Malt SRM question

[ophillium]

I'm working on cloning a beer that lists pale, pilsner and carapils malts plus flaked wheat for the grain bill. My first attempt came out decidedly lighter than the original beer though, so I figured that obviously I need to increase the darker grain - problem is, they're all 1 or 2 SRM. Any thoughts what could have made the original beer darker then?

 

[ophillium]

Another thought \ question: I'm assuming "pale malt" means an American two-row. What else could it be?

 

[NTexBrewer]

There is a Pale Ale malt which is still 2-row but is kilned a little darker than regular two row malt. This can be confusing since the term Pale 2-row usually just means regular 2-row

http://www.northernbrewer.com/briess-pale-ale-malt

Have you contacted the brewery. Sometimes they are pretty helpful with the types of malt they use.

 

[ophillium]

There is a Pale Ale malt which is still 2-row but is kilned a little darker than regular two row malt. This can be confusing since the term Pale 2-row usually just means regular 2-row

http://www.northernbrewer.com/briess-pale-ale-malt.

That's a great lead, thanks kindly. The original has a clear amber glow to it, so this fits the bill.

To add some more detail to my question (now that I'm home):

As mentioned, the bottle lists Pale, Pilsner and Carapils malts for the grist. I harvested dregs from the bottle, which I know from their site to be Sacch Trois[/URL.

Hops aside, the first configuration I attempted was:

71% US 2-row
22% Pilsner
3.5% Carapils
3% Flaked Oats

OG: 1.055
FG: 1.008
ABV: 6.3%
SRM: 4

My conclusions on the results of this configuration, paired against a glass of the original:

Colour - straw colour (3 SRM) on the clone, Deep Gold to Pale Amber ( 6 - 9 SRM) on the original. What malt do I need to fill this gap?! Anyone have experience with Briess Pale Ale that can comment?

Mouthfeel - the clone is too thin; it lacks the sweet, round, gentle body of a malt backbone to support the sour fruits put out by the yeast. Therefore, increase Carapils up to 4 or 5%.

Flavour - everything's there except the base of mildly roasted malts. In the original it might even be biscuity beneath the fruity esters -- would someone list Maris Otter as a pale malt?

Acidity, phenols, alcohol, hopping, everything else is on point.

Could it also be a 6-row malt? [URL="http://byo.com/hops/item/710-grain-on-the-brain"]These guys say no: "The take-home advice here is this: Always use two-row, regardless of what the recipe calls for or what someone may tell you."

An alternate configuration could be:

75% Briess Pale Ale
16% Pilsner
4.5% Carapils
4.5% Flaked Oats

All thoughts welcome, especially on use of Briess Pale ale and general principles for using combinations of Pale and Pilsner malts.

I will crack this ipe: