Loss of flavor in smoked malt?

[Evfk]

I brewed a batch the other day with smoked malt at about 17% of the grain bill (not sure whether it was Weyermann or Briess as I didn't realize my LHBS carried both until after I threw away my receipt... definitely wasn't peated though). I wasn't going for full-on rauchbier, but wanted some smoke presence.

Anyway, through the mash I could really smell the smoke, but during and after the boil I couldn't detect any smokiness at all (again, just by smell). Is this pretty normal, and the smoke will show up again once it has fermented? Or is smell perhaps not a great indicator of the flavor profile?

 

[didinho]

Anyway, through the mash I could really smell the smoke, but during and after the boil I couldn't detect any smokiness at all (again, just by smell). Is this pretty normal, and the smoke will show up again once it has fermented? Or is smell perhaps not a great indicator of the flavor profile?

did you taste the wort?

 

[Evfk]

No, unfortunately... that would have helped. It was a long night of brewing and my mind was on getting it done and moving on. I figured though that smoke aroma of all things would be detectable and a good enough indicator of the smokiness, but maybe not necessarily?

 

[Evfk]

Just for the sake of anyone who might be brewing with smoked malt down the road... it's been two weeks and I just added oak chips, so I pulled off a bit of the beer to try. It definitely has smoke flavor still. Either only the aroma died down some during the boil (although my wife could clearly smell the smoke from the bit I sampled today), or I had just acclimated to the smoke aroma after a while and it was there all along. In any case, glad to report that there doesn't seem to be any issue.