How bad is this going to be? (a "SchwarzWälder" theme on a brown ale)

[TasunkaWitko]

I'm playing around with the idea a "SchwarzWälder" theme on a beer - it is not meant to conform to any particular beer style, German or otherwise, but I am building it on a fairly-solid English Brown Ale base, at least for now.

This is what I have so far:

SchwarzWälder Braun

1 gallon
All-Grain

OG - 1.051
FG - 1.012
ABV - 5.1%
IBU - 23.75
SRM - 20.63


Fermentables

26 oz. American Pale Ale Malt (78.3%)
2.9 oz. British Brown Malt (8.7%)
2.9 oz. Caramel/Crystal 40L Malt (8.7%)
1.42 oz Chocolate Rye Malt (4.3%)

Mash at 152 Degrees for 60 Minutes


60-Minute Boil

Hops

0.1 oz. Bramling Cross (estimated 6.5% AA) @ 60 minutes
0.1 oz. Bramling Cross (estimated 6.5% AA) @ 30 minutes
0.1 oz. Bramling Cross (estimated 6.5% AA) @ Knock-out


Yeast

1/2 Package of Safale S-04


Other Ingredients

1.0 oz. Cocoa powder @ Knock-out (mixed with just enough water to make a slurry)
8.0 oz Raspberries in Secondary (frozen then mashed; after 7 days for 7 days)

The cocoa powder might or might not be redundant. The chocolate rye is said to be milder in bitterness compared to Chocolate Malt or Wheat, and apparently also adds a touch of spiciness, which might be good with this. I'm attempting to balance the bitterness of the chocolate components with the tartness of the fruit, hopefully with some success.

The only way to know for sure is to actually brew it, I suppose, but any thoughts or feedback regarding obvious or major pitfalls so far would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance -

Ron

 

[TasunkaWitko]

One option might be to cut the Chocolate Rye in half and add that same amount (about 0.71 oz) of wheat in some form, in order to help with the head.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I think I will go ahead and split the rye in half so that I can add wheat in order to provide a nice head.

Would anyone be able to recommend one form of wheat over another? Chocolate, torrified, malted or flaked? At those amounts, it may not matter, but my goal is a full, fluffy head that will last.

Thanks -

Ron

 

[Lefou]

It's a small amount of wheat and you're doing a small batch to boot.
With the amount of pale ale malt you have, the diastatic contribution the wheat would be small. Personally, I think it would come down to personal preference and taste which type of wheat you'd want.

I typically use Briess malted red wheat.
When turned to flour in small amounts in a beer with moderate hopping around 25IBU, some great foam will result if carbed properly. Your mash temp is EXACTLY what I use for my wheat beers. Let's see if I can find a pic of my last brew's foam stand so you can judge for yourself.

 

[Lefou]

Ok, here we go. Took me a couple minutes to resize.

Done in March.
It's a one liter mug and this is the foam stand from a 22oz bottle of partial mash brew, untouched 3 or 4 minutes after pouring.
The foam was originally twice the height.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Hi, Lefou - thank you for posting on this.

Very nice head on that beer! If I read your post correctly, this is red wheat, milled pretty much to the point of flour? Looks incredible ~

It sounds like I am basically on the right track with what I am attempting, which is basically a chocolate-raspberry brown ale. I do want a pretty good presence of both raspberries and chocolate; but as we know, sometimes the idea and the result are a little different than what we expect.

Splitting the Chocolate Rye and making up the other half with wheat looks like it might be the way to go. I know that the amount of wheat would be small, but percentage-wise, if it helps, then I figure it's worth a try.

 

[Lefou]

Yes, malted red wheat. It's typical of what's available from my brew shop.
Mill down to flour, but here's the catch.
In a normal batch, only part of the wheat grist gets turned to flour. The way I do it, a portion of the wheat is added to the mash, pulled, and heated in a decoction, then re-added. The decoction assures some melanoidins from your grains that didn't convert so quickly. Gives you some extra color from caramelization and extra body.
Done right, it shouldn't cause a sticking problem when draining pre-boil wort from the mash tun.

I like your concept of fruited beer and will be following what you do with the idea.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Hi, Lefou, and thanks for the feedback. Based on what you're saying, it sounds like cutting the chocolate rye in half, then adding that amount of super-milled red what, is the way to go. From what I can see, the advantages rage from colour to head retention to possibly a bit of flavor.

Question: I understand what you are saying here:

The way I do it, a portion of the wheat is added to the mash, pulled, and heated in a decoction, then re-added. The decoction assures some melanoidins from your grains that didn't convert so quickly. Gives you some extra color from caramelization and extra body.

I am wondering if adding a small amount of Melanoidin would achieve a similar result? I do have that, and I am guessing that a small addition would not move it too far out of style; of course, keeping with the style isn't a huge concern to me...but if I can, that's good, too.

What are your thoughts on the amount of cocoa powder? I don't want to over-do it, but I definitely want it to be present. The same with the raspberries; many sources advise up to a pound per gallon, but for now, I only have half a pound.

My goal is to brew this in late summer or early fall. My plan is to use raspberries picked in the mountains south of home, which are the best raspberries I've ever had. If that plan doesn't pan out, I've got no problem using frozen ones.