Amber ale with melanoidin?

[rhys333]

Hey guys,
Figured I'd try using melanoidin malt in an amber ale for extra maltiness. I hear differing opinions on how much to use before it gets overpowering. Someone said 1% is good and 3% too much, while another said 10%. I'd appreciate hearing about your experience with it and how much you think would be appropriate in my recipe below. Thanks in advance.

AMBER ALE
75% MO
15% C75
5% Wheat (or toasted oats)
5% Melanoidin
Warrior @ 60 to 15 IBUs
Centennial @ 10 & 2 (enough to make batch 30 IBUs)
US 05

 

[lowtones84]

3% is definitely not too much in my experience, but I suppose that could depend on what maltster it's from. I think you will be happy with around 5%, it's definitely a noticeable contribution at that level. I say brew on, and adjust from there if you desire

 

[badlee]

I have just used 5% in a beer with a SG of 1.090 and very much like the malty flavour it gives. It did not,as I had feared it might,make the beer cloyingly sweet,but I gave it 90IBUs

 

[rhys333]

Thanks for the input guys. Taking the lower IBUs into consideration, I think I'm going to reduce the C75 to 12.5% and the melanoidin to 4%.

 

[lowtones84]

I support that too (not that you need my support for -your- recipe). I'm sure it will be malty and delicious.

 

[rhys333]

I flip-flopped back to 5% again before brewing today. Kept the lower crystal amount though for slightly less sweetness. Thanks again guys.

 

[ratinator]

Keep in mind it's the same thing as biscuit malt. Most people use a half pound in recipes of about 10 lbs or 5 gallons batches. If your doing a nut brown or you want more biscuit flavors you can go up to a full pound

 

[EJay]

These guys are using 11% in a commercial amber:

http://www.madtreebrewing.com/recipes/happyAmberRecipe.pdf

 

[rhys333]

These guys are using 11% in a commercial amber:

http://www.madtreebrewing.com/recipes/happyAmberRecipe.pdf

Looks like they downplayed the crystal as well in favor of munich and victory. I thought about adding those but didn't want to muddy things up too much. Will have to keep it in mind though for future batches.

Ratinator - I thought melanoidin and aromatic were more similar, and biscuit closer to victory?

 

[ratinator]

I was told by my lhbs that they are just different companies calling them something different. Same goes for cara-pils and dexterin

 

[giraffe]

Keep in mind it's the same thing as biscuit malt. Most people use a half pound in recipes of about 10 lbs or 5 gallons batches. If your doing a nut brown or you want more biscuit flavors you can go up to a full pound

Meladonin is in the same family as aromatic or honey malt, there are some diffrences depending on maltster. Basically a "super" 20-30L Munich malt.

Victory and biscuit are more of a light toasted malt of around the same color. Different flavor profile, though, in my experience.

 

[rhys333]

Well guys, I went with the 5% melanoidin and the amber has been bottled for about 12 days. I know its early, but I'm sampljng one right now. Really nice beer, but I'm not picking anything up from the melanoidin. I think next time I'll increase to 8% of total grist.

 

[signpost]

I had a beer from Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids, MI that was 85% pilsner and 15% Melanoidin. They fermented with the Belgian Ardennes yeast and called the beer Mela. It was delicious and I decided to try brewing it myself. It's in the fermenter and I'll be kegging it in a week or so. I'll be sure to report back about how it turns out.

 

[rhys333]

I had a beer from Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids, MI that was 85% pilsner and 15% Melanoidin. They fermented with the Belgian Ardennes yeast and called the beer Mela. It was delicious and I decided to try brewing it myself. It's in the fermenter and I'll be kegging it in a week or so. I'll be sure to report back about how it turns out.

Please do. What brand of melanoidin are you using?

 

[signpost]

Please do. What brand of melanoidin are you using?

I'm using Weyerman Melanoidin that I got in the Maillard Malts 1lb. packages from Northern Brewer.

 

[signpost]

Just kegged up my batch. The sample tastes real nice.

It was 85% pilsner and 15% Melanoidin with about 40 IBUs from Cluster and Delta hops and then a small dry hop.

OG was 1.065 and finished at 1.017 for about 6.5% ABV.

Can't wait to taste it when it's carbed up.

 

[rhys333]

Nice. What are you noticing from that 15% melanoidin?

 

[badlee]

I NEED to know about your Delta.
I am drinking a Deta bitter now and it has near to no taste and no aroma at all.
Hope the 15% works well

 

[signpost]

I NEED to know about your Delta.
I am drinking a Deta bitter now and it has near to no taste and no aroma at all.
Hope the 15% works well

Well, I got all the ingredients for free from a local breweries big brew day. And all of my hop additions were half and half Cluster and Delta. And I'm not all that familiar with Cluster.

So, I'm not sure I'll be able to tell you much specifically about the Delta.

So far, in the sample I took, there is a solid bitterness followed by some spicy/earthy hop notes that I generally associate with English hops. There was a Brit at the big brew day that got some of the Delta and was planning on taking it home to do a simple pale ale with it to experiment and see if it fit his style of beers. This guy knew what he was doing in brewing English style ales (I tasted several that he had brought with him) and was brewing 2 separate ESBs with hops he had recently brought back from the UK. He said the Delta was supposed to be in the same vain as Fuggles or Goldings. That description seemed like it would fit fine with my Belgian style malty amber.

I'll definitely report back after it's carbed up. I'm taking it to the tasting event on Sunday. If I win, I get to brew on the brew pub's system. Although, they do a people's choice style vote, and basically whichever beer has the most hops and highest ABV generally wins. So, I'm not going to hold my breath. Just looking forward to sharing my beer and tasting some others.

 

[badlee]

Well,the best of British luck,as they say where I was born.
Earthy/spicy: yes,but in a wishy-washy kind of way.
Nothing like Fuggle OR Cascade(it's other parent).

 

[rhys333]

I just thought I'd report back on my amber ale with melanoidin malt, now at about 3 months after bottling. With some age on it, it's turned into a really nice beer. Mellow sweetness, almost raisin like in flavor, and that melanoidin is subtle, but definately there. I'd describe it as a malty twang that's quite pleasant. I think I'll brew this again, perhaps replacing 1/3 of the crystal with biscuit or victory to see how it compares.