Smoked beer recipe building

[LiGuy]

I'm trying to build a rauchbier ale style recipe and I'm trying to figure out how much smoked Malt to use. Some recipes I'm seeing 50%+ of the grain bill being Rauch malt. And most of the other smoked beer recipes being around 15-20% . Essentially I want to build a smoked porter using German ingredients. I want the smoke to be very present and upfront but not over powering so you can't taste the other complexities of the beer

 

[Murphy111]

I made a smoked porter using about 20% cherry smoked malt in my early days... Smoke was nearly overpowering when the beer was fresh, but it mellowed with age. I would say, using rauchmalt, which has a lower smoke character, 15-20% should serve you pretty well. If you're going to make this a high-gravity beer that will be aged, go higher. I have heard, however, of RauchBier styles being brewed with 100% rauchmalt...

 

[Calder]

I just used 25% Beechwood smoked malt in a 1.064 Porter. I took a sample at 3 days, and am very disapointed. I didn't notice any smoke character.

 

[QuercusMax]

Cherry-smoked malt is pretty potent. I made a gold-medal-winning Rauchbier using 15% each cherry-smoked malt, Vienna, and Pils, 45% Munich, 4% Caramunich and 2% melanoidin malt. It was plenty smoky for me.

A few years ago I made a smoked porter kit recipe which included only 1lb of what I believe was also cherry-smoked malt, and it was nice and smoky as well.

The German beechwood smoked stuff isn't nearly as intense, from what I gather.

One other factor to consider is that folks seem to have a fair amount of variability with the Briess cherry-smoked malt; its smokiness varies quite a bit depending on its freshness. When a fellow club member re-brewed his Best of Show smoked helles a few months later, it wasn't nearly as smoky as the first time around, which he attributes to the freshness of the malt.

 

[tele_dirtbag]

I just finished up a Rauchbier with 100% Weyermann Rauch malt. Its super smokey for sure. Not as much so as this: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/263/727/ which is what I was going for. I really like it. Others who have tried it have really hated it. I'd say If you want something with a good amount of smoke character go for 50% or more.

 

[BigPerm]

I'm trying to build a rauchbier ale style recipe and I'm trying to figure out how much smoked Malt to use. Some recipes I'm seeing 50%+ of the grain bill being Rauch malt. And most of the other smoked beer recipes being around 15-20% . Essentially I want to build a smoked porter using German ingredients. I want the smoke to be very present and upfront but not over powering so you can't taste the other complexities of the beer

I made a smoked porter last year using 40% cherrywood smoked malt. The smoke was very evident, but it has a sweetness that really blended nicely into a robust porter. Some people thought it was overwhelming, but it was exactly what I was going for and I loved it. On the other hand, i made an imperial porter using 20% smoked (10% Beech/10% cherry). It was much less evident and blended in a little more. The smoke is definitely there, but you just have to look a little harder.

If you want a lot of smoke character, I would go with the cherry smoked malt. I don't have direct experience with the Rauchmalt, but the cherry came through very well for me. Just made an oatmeal stout using about 12% cherry smoked malt, and its quite subtle. (PM if interested in above recipes - happy to share)

In a rauchbier, I would shoot for 30-40% if you want it to be really noticeable. It will mellow with age, so if you like smoke, go even higher. I love smoked beers; will probably do a SMaSH with it one day. Good luck!