It lends flavors akin to raisin or other dark fruits. It's very similar to special B.

10lbs is going to be a ***** to use at home brew scale. Hope you got a good price. That's enough to make at least 30, if not 50 gallons of dark malty beer.

Besides a dark ale like porter or stout what other malty beers might it be good in? Maybe a dunkel....idk. Would it be inappropriate in say an Amber Ale, or even a nice English Mild?

 

[Robert65]

It's been a long time since I used it but I did choose it based on a comparison with other similar products of about the same color, as to what it contributed to the beer. I found I did not get the very roasty character of the English dark crystals I've used, and did not get the raisiny, tart flavors of Special B. CaraAroma gave much more of just an intense, dark malt character, like CaraMunich on steroids. I gather from the name that's what Weyermann were intending. I used very tiny amounts in dark lagers, but never really found it that compelling.

 

[Dog House Brew]

Make an Arrogant Bastard type of American Strong. I like the malt a lot. More raisiny than Special B IMO. I’m making a BDSA coming up and thought of using some in it actually.

 

[schematix]

Besides a dark ale like porter or stout what other malty beers might it be good in? Maybe a dunkel....idk. Would it be inappropriate in say an Amber Ale, or even a nice English Mild?

Doppelbock

 

[IslandLizard]

Make an Arrogant Bastard type of American Strong.

+1 for the Arrogant Bastard clone.
All 50 gallons of it, any day, any time.

 

[Calder]

Arrogant Bastard. Use it as 10% of the malt. Research threads on this site and you will see the consensus is that AB is probably made with Cara-aroma rather than Special B. I use it for my AB Clones, or variations of that beer. Need lots of Chinook hops to make the beer.

 

[monkeymath]

Besides a dark ale like porter or stout what other malty beers might it be good in? Maybe a dunkel....idk. Would it be inappropriate in say an Amber Ale, or even a nice English Mild?

I find it inappropriate for a (Munich) Dunkel. These beers are relatively light-bodied and showcase Munich malt; CaraAroma is too intense and the raisin-y, fruity aspects of it don't go in a Dunkel. Not saying it couldn't make a good beer, though!

I actually used 150g of CaraAroma in my take on the popular "Orfy's Mild Mannered Ale" (6 gallons). That beer was very very good. With the low ABV, CaraAroma gives a welcome boost in maltiness. But then that bag is gonna take you some 200 gallons of beer

 

[couchsending]

Wanna make an IPA a bit more “orange” and not add a bunch of mid lovibond Crystal? Use .5% Caraaroma either for the whole mash or right before vorlauf.

 

[J_Flint]

I've been eyeballing a Bells Best Brown recipe for a while calls for 1lb Special Roast, Victory, and C60...do you think I could drop the Special Roast and half the crystal and sub in maybe half or 3/4 pound CaraAroma? By tasting the malt it seems to have that rich cocoa flavor that I find in the Best Brown.

 

[Robert65]

CaraAroma doesn't have the dry toasty/roastiness that a brown malt type like Special Roast has. And any roastiness you taste in a grain sample will mellow a lot in the beer. I don't think you'd get the result you're after subbing one for the other. But I wouldn't hesitate to sub some of the crystal.

 

[J_Flint]

S

CaraAroma doesn't have the dry toasty/roastiness that a brown malt type like Special Roast has. And any roastiness you taste in a grain sample will mellow a lot in the beer. I don't think you'd get the result you're after subbing one for the other. But I wouldn't hesitate to sub some of the crystal.

So then the CaraAroma and other dark crystal malts still contribute a sweet, caramel flavor? The darkest I've ever used so far is 80L.

 

[ebbelwoi]

I use it in all of my porters. It fills a nice slot for sweetness and caramel to my palate. I use about 6% chocolate, 6% caraaroma, and 10-12% brown. Comes out to about 70 EBC. I'm really pleased with the results, but YMMV of course.

 

[monkeymath]

So then the CaraAroma and other dark crystal malts still contribute a sweet, caramel flavor?

To me,. it's not at all sweet. Caramel, yes, but rather the dark, slightly bitter kind.

 

[chewyheel]

I have used it at a rate of 3.4% (5 oz in a 5.5-gallon batch) in a Vienna Lager I made last year. It added a very nice red color to the beer, as it was the only roast malt I used in the recipe. The rest was a combo of Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna. It tasted great too, I wouldn't hesitate to use it again.

 

[J_Flint]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I've decided to throw 5 or 6 ounces in a modified version of Orfy's Mild Mannered Ale. Anyhow, just realized I somehow posted this thread im the Ferm.and Yeast section...whoopsy. Idk why or how I did that lol.