Franco-Belges Special Aromatic Malt

[SpanishCastleAle]

Anybody familiar with this malt (hopefully as in 'SMaSH familiar')? I've read that Rogue used this malt exclusively in Latona Pale Ale (also only used one hop, Mt. Ranier) but I've never tried that beer. It did get some good reviews.

This stuff is not the same as many 'Aromatic' malts...although that word 'Aromatic' seems to be used for several different kinds of malt. Sometimes it's essentially Dark Munich (Briess Bonlander Aromatic, 20L) and other times 'Aromatic' is twice as dark (eg. - Castle Aromatic @ 38L) and probably others. This Franco-Belges Special Aromatic malt is obv a base malt and is just a tiny bit darker than most Vienna malt @ ~5L. Here is a Brewing Techniques info on the maltster and the malt. It appears to be made from the same malt as their Pils.

I'm just curious how often I'd be able to use it and if a 55# sack would be too much.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Oh well, I bought a sack of it anyway. I'll use it for a bit and report back for future reference.

 

[Denny]

I use it as 100% of the grist in some beers. It's cool stuff. I find it kinda comparable to Vienna. Kind of a dry taste to it.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Thanks Denny. I look forward to trying it. Same as Pils regarding sugar extraction? Say, ~37 ppg?

 

[Denny]

Yeah, right around there IIRC.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I've made a few brews using it and finally got to try my SMaSH lager with it and Saphir hops.

One of the links above said it has a 'soft and mellow mouthfeel' and that's a good description.
Has good head formation/retention.
I agree with Denny that it has a dryness to the flavor.
It has a sort of sweetness to the aroma...but not so much the flavor.
Very nice deep golden color with very light orange hues.
Doesn't seem as malty as Vienna nor as bready as Pils (Weyermann that is). Very, very light toast. It seems fairly clean/dry/neutral.
Seems to mash well. I've been assuming 37 ppg and my yield always seems to be a tiny, tiny bit greater than expected when using a decent proportion of this malt.

While I like the SMaSH it seems bit one-dimensional (and that's just one brew). I'll likely be mixing it with Pils and Munich, could use any proportion. I stole a sample of a 2-month old Maibock (5# Pils, 5# Special Aromatic, 2# Munich, 0.5# Carapils) during transfer last night and it tasted fantastic.