Has anyone made a SMaSH beer with brown malt?

[MrSnacks]

Obviously it couldn't be a true SMaSH since it can't self-convert, you'd need a bit of 6-row to help convert. But I'm very curious how it'd turn out! Something like EKG or Columbus could be great in it. Or awful. It could very well be the worst SMaSH of all time.

 

[Cyclman]

I believe that's how stouts and porters were made "back in the day." I don't know how that would compare to modern malts. I'd start with a small batch!

 

[JKaranka]

I'm using 2/3 pale to 1/3 brown in my India porter. I'll let you know what's it like in a week once I bottle. The colour seemed surprisingly light, mid brown or so.

 

[McGarnigle]

I made one with 2-row and Brown Malt at a 5:1 ratio. Northern Brewer hops. Was great.

 

[wingedcoyote]

Palmer in How To Brew mentions porter made with brown malt as the base malt and says "Brown malt porter is a very good beer if you are careful not to oxidize it during brewing and let it age for several months before drinking." Apparently it can be rather tannic and harsh when it's young.

 

[DaleP]

I brewed a 50-50 porter, brown malt and Maris Otter, EKG for hops. Took a second with iy as a Historic Porter.

 

[MrSnacks]

I made one with 2-row and Brown Malt at a 5:1 ratio. Northern Brewer hops. Was great.

5:1 brown to 2-row or 5:1 2-row to brown?

Glad to hear someone's at least thought about this!

 

[McGarnigle]

5:1 brown to 2-row or 5:1 2-row to brown?

Glad to hear someone's at least thought about this!

More 2-row than Brown. I believe a little brown malt goes a long way, though it also varies by the maltster.

 

[JKaranka]

It has a nice flavour, though. I'm working with 20-35% brown malt in porters. When the new one starts to clear I'll let you know what that is like... it roughly has 30% brown malt and 70% pale malt.

 

[MrSnacks]

It has a nice flavour, though. I'm working with 20-35% brown malt in porters. When the new one starts to clear I'll let you know what that is like... it roughly has 30% brown malt and 70% pale malt.

That would be awesome, thanks. I'm thinking about adding ~5% brown malt to my Arrogant Bastard clone, could be really interesting. No longer AB, but I'll make it my own recipe!

 

[TheZymurgist]

There was an article in one of the recent issues of either BYO or Zymurgy that talked about DMaSH recipes. That's technically what this would be. Can't find the article at the moment though.

 

[JKaranka]

There was an article in one of the recent issues of either BYO or Zymurgy that talked about DMaSH recipes. That's technically what this would be. Can't find the article at the moment though.

They just have to come up with names for everything! The vast majority of beers in the history of mankind must have been smashes and dmashes!

 

[Weezy]

I get molasses flavor out of brown malt (*modern* brown malt. historic brown malt was a different animal). So I use it sparingly on a few beers, 3-5%. I did a pale coffee ale with Golden Promise & 5% brown and coffee beans in primary. That's about as close to smash as I got with it.

 

[MrSnacks]

I get molasses flavor out of brown malt (*modern* brown malt. historic brown malt was a different animal). So I use it sparingly on a few beers, 3-5%. I did a pale coffee ale with Golden Promise & 5% brown and coffee beans in primary. That's about as close to smash as I got with it.

That's interesting, I got a lot more roast out than molasses, but that was just snacking on grains. I think it can vary quite a lot by maltster though. That pale coffee ale sounds really interesting!