Amber Malt vs Brown Malt

[Airborneguy]

I registered my Atonement Brown Porter for a local competition before learning that my LHBS is out of brown malt. The recipe has not changed for 12 or 13 years. It calls for 2.5lbs of brown malt which is 24% of the grist.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/atonement-brown-porter-2011-hbt-gold-category-12.238714/
So it looks like the best substitute available tomorrow is amber malt, which I have never used before. Casual research seems like it won’t make a huge difference but I am nervous, especially for a competition since I rarely enter them anymore.

Opinions and experience with this malt?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

You won’t get the colour by substituting brown malt with Amber so if you use it add some chocolate malt or black malt to get the colour you want.

 

[Airborneguy]

You won’t get the colour by substituting brown malt with Amber so if you use it add some chocolate malt or black malt to get the colour you want.

Thankfully this recipe is already dark for the style as I use 9oz of black patent.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Thankfully this recipe is already dark for the style as I use 9oz of black patent.

What’s you batch size as 250g of black malt seems a lot.

 

[Airborneguy]

5.5 gallons.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

5.5 gallons.

That’s about 21 litres so 250g of black malt seems excessive. Consider reducing it to 3 oz (80g) and replacing the balance with Chocolate malt. With that much black malt it’s irrelevant whether you use brown or Amber or even pale male.

 

[ducati]

Personally, I don't think Amber malt is a good sub for brown malt. It might make a great beer, but not the same. I believe it is more biscuit forward than roast.

I've used Breiss Special Roast as a sub for brown in my Porter before, and it was kinda close. Personal preference maybe, but I was satisfied with the Porter. I use about half the roast malt you use, but again personal preference. It looks like you've been brewing this one awhile.

If feasible, consider making a phone call to the next nearest LHBS and have a mini-field trip if you find the brown malt. Good luck!

 

[Airborneguy]

That’s about 21 litres so 250g of black malt seems excessive. Consider reducing it to 3 oz (80g) and replacing the balance with Chocolate malt. With that much black malt it’s irrelevant whether you use brown or Amber or even pale male.

I don’t see the need. I’ve been brewing this recipe for 13 years and have won competitions with it.

 

[MaxStout]

I don’t see the need. I’ve been brewing this recipe for 13 years and have won competitions with it.

Agree.

If you change too many things and your score changes (for better or worse) it will be hard to pin down which variable was responsible.

Sub the amber for the brown and see what you get. If they ding the score you'll know to get brown next time. If the score goes up, you've just discovered an improvement.

 

[mac_1103]

After 13 years, what do you have left to atone for?

 

[Airborneguy]

I've been very bad.

 

[Airborneguy]

@Bobby_M eased my mind. This is why you support your local shop when you have a good one!

 

[dmtaylor]

You can make your own brown malt by toasting some amber malt or base malt in your oven for 30-60 minutes. Easy peasy.

 

[G_robertus]

I don't think that amount of black malt is too much either, but I really like the taste. Also very similar to chocolate malt in my opinion. I second toasting malt yourself though. I prefer my own brown malt over TF brown malt.

 

[Airborneguy]

So I did ultimately brew it with the amber malt. I have some time should I decide I don’t want to enter this version. I wouldn’t be thrilled about having two batches of a similar beer at the same time, but oh well.

 

[Bassman2003]

I like brown malt. I hope Bobby was able to hook you up!

 

[Airborneguy]

I like brown malt. I hope Bobby was able to hook you up!

He actually got it this morning but since I already ordered the amber, I stuck with it. He was fairly certain I wouldn’t notice much of a difference considering the rest of the recipe.