Roasted Barley at the end of Mash

I see on some recipes that the roasted barley is added at the end of the mash. I would assume that this is due to brewing with low ra water and the roasted grain would throw the ph way low. So instead they mash the base malts and crystal and adjunct s together which gives a good mash ph then throw in the roasted barley ( which probably adds little fermentables since it is unmalted) If I was to do this process how much towards the end should I throw them in? What is a good amount of time to allow? Im guessing it might not matter since the conversion will be complete on the other malts and you are basically getting the roasted flavor from the roasted barley. The ph level dropping with the addition will not effect on the rest of the mash.

My plan is to mash the base, crystal and flaked barley at a proper ph. Then add the roasted barley at the 60 min. Raise the temp to mash out and start the fly sparge. Any comments?

 

It seems that some time is required to extract the flavor from the barley. Color comes first, then flavor. If you wait until the end of the mash to add the roasted barley and let it sit long enough to extract the flavor, your mash out will be of no use. I might instead add the roasted barley at the 45 minute mark as the majority of the conversion would be over and that would let the roasted barley have 15 minutes of mash time before mash out. JMHO

 

Gordon Strong advocates for adding dark and roasted grains at vorlauf.

So i think you would extract plenty of flavor in the sparge.

Also, consider a cold steep of the roasted grain. That is said to lower the risk of astringent off flavors.

 

For roasted grains I steep them separate then add that liquor to the mash at vorlauf.

 

Thank you. I will have to look into the "how to" for steeping. I see the benefits of avoiding the off flavors.

 

Is there a particular temp you steep them at? And for how long?

Thanks!

 

If steeping... Would you use the same amount of grain? Meaning do you get about the same amount of flavor with a steep vs mash? Do you just add the entire steeped water?

 

I steep at about 130-150.....use my oven on lowest setting for 20-10 min.

 

I don't want to start an argument here but there is another school of thought on steeping. I have always just added my dark roast grains to a pan or whatever cover with cold water and let steep overnight before straining and adding the liquid to the last 5-10 minutes of the boil. You avoid all the astringent and burnt flavors. You don't need heat because the blacker grains contain no usable starches that require heat. If you have ever tried a cold brewed coffee you will know exactly know what I mean.

 

Makes sense, I don't brew many beers with roasted grain, I will try this next time if I remember the night before

 

So I pull the roasted grains from the mash. Now I need a little acid to get the mash pH right. Should I leave a little roasted for the acid or pull it all and add the little acid I need?