Munich Light malt

[razyrsharpe]

i just came into a half of a sack (27.5 lbs) of this grain. i am wondering how it works as the base malt in all grain recipes. has anyone used this in a SMaSH concoction? what did you find? how did it taste? everything i have read says that it needs a second grain to maximize efficiency in conversion. is this a hard and fast rule? what can i expect if i use it by itself?

 

[JonM]

*Napoleon Dynamite voice* "Lucky!!!"

This stuff is awesome. I just kicked a keg of altbier using 100% Munich (about 10 lbs for a 5-gallon batch) mash at 152 , an ounce of Striesselspalt at 60 and another at 10, ferment cool with 1007 or any clean ale yeast. It's just insanely malty and wonderful.

Another is a dunkelweizen - 50/50 with dark wheat and a couple oz of dehusked Carafa III and ferment with 3068.

AND! Add a couple pounds of Minich to ANY recipe to add a wonderful malty backbone. You have a real score there. Munich is one of my all-around favorites.

 

[JonM]

Wait - is this German Munich or Briess Munich?

 

[razyrsharpe]

i believe that it is US Munich Light.

 

[razyrsharpe]

JonM, that does sound delish. i love a malty brew.

 

[sudbuddy]

Munich is great as a specialty OR base malt so I think it's pretty awesome. Can you lager? 50/50 Munich and Vienna is an awesome grain bill for a Marzen/Oktoberfest. I would do that, then keep a few pounds for IPAs

 

[razyrsharpe]

unfortunately sudbuddy, i cannot lager yet. if i could i would be brewing the hell out of some lager styles for sure. but i have been told i can make lager recipes using lager yeast at ale temps for a california common type of thing. i might try it. what would an Oktoberfest/Marzen taste like with that technique? hmmmmm....

 

[JonM]

Try using a really clean ale yeast like 1007 or 1056. Both will give you a darn fine pseudo-lager at ale temps.

 

[razyrsharpe]

Officially i have a light Munich malt from Germany. so there it is...

 

[JonM]

Huzzah! That's some awesome stuff then.

(And I really like Briess stuff - I just read a bunch of stuff saying that their Munich is more of a crystal malt than a base malt, and that it's not good for SMASH beers.)

 

[catdaddy66]

You should brew a Altbier at some point using majority Munich as this is a steam style beer as well. I just finished one today as a matter of fact. Can't wait to try it soon!