Roast 'em, Toast 'em, Smoke 'em If you Got 'em

[homebrudoc]

I've been getting the itch to make some home-smoked malt to brew with. Picked up some oak but also grabbed some birch. Anybody ever smoked malt or food w/ Birch before? Curious
homebrudoc

 

[Schlenkerla]

I've been getting the itch to make some home-smoked malt to brew with. Picked up some oak but also grabbed some birch. Anybody ever smoked malt or food w/ Birch before? Curious
homebrudoc

I haven't yet, but birch is supposedly similar to maple.

I used maple to make a brown ale, it tasted very bacon like, whereas oak is more like ham.

http://www.dantesdevine.com/pages/Smoking-Woods.html

Looks like birch is good with beef, pork or poultry. Seems like you can't go wrong.

I may have to put this in my list of rauch beers to make.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Brewing a Classic Bamberg Rauchbier with 100% Beechwood smoked malt.

At the same time smoking a Greek Fatty.

Calling it; Gyro-Big-Ole-Fatty...

I also have two Schlenkerla Marzen to drink with the Fatty.

[emoji481] [emoji481] [emoji481]

 

[Schlenkerla]

Prost...

 

[Schlenkerla]

Smoke The Greek!

 

[Schlenkerla]

Smoking more pale malt with Pecan.

Not sure what beer is next. Hoppy & Brown or Dark & Malty.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Matched set...

 

[Schlenkerla]

Kegged my Schlenkerla Clone tonight.

She's very smokey...[emoji12]

10lbs of Beech Smoked Malt. Home made
1/2 lb of Black Malt
2 oz of Mt Hood @ 60 min

Mashed high for more mouth feel.

OG 10.53
FG 10.15
ABV 5.0%
SRM 25
IBU 40

 

[Schlenkerla]

Damn gnats pestering me... Just lit a mosquito coil...

Ah smoke...

.... Smells like a punk.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I effing love this beer.

Schlenkerla clone with Beechwood malt

 

[BikerMatt]

I've been getting the itch to make some home-smoked malt to brew with. Picked up some oak but also grabbed some birch. Anybody ever smoked malt or food w/ Birch before? Curious
homebrudoc

Birch is the "good" firewood here so yes I've been smoking/barbequing with indirect heat with birch a lot. Used solely and if it's still not completely dried it can give you a bitter taste but if properly dried it's nice and mellow. I usually do 50/50 alder/birch as dry birch blone tends to burn so hot it forgets to smoke so you gotta fiddle with the airvent all the time.

 

[Schlenkerla]

@aharri1,

Here's the zipped XML... This is a simple rauchbier boosted to make a bock.

Black or Carafa II can be used per Ray Daniels & Geoff Larson Recipe is from "Smoked Beers" . I always use black, but it might be worth trying Carafa II (Chocolate) malt.

https://www.brew.is/files/malt.html

This is an alternate recipe. It's in the same book. I believe @Blackdirt_cowboy made this recipe.

http://www.malt.io/users/jedouglas429/recipes/millennium-rauchbock

 

[BikerMatt]

Currently mashing the recipe you gave in the do thread. What surprised me is the mash doesn't smell ome bit smokey, is this normal or have the malts been sat for too long or sth?

 

[aharri1]

@aharri1,

Here's the zipped XML... This is a simple rauchbier boosted to make a bock.

Black or Carafa II can be used per Ray Daniels & Geoff Larson Recipe is from "Smoked Beers" . I always use black, but it might be worth trying Carafa II (Chocolate) malt.

https://www.brew.is/files/malt.html

This is an alternate recipe. It's in the same book. I believe @Blackdirt_cowboy made this recipe.

http://www.malt.io/users/jedouglas429/recipes/millennium-rauchbock

Thank you I got it I'm going to plug it into my beersmith app!

 

[Schlenkerla]

Currently mashing the recipe you gave in the do thread. What surprised me is the mash doesn't smell ome bit smokey, is this normal or have the malts been sat for too long or sth?

It should be a little smokey. A little smokey in the mash, makes it pretty smokey in the beer when its carbed. Don't be bothered by that. The boil won't be much different. You'll have to wait until you can taste the OG sample or the FG sample.

How did the grain smell? Typically the grain dry is more smokey than the mash.

I grab a hand full and stick my face in it and get a good wiff.

 

[BikerMatt]

Well I tasted the OG sample and it had a faint whiff of smoke that was quickly overwhelmed by the bitterness of the hops, somehow being used to needing to stink up the whole house to get a one kilogram tenderloin smoked I was expecting to need a gasmask to boil this thing but apparently the smokiness runs deeper than that. I didn`t really smell the grain too much when starting the mash, just dumped em in while stirring the water.

Pitching the yeast tomorrow after racking (hell actually today as it´s 2am), will report back in six weeks.

 

[Schlenkerla]

@bracconiere Cool DIY Smoker ideas....

http://cooldiyideas.com/diy-meat-smokers/

http://homestead-and-survival.com/15-diy-meat-smokers/

Here's a cardboard box idea...

https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Cardboard-Smoker/

I personally like the flower pot ideas.

Here's a pot smoker method, might work in small amounts of grain.

https://food-hacks.wonderhowto.com/how-to/easiest-way-smoke-food-without-smoker-0162328/

 

[bracconiere]

thanks for the info! will look into it more. unfortunately my first idea for the underpowered hotplate was not working, i bypassed the temp knob, and thought i'd use my fan speed controller. like when i use my big hot plate but the temp doesn't go low enough even only using 330 watts...

i will look over the links you posted and see what i can do with them!

 

[Schlenkerla]

thanks for the info! will look into it more. unfortunately my first idea for the underpowered hotplate was not working, i bypassed the temp knob, and thought i'd use my fan speed controller. like when i use my big hot plate but the temp doesn't go low enough even only using 330 watts...

i will look over the links you posted and see what i can do with them!

You can use pellets for smoking and they are real cheap and available all over the place. You said you used foil pans. Well, this idea uses foil pans, tin foil and some binder clips. You need a heat gun or hand held acetylene torch. Watch this you'll get the idea. You'll be able to use mesh baskets inside this to hold the grain.

I have used a tin can with pellets and a torch. Its super simple. The grain will be super effing smokey. The temp is usually not too high either about 100-110F max. I would add a thermometer to this set-up.

If you have a tin can, a torch, pellets and an enclosure you just need a way to hold the grain. Make sure you follow my wetting instructions or incorporate this with your malt kilning process.

 

[Schlenkerla]

thanks for the info! will look into it more. unfortunately my first idea for the underpowered hotplate was not working, i bypassed the temp knob, and thought i'd use my fan speed controller. like when i use my big hot plate but the temp doesn't go low enough even only using 330 watts...

i will look over the links you posted and see what i can do with them!

You're Welcome! Cold smoking works really good and its the probably the cheapest means to super infuse grain with smoke.

 

[bracconiere]

i had a post all written out, but it sounded like an excited 13 year old with a new toy. So i need a couple days to absorb this, right after my oven mod to make light beer again, i'm having more fun than a middle aged person can handle rationally! lol

 

[Schlenkerla]

i had a post all written out, but it sounded like an excited 13 year old with a new toy. So i need a couple days to absorb this, right after my oven mod to make light beer again, i'm having more fun than a middle aged person can handle rationally! lol

That's awesome. There's nothing wrong with being inspired.

 

[bracconiere]

That's awesome. There's nothing wrong with being inspired.

I get a lot of it here...just as long as i don't talk about ph, or brüt IPA!

 

[bracconiere]

remembered i watched this about 3 years ago!



and being i have trouble with making 'different' crystal malts..smoke might be good in light doses maybe 2-4oz in a 10gal batch for variety...smoked dark grain? smoked green? hmm, new ideas abound!

 

[Schlenkerla]

remembered i watched this about 3 years ago!



and being i have trouble with making 'different' crystal malts..smoke might be good in light doses maybe 2-4oz in a 10gal batch for variety...smoked dark grain? smoked green? hmm, new ideas abound!

Smoked malt needs to be have a much higher percentage of your grain bill. Treat rauch malt much like a base malt. It can be 100% to less than 10%.

My latest rauch bier is 10 lbs rauch and 8oz black malt. Your light doses apply to how much black malt I might want to use.

I've used small amounts 2-3 pounds in milds and brown malts, about a pound in a stout. Once a pound in a pale ale. I typically like about 50% or more in beer.

Such small amounts would be unnoticeable in most cases. Especially if you have other roasted malts in your grist.

 

[bracconiere]

Smoked malt needs to be have a much higher percentage of your grain bill. Treat rauch malt much like a base malt. It can be 100% to less than 10%.

My latest rauch bier is 10 lbs rauch and 8oz black malt. Your light doses apply to how much black malt I might want to use.

I've used small amounts 2-3 pounds in milds and brown malts, about a pound in a stout. Once a pound in a pale ale. I typically like about 50% or more in beer.

Such small amounts would be unnoticeable in most cases. Especially if you have other roasted malts in your grist.

this is where i'm at with smoked malt,

i've only used it once, and it was about a pound or so. i smoked it myself with hickory...But it completely took over the beer!

i'm just now recovering from 2.5 years of 100% munich equiv. base malt, i'm looking for light beer for a while! but think 8oz or less of a smoked malt in a other wise 100% pale malt beer would lend a subtle, different kind of caramel to it...

 

[bracconiere]

actually had to bump it up to 450 watts to get the wood to start smoking...

can't see it the pic but there's smoke coming out of the top of the box, figure couple hours, and i'll have a new flavor to add!

 

[Schlenkerla]

I gotcha, if that's all you want is a touch of smoke. I have several recipes, one of which is called...

Ein Hauch von Rauch. Which means a touch of smoke in German.

I'll get a look the grain bill when I get home. I don't know how much is a touch. LOL

Im heavy handed with the smoke.

 

[Schlenkerla]

View attachment 593040

actually had to bump it up to 450 watts to get the wood to start smoking...

can't see it the pic but there's smoke coming out of the top of the box, figure couple hours, and i'll have a new flavor to add!

View attachment 593039

How much grain are you smoking?

 

[Schlenkerla]

You mentioned caramel with smoke are you smoking a crystal malt?

If so that sounds interesting.

 

[bracconiere]

I gotcha, if that's all you want is a touch of smoke. I have several recipes, one of which is called...

Ein Hauch von Rauch. Which means a touch of smoke in German.

I'll get a look the grain bill when I get home. I don't know how much is a touch. LOL

Im heavy handed with the smoke.

i was thinking about a joke, i smoke a lot of cigarette's...but it's seems like your a serious smoker! i just want a cigar on the weekend...

right now it smells good out back with the smoke, the box hasn't caught on fire...and i think i'm good! smoked beer next! with cardamom...

i can't make different crystal malts or any of that i just get medium and dark....but smoking medium and dark turns it up to 2x2 or 4...

 

[bracconiere]

How much grain are you smoking?

You mentioned caramel with smoke are you smoking a crystal malt?

If so that sounds interesting.

yes, i'm smoking a somewhat light i'd say 40-60L crystal i made...i didn't weigh it but i'd say about 2 pounds...

i want to smoke some dark grain too! and green wet malt, trying to find way to add variety to my homebrew, i don't have a way to constantly stir in the oven so i can't make a consistent roasted crystal. was looking into ronco rotisserie with coffee roaster baskets, but kind pricey....

 

[bracconiere]

you know i'm drinking this bad batch of malt beer now, reminds me of Limburger cheese...but thought, maybe with some smoked malt, cardamom, or allspice...could have people asking for more!

 

[Schlenkerla]

i was thinking about a joke, i smoke a lot of cigarette's...but it's seems like your a serious smoker! i just want a cigar on the weekend...

right now it smells good out back with the smoke, the box hasn't caught on fire...and i think i'm good! smoked beer next! with cardamom...

i can't make different crystal malts or any of that i just get medium and dark....but smoking medium and dark turns it up to 2x2 or 4...

I don't smoke anything other that food and grain. I stopped smoking cigarettes many years ago. I like a Dutch Cavendish in a pipe during the fall while sitting outside in my favorite Red Argyll Flannel. May have to do that tonight.

I think I could make crystal pretty light with just the oven off with just a watt 40 incandescent bulb just to dry. My last go at was dark...but I like it roasty and dark.

yes, i'm smoking a somewhat light i'd say 40-60L crystal i made...i didn't weigh it but i'd say about 2 pounds...

i want to smoke some dark grain too! and green wet malt, trying to find way to add variety to my homebrew, i don't have a way to constantly stir in the oven so i can't make a consistent roasted crystal. was looking into ronco rotisserie with coffee roaster baskets, but kind pricey....

You can use two pans nested together with grain in the middle, and stir more frequently.(Like every 15 minutes) The two pans are supposed to help it toast/roast more evenly. Kiln/cure at a lower temp. Like 200F. No?

BTW - I have a pop corn maker that I used to make chocolate malt. It's a stir crazy. It's roasts the grains really fast. And it's cheap!!!!

 

[bracconiere]

low temp is what i used to only be able to do. which is why all my beer were dark, could only kiln at 200f for 12 hours....i've looked into the maiard reaction a bit, tyrying to figure out how i can use low temps to get an even roast...i did get a light roast with 220f, which is some of what i'm smoking right now....

i've seen the popcorn poppers used for coffee roasting, which is what i was searching for making crystal malt..does it smoke a lot? problem i have with doing it in the oven...

 

[Schlenkerla]

you know i'm drinking this bad batch of malt beer now, reminds me of Limburger cheese...but thought, maybe with some smoked malt, cardamom, or allspice...could have people asking for more!

Yak.... Limburger cheese.

 

[Schlenkerla]

low temp is what i used to only be able to do. which is why all my beer were dark, could only kiln at 200f for 12 hours....i've looked into the maiard reaction a bit, tyrying to figure out how i can use low temps to get an even roast...i did get a light roast with 220f, which is some of what i'm smoking right now....

i've seen the popcorn poppers used for coffee roasting, which is what i was searching for making crystal malt..does it smoke a lot? problem i have with doing it in the oven...

It's smokes some. I did it the first time on my stove top in January with the range fan on full. If you can do it outside its better but not necessary. I mean as long as you don't burn them. I don't do more than a pound at a time.

 

[Schlenkerla]

@bracconiere

The grist for Ein Hauch von Rauch:

8lbs pilsner malt
1lbs rauch malt
1/2 lb Carahell or crystal 10L

1.5 oz tettnanger at 60 min
1 oz tettnanger at 30 min
1 oz saaz at 2 min

Use a neutral American ale yeast or a Bavarian/Munich lager yeast.

OG 1.048
FG 1.010
ABV 5%

 

[bracconiere]

Yak.... Limburger cheese.

lol

@bracconiere

The grist for Ein Hauch von Rauch:

8lbs pilsner malt
1lbs rauch malt
1/2 lb Carahell or crystal 10L

1.5 oz tettnanger at 60 min
1 oz tettnanger at 30 min
1 oz saaz at 2 min

Use a neutral American ale yeast or a Bavarian/Munich lager yeast.

OG 1.048
FG 1.010
ABV 5%

i need to shoot for 1.060, and a 1.000 finish. for calorie counting, but...could bump it up too 20 pounds pale malt and 2 pounds smoked crystal, 10 gal batch? i want to start off slow though, just like 8oz maybe or a pound of this smoked grain...see how it goes....

 

[bracconiere]

smoking this today...

just a touch of this and touch of that, might have an interesting brew to drink!