Black Patent v. Chocolate for Darkening

[OldHenry]

Greetings All,

I'd like to try Revvy's Kentucky Common recipe...and make it almost black in color. (Like the picture taken with his cell phone) Brewer's Friend software indicates that I'll get this color if I bump up the black patent malt from 2 oz. to 16 oz.

Everyone who's made this recipe raves about the taste, drink-ability, and so on, so I don't want to screw it up.

Will the increase in black patent ruin the taste? If so, would chocolate malt be a viable alternative? Is there a better choice than these?

Thanks for your input!

 

[ChelisHubby]

Both of those will affect the taste quite a bit. I don't think you can do what you want.

 

[OldHenry]

Thanks Chelis. Guess I'll leave it be.

 

[slym2none]

Try Midnight Wheat. Here is my LHBS's description:

http://bullcityhomebrew.com/products.aspx?sku=LDC-1882C&search=0

 

[ChelisHubby]

If you want it a little darker maybe a longer boil or a once of chocolate or black patent more. But to make it black well maybe a food coloring.

 

[ChelisHubby]

Just brewing it by the recipe is what I would do.

 

[ChelisHubby]

The midnite wheat is a good option I had not considered.

 

[OldHenry]

Slym, this looks like the perfect "fix". Thanks!

 

[slym2none]

Glad I could help.

 

[Lefou]

I went down that road recently..

I use Brewer's Friend (great planning software, BTW) and just last year, I screwed up a batch. As a noob brewer, I added too much CarafaIII and didn't pay attention to my water balance. Ended up with a Dunkelweizen that had a sharp, smoky taste and aroma. After waiting a month or more for it to condition, the result was a bit disappointing.

Solution ... I am sticking to lighter beers until I get this water stuff figured out, leaving the darker, higher gravity beers alone until then.

 

[mongoose33]

Try Midnight Wheat. Here is my LHBS's description:

http://bullcityhomebrew.com/products.aspx?sku=LDC-1882C&search=0

I use something called Chocolate Wheat. I use 6 oz in a Rye beer I brew (5 gallon batch), and I get a wonderful deep dark color:

 

[OldHenry]

I went down that road recently..

I use Brewer's Friend (great planning software, BTW) and just last year, I screwed up a batch. As a noob brewer, I added too much CarafaIII and didn't pay attention to my water balance. Ended up with a Dunkelweizen that had a sharp, smoky taste and aroma. After waiting a month or more for it to condition, the result was a bit disappointing.

Solution ... I am sticking to lighter beers until I get this water stuff figured out, leaving the darker, higher gravity beers alone until then.

Yes, "sharp and smokey" was my concern with increasing the black patent by 14 oz.! However, looking at the profile for Midnight Wheat, it seams I'll likely be adding a bit of pleasant roasted character. I'll try it.:rockin:

 

[dstockwell]

You can get the color with cold steep...

 

[Wayne1]

Another option would be to use Sinamar which is developed just for this sort of thing.

How to use Sinamar

 

[lowtones84]

2 oz. of Black Patent will get you more color than a brewing calculator's srm gauge tells you in my experience. A finer crush with it can get you more color as well.

 

[crusader1612]

In Blakc IPa's I used 300-350g of Carafa II in a cold steep for 24 hours (500ml of water to 300g crushed malt)
Then Pour an additional 500ml to 1 litre of waterto "Sparge" and add to the kettle when it comes to a boil. minimal roast character, black as night.

 

[mxstar21]

Blackprinz malt is another good one for adding color without astringency.