Home-smoked malt for Vindaloo Pale

[dkennedy]

That annoying part of my brain (you know the one- the "do penguins have knees" at 2 AM side) is pretty intent on trying to smoke some base malt over a vindaloo spice mix. Inspired by Ballast Point's Indra Kanindra, but ultimately want to use this malt in a more session-able Pale.

The problem is, I don't have a smoker and am a total newbie when it comes to smoking malt/meat/etc.- any ideas on how I can somehow smoke a dry spice mix? I'm partial to infusing the flavor in the malt vs. adding spice to the finished beer, as I'd like a hint of smoke in this beer. Thoughts/Experiences/Gotchas?

Here is Penzey's description of the blend (which is quite tasty): "Hand-mixed from: coriander, garlic, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, crushed brown mustard, cayenne, jalapeno pepper, cardamom, turmeric, black pepper and cloves."

Thanks in advance!
DK

 

[SpeedYellow]

I smoke my grains for my rauchbiers, so I've gotten pretty good at it. But I have no idea what it means to "smoke a dry spice mix." Like, instead of wood? I don't get it.

 

[pdxal]

First, why not put the spice mix in the boil?
Second, if you are intent on smoking the malt with the spices you can do this easily with a pot or pan, foil, and another pan to hold the malt,
Place the spice mix in the pan, the malt in foil or a pan that sits in/above it but open, and cover it with the lid or foil. Cook it to smoking on the stove and it will infuse the malt with the flavor from the smoking spices.

 

[dkennedy]

Thanks for the replies. pdxal, I'll give your method a try- presumably if I wanted a hint of wood smoke in there then I could heat wood chips (thinking cherry wood chips that I have) in the same pan, yeah?

Most of the Why is just a curiosity thing, looking for a noticeable but not overpowering smoky spice flavor in the background of this beer. Might be terrible, who knows.