Cold stepping and Carafa Special

[Lele]

Hi everybody and greetings from Italy.
I want to make a black IPA and I found a recipe with 6% of Midnight Wheat in cold stepping. I've some questions:
1) Can I substitute Midnight Wheat with Carafa Special I and III?
2) In any case: if I use Carafa Special, is it better if I do a cold stepping or can I avoid it?
Thanks

 

[Upthewazzu]

Carafa Special I is basically chocolate malt, so I'd skip that since you're making an IPA. Carafa Special III is pretty "roasty", IMO. So I'd recommend cold steeping the III.

 

[Lele]

Ok, thanks. Just a couple of questions about cold stepping:
1) the correct procedure is to put crushed grains into water at room temperature, to wait 24 h and then to put only the “black water” at 10 minutes before the end of the boil. Is it correct?
2) how many amount of grains have I to put in 1 gallon of water?

 

[bitteritdown]

The technique is called "cold steeping" not "cold stepping".

This article may give you the information you need:

https://www.homebrewersassociation....steeping-getting-the-most-out-of-dark-grains/

 

[Lele]

Thanks
In the article there's written that malted grains with husks give astringency to the beer. So the question is: if I use Carafa Special III (that is a huskless grain), can I avoid cold steeping (and put the grains in mash) or it's better using cold steeping even with Carafa Special?

 

[LarMoeCur]

Or you can just buy some Sinamar and take the guess work out of it.

 

[Lele]

Now I can’t buy Sinamar and I want to try with Carafa Special (that I have at home), but I don’t know if it’s better to put it directly to the mash or making a cold steeping

 

[xpops]

for my black ipa's (or schwarzbiers) i typically just add the crushed grain at the last 10-15 mins of the mash, and have never had any negative effects. It also makes it easier when it comes to water chemistry and adjusting for mash pH, as the majority of the conversion has taken place by the time you add them (which you're mostly adding for colour anyways)

 

[Lele]

10-15 mins, that is at mash out?

 

[xpops]

10-15 mins, that is at mash out?

before mash out. like 45 minutes into the mash (60 min mash). let it sit for 10-15, then begin your mashout/sparging.

 

[Lele]

Ok. And this avoids astringency to the beer? It sounds interesting

 

[xpops]

It helps! I've never had an issue. But I've also added dark grains for the whole mash, without problems. The difference might be is that I build up RO water to my desired profile, while maintaining a proper pH level. That helps to prevent astringency.

 

[Lele]

What ph level do you suggest me for a black ipa?

 

[xpops]

you'll want somewhere between 5.2-5.5 for any beer, really. I typically adjust to a 5.3, so i have leeway on either side. 5.4 for dark beers that will have dark grains mashed the whole time. if you're going to add the carafa III at end of mash, adjust your water to hit a pH like you would a normal IPA as the dark grain won't adjust your pH any noticeable amount in the last 10-15 mins of mash.

 

[Lele]

Ok, thank you very much for the tips. I’ll do as you said to me

 

[xpops]

good luck! keep us posted on the brew!

 

[Lele]

good luck! keep us posted on the brew!

Putting dark grains at 10 mins, does it change OG? In order to calculate OG, have I to take into account of dark grains or not?

 

[xpops]

I'm assuming the amount you're adding will be small and have minimal affect, but it will still convert in just the 15 mins at end of mash. I'm also not much of a stickler for efficiency so I've never tracked how it affects it

 

[IslandLizard]

For ultimate smoothness I steep dark grains (say, anything over 150°L) in 160°F water, lauter, and sparge 2x while the main batch is boiling. I then add the 1.5-3 liters of dark liquid ("black potion") to the kettle, after the boil, when the wort has chilled to around 170°F,* and hold it there for 5 minutes (or longer if it coincides with whirlpool hops) to pasteurize. That dark liquid never gets boiled that way.

*The wort should remain at a minimum of 165°F for at least a minute to pasteurize after adding dark wort. I add at 170°F as the dark wort will be cooler and hold for 5 minutes to be safe. Make sure your thermometer is calibrated and reading properly when you get close to the bottom margin. Alternatively you could pasteurize the black wort by itself by heating it to 165-170°F and add to the chilled wort later.

You will need to adjust the pH of your main batch as there's no dark grain in there to bring the pH down. It's easy with a mash water calculator, like Bru'nwater or MashMadeEasy.

I really like the results, and prevents the dreaded "cooked coffee" flavors I often taste in dark beers.