Coffee Malt?

[freyguy]

I'm planning on making the Indian Brown Ale clone from the Sept05 issue of BYO. I got everything today except the Coffee Malt. My LHBS has never heard of this. I'm kinda in a crappy situation since I want to brew Sunday, so is there any substitute for it? Recipe only calls for 6.5oz, so it's not a ton. There is already some roasted Barley in the recipe. Should I just steep some ground coffee beans, or should I make the 1.5 hour drive each way to another store?

 

[the_bird]

I've got a pound in the freezer, but haven't brewed with it yet. It tastes lighty roasted, toasty... really, think about the crust on a piece of toast that's just a wee bit too dark. I bet you could sub in some kind of toasted grain - maybe home-toast some malt, a little bit more than you would otherwise. But, to me it's more of a dark toastiness than a roastiness, so I certainly wouldn't be upping the roasted barley, and if you go with chocolate malt, only use a couple ounces.

 

[Rhoobarb]

...It tastes lighty roasted, toasty... really, think about the crust on a piece of toast that's just a wee bit too dark. ...

I'd never heard of this malt, either. Bird, do you think that biscuit malt would work as a sub? Maybe even toast it in the oven a bit?

 

[TexLaw]

I'm not familiar with that stuff, but it sounds like you could probably get away with Victory, biscuit, brown malt, pale chocolate, or a smaller amount of chocolate. I'd probably go with the brown malt.


TL

 

[the_bird]

I think I'd start with something like Victory. Either toast it a bit further in the oven, or maybe combine like four ounces of Victory and two ounces of chocolate and that might be pretty close to good.

 

[freyguy]

Thanks for the input guys. I called a brew shop that was 1.5 hours away, but they didn't have it either. Luckily, the guy had brewed the recipe before, and said that pale chocolate was very close. So I called my LHBS, and nope, no pale chocolate.

I'll prob try that combo out then because I know I can get those. Although, I am going right past Dogfish brewery after hunting on Saturday, so maybe I'll see if I can go in and bum some grains!!

 

[Madtown Brew]

Northern Brewer has a coffee malt.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/grainmalts.html

it's about halfway down the page in the "Belgian and French malts" section.

here's the description:

"Franco-Belges Kiln Coffee Malt. 150-180° L. This unique malt imparts a pleasant coffee flavor. Use it in stouts, porters, brown ales, and Scottish ales."



Re: pale chocolate. Only place I've ever seen it is at morebeer.com

 

[Professor Frink]

My LHBS recently started carrying coffee malt, I used it in my Milk Stout. It has a very nice flavor without being overpowering.

 

[johnnybrew]

Thanks for the input guys. I called a brew shop that was 1.5 hours away, but they didn't have it either. Luckily, the guy had brewed the recipe before, and said that pale chocolate was very close. So I called my LHBS, and nope, no pale chocolate.

I'll prob try that combo out then because I know I can get those. Although, I am going right past Dogfish brewery after hunting on Saturday, so maybe I'll see if I can go in and bum some grains!!

What did you end up using? Looking at the DFH Brown clone and want to try and get close to the flavor profile and assume it will be most accurate with the coffee malt. Thanks!

 

[the_bird]

That pound of coffee malt I had in the freezer three years ago?

Still got it Never got around to using it. Guess it's time to toss it, eh?

 

[johnnybrew]

That pound of coffee malt I had in the freezer three years ago?

Still got it Never got around to using it. Guess it's time to toss it, eh?

What's the shelf-life of a whole (not milled) malt in the freezer? As you, I assume one year is pushing the boundaries.

 

[the_bird]

I don't know. I always figure a year if stored well. I tasted it not too long ago, and it didn't seem that bad. I figure the roasted malts will probably hold up better than crystal or base malts, I have some older roasted barley (not this old) that seems to still be OK but I have some other base malts of similar vintage that have clearly gone stale.

At this point, I wouldn't risk 5 hours of brewing and $40 or whatever of ingredients and propane to save a $2 bag of coffee malt. It'll get binned.