Home roasted M.O. pointers please?

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I'm about to make another grain order. I'm buying 55# of base malt (MO) at a time, so I need to make sure I get all the other ingredients right first time to save on shipping. Now, I intend to get some speciality grains as a back up to experimenting with roasting the 6 or 7 pounds of MO I have left over from the last order. My ultimate goal is to take as many variables as possible out of the hands of my suppliers, and into my own. (It's a control freak thing)

I have done the searches, and toasting your own malt seems a bit hit and miss regarding experiences that people have had, so I expect any answers to be fairly vague. Ideally I would like to know in numbers the kind of profile I can expect from MO roasted at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I know that ain't gonna happen, so I'm just asking what can I expect from doing this? What grain would this be comparable to in taste, what difference in colour it will make, You get the idea. I want to know everything!!

Thanks in advance.

 

[Gosassin]

I've never roasted grain before, but Randy Mosher says in "Radical Brewing" that roasting at 350*F for 30 minutes will give you amber malt, Lovibond 35. It will taste "nutty, malty; lightly toasty." Hope that helps.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I've never roasted grain before, but Randy Mosher says in "Radical Brewing" that roasting at 350*F for 30 minutes will give you amber malt, Lovibond 35. It will taste "nutty, malty; lightly toasty." Hope that helps.

That helps more than you can imagine. I didn't even expect to get an L on it. Nutty malty and toasty is all good. I'm assuming roasting longer will increase the colour but may be detrimental to flavour. More input greatly appreciated guys!

 

[Gosassin]

Cool; he's got a table in the book that lays out the different temperature and times needed to get various roasts. I don't see that that's online anywhere, but this page seems to have information based on Mosher's work.

EDIT: In fact I think that page basically copied out Mosher's table line-by-line.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Thanks! I have that page bookmarked now. It's not definitive, but a great starting point for me!! Now I come to think on it, maybe less info is better. That page might just be all i need to help me find my own preferences. Thanks again!

 

[Mutilated1]

The best part of roasting the grain is the smell it makes - sort of makes the kitchen smell like bread and cookies all at the same time

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

The best part of roasting the grain is the smell it makes - sort of makes the kitchen smell like bread and cookies all at the same time

haha! the possible aspect of impressing the missus was not lost on me either!

 

[Saccharomyces]

Since you're doing the British brewing thing you really can't go wrong with Mosher I think. Toasted Maris Otter will make heavenly beers.

 

[slimer]

I toasted some MO for 15-18 minutes and got around 25-27L. It definitely adds a nutty, biscuity flavor.

 

[Proboskus]

John Palmer covers this in How To Brew:

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Toasting Your Own Malt

 

[GroosBrewz]

Here is some info straight from Moshers book "The Brewers Companion", Alephenalia Publications, Seattle, WA., 1995. I use this chart all the time.. It's usually spot on. EDIT: Can anyone read this chart? It looks blurry now that I have uploaded it..

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Darn! N0, I can't read it. That's a shame, because it is EXACTLY the kind of info I was hoping for when I wrote the OP. At least I can read the colour chart. Thanks!!

 

[GroosBrewz]

Darn! N0, I can't read it. That's a shame, because it is EXACTLY the kind of info I was hoping for when I wrote the OP. At least I can read the colour chart. Thanks!!

Maybe this scan will be better... BTW Gnome, your avatar scares the S*#t out of me... If you still cant read this, message me and I will send you the file in a jpg form... then you can blow it up or whatever....

 

[GroosBrewz]

Yes, this scan was definitely better!

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

woohooo!! I have my house bitter!!

Actually, I have the fallback for the house beer if my next experiment fails.

I did two 5 gal batches, one with a dry roasted MO, the other with a wet roasted. The wet is not so good, but blends well with the dry. The dry on i's own is dead on what I was looking for. However, in these recipes I used a small amount of chocolate malt to get the colour I wanted. My goal was to hit my target solely with a single grain roasted at home, so to that end I am trying a longer and hotter wet roasted MO.

If the latest experiment fails though, I will be more than happy to call it a day and accept the small chocolate addition and declare it my house ale!

I am currently setting up a ghetto HERMS so that I can take my own incompetence out of the equation to a certain extent. So, whatever happens with the next brew I am hoping to have a consistently satisfying brew to call my own at last!!

 

[chefmike]

EDIT: sorry... I hit enter about 2.5 hours after I started the message.....

Palmer talks about both dry roasting and wet roasting... with the wet getting more carmel flavor than biscuit, as some of the starch is converted. I have not done this yet, but I am sbout to SMaSH with 2 row using roasting for flavor profile and color... I will post on it, but it seems several are doing it (with most of the reading coming from SMaSH threads.

I like to be controlling too....