Chocolate Malt in Brown Ale

[scottyg354]

Remind me never to use more than a 1/4 pound of this stuff. Put 3/4 pound into a brown ale and while it is drinkable it is way way way to roasty.

 

[Beerbeque]

Now you have me worried. I have a brown ale fermenting that has 8oz of chocolate.

 

[brewkinger]

8 oz is just about the limit IMO.

 

[Xpertskir]

Remind me never to use more than a 1/4 pound of this stuff. Put 3/4 pound into a brown ale and while it is drinkable it is way way way to roasty.

Its way more than just the amount of chocolate malt, the rest of the recipe and FG play a huge role in the balance of the beer.


With that being said even big brown ale recipes tend to stop at .5 lbs.


Two strategies for mellowing the roast character of malts are

1. Cold steep the roasted malts
2. Cap your mash for the last 15 minutes with roasted malts.

 

[scottyg354]

Its drinkable, just a little much.

 

[scottyg354]

Type: All Grain Date: 3/23/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal Brewer: Scott
Boil Size: 6.52 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Pot and Cooler ( 5 Gal/19 L) - All Grain
End of Boil Volume 5.98 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 4.60 gal Est Mash Efficiency 82.8 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 74.4 %
2 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 18.6 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.0 %
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 20.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 5 7.3 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 6
1 lb Powdered Peanut Butter @ 60min
1 lb Powdered Peanut Butter @ 14 days Secondary
Measured OG: 1.052
Measured FG: 1.010

 

[unionrdr]

I used 3.2oz of chocolate malt from some 6oz I had left in the fridge for my NZ hopped Moari IPA. But that also includes 1/2lb carapils,2lbs pale malt (UK),2lbs marris otter (crisp),8oz crystal 40L in the partial mash with 2G of local spring water. According to BS2,it's supposed to give this one the same amber/orange color of my malt profile for my APA/PA/IPA AE beers. It looked a bit darker going into the fermenter to me,but colors can lighten by the time all is said & done. I feel that the malts used in this mash will give a bit more flavor complexities compared to the AE version. And it still uses a 3lb bag of Munton's plain light DME,which has gotten to be somewhat of a tradition with me. According to BS2,it was a little light in the OG,& nor having anymore DME to add,I used a pound of demerara sugar. Added enough to the OG to bring up to spec for an American IPA. Added a tad to the SRM as well,2SRM according to BS2. Besides it's having a nice light brown sugar laced with honey flavor. Thought it'd work with the NZ hops's tropical flavors.
So you def have to watch how much chocolate malt you use,depending on what you want out of them. Just some color,or a lil flavor,or a lot of color & flavor...

 

[scottyg354]

I think I should have mashed a little high (152-153) than 149 as to add a little sweetness/maltiness. The beer is really too dry to support the bold flavor the chocolate malt is giving it.

 

[unionrdr]

As a matter of fact,I mashed mine @ 152F. But since I wrapped it up in this thinsulate/synthetic goose down huntin coat,it went up to 153F in the course of an hour. That temp seems to give a good balance of malt & hops in mine.
Just hopin the super moss will clear up the protein haze from the fine crush,etc.

 

[Beerbeque]

My recipe was:
10# two row
1# C60
8 oz choc
1 oz USNB 75
1 oz USNB 10

 

[Braufessor]

I think I should have mashed a little high (152-153) than 149 as to add a little sweetness/maltiness. The beer is really too dry to support the bold flavor the chocolate malt is giving it.

Right here^^^^

I used 3/4 of a pound of chocolate in my brown ale that took 3rd at St. Paul NHC regional (plus some brown malt and some coffee kiln malt) (6.5 gallon batch btw). That beer was not really "roasty" - but it was rich, chocolate, some coffee, etc. I mash higher - 153-155. So, mine definitely was not "dry" - it was sweeter and fuller.

 

[Milan37]

Mine was:
Mash 60 mins @152
11# MO
1.5# C60
.5# chocolate
1oz NB (German) 60
1oz Cascade 15
1oz Cascade 0
US-05

I was very happy with the way it turned out.

 

[Braufessor]

This is mine:
2 Row 8.0
Munich 3.0
Flaked Oats 1.0
Wheat .50
Caramel 60 .25
Brown Malt .25
chocolate .75
acidulated .25
coffee kiln .25
caraaroma .25

30 minutes - 2 ounces Northern Brewer
5 minutes - 1 ounce each cascade and wilamette

Two main criticisms of it were not hoppy enough and too "silky/full" for style - Likely the flaked oats.

I think the higher mash temp. and the oats give a texture and a sweetness that probably cancelled out some of the chocolate in mine. I agree that in the absence of those things, the chocolate could go towards the roast/burnt/astringent type aspect in a hurry.

Pale chocolate is a nice grain to mix in as well to avoid some of that.

 

[Spartan1979]

What chocolate malt did you use? I have found the English Chocolate malts to give a milder flavor compared the US malts.

 

[unionrdr]

I've been using Breisse chocolate malt myself. I have been curious about the English one for IPA's,& other pale ales to go with the English base malts I used in the current IPA.

 

[Braufessor]

I use english.

 

[Toga]

I find .5lbs to be my personal sweet spot for brown ale recipes I have brewed. I have used more but find more to be a bit much in most cases.

 

[StoutattheDevil]

For browns, us T&f brown if you can find it. Chocolate and darker roasted and black malts should be 8-12oz tops(depending on the amount of base grains). If your only relying on those malts for color 4-5oz will do it. Something that is 350-450lovibond will bring a lot of color if you only have 7lbs of base and some crystal malts. In a given 5gal recipe. I use dark crystal malt and a pinch of roasted for color.

 

[Rideandbrew]

My recipe was:
10# two row
1# C60
8 oz choc
1 oz USNB 75
1 oz USNB 10

This will be a fantastic session beer.No worries.

 

[daksin]

"chocolate" malts vary so much in color and degree of kilning that you really need to be careful what goes into your beer. I feel like we should be listing lovibond values for all the chocolate malts we use in our beer the same way we do crystal malts.

 

[Yooper]

"chocolate" malts vary so much in color and degree of kilning that you really need to be careful what goes into your beer. I feel like we should be listing lovibond values for all the chocolate malts we use in our beer the same way we do crystal malts.

That reminds me! I LOVE "pale chocolate" malt. It's got a lovibond of around 225 or so, but it's not harsh and makes a great addition to brown ales. I always keep some on hand now, and have even made it an integral part of my stout recipe.

 

[daksin]

That reminds me! I LOVE "pale chocolate" malt. It's got a lovibond of around 225 or so, but it's not harsh and makes a great addition to brown ales. I always keep some on hand now, and have even made it an integral part of my stout recipe.

Pale chocolate is great in a mild or american brown too!

 

[JRems]

Don't forget the brown malt, it's one of my favorites. But it seems to be used rarely.

 

[daksin]

Don't forget the brown malt, it's one of my favorites. But it seems to be used rarely.

Great in a porter- but not a lot of LHBS carry it.

 

[Yooper]

Don't forget the brown malt, it's one of my favorites. But it seems to be used rarely.

I use it often- in brown porters. It's "the" signature flavor in brown porter, but not appropriate in brown ales.

 

[DustBow]

Yeah, I think it's Jamil who uses a ton of "pale chocolate" in his recipes.
I think my LHBS has 2 chocolates, one in the 300-350 range and one in the 500 range, might be English vs US maltsters.

I also really like chocolate rye, it's in the lower 300 spectrum too. Seems to give a mellow/smooth chocolate taste w/o really imparting much rye flavor.

I also saw a true "coffee malt" last time I was in the shop, will have to look into that one.

So many malts, so little time....

 

[chicken]

That reminds me! I LOVE "pale chocolate" malt. It's got a lovibond of around 225 or so, but it's not harsh and makes a great addition to brown ales. I always keep some on hand now, and have even made it an integral part of my stout recipe.

I just recently tried pale chocolate in place of regular chocolate malt in a brown ale recipe, and I love it.

 

[kja]

"chocolate" malts vary so much in color and degree of kilning that you really need to be careful what goes into your beer. I feel like we should be listing lovibond values for all the chocolate malts we use in our beer the same way we do crystal malts.

This is so true and unfortunately I learned it the hard way. 2 years ago I made a Porter that had a wonderful rich chocolate flavor and I have not been able to reproduce it. I didn't write down whose chocolate malt I used because at the time I assumed they were all fairly close.

Since then I have tried using Simpsons (430L), a generic English chocolate from NB (400L) and Briess (350L). None had the same flavor. Both English chocolates were very roasty.

Does anyone have a favorite chocolate malt when they want a rich, but not roasty, chocolate flavor?

 

[DaveSutton]

I added a 1/4 pound of chocolate malt to a Porter recipe I had made before and the new version is much better.

 

[scottyg354]

What chocolate malt did you use? I have found the English Chocolate malts to give a milder flavor compared the US malts.

Breiss