Melanoidin in Hefe

[Morrey]

I am running blind w/o beer smith due to a laptop crash. Brewing a Hefe this weekend with 65/35 wheat to pils. Wanted to get the SRM up slightly and perhaps increase the body as well. I thought about a few ounces of Crystal 20 but my LHBS guy suggests .25# melanoidin as an addition. Is this a good choice? I bought a pound to have on hand if this sounds feasible.

 

[meatcleaver]

seems reasonable to me

 

[tgolanos]

I usually throw about 100g of melanoidin in my Hefes, which is just under a 1/4lb. I second meatcleaver, you should be good.

 

[Morrey]

Thanks for the green light. My last Hefe looked a bit with anemic with just 50:50 light wheat and pils and hope this tiny amount of melanoidin will give me color and roundness. Other adjustments will be shifting to red wheat instead of white and shifting to a bit more wheat in the ratio while reducing pils. Keeping total grain bill lbs the same for OG sake just making a few mods for color and body.

 

[Bassman2003]

Can you guys explain the flavor Melanoidin brings to the beer? I have heard malty decoction goodness to gross raspberry when it comes to this grain. Also heard it is easy to over do. Thanks!

 

[bruhaha]

Can you guys explain the flavor Melanoidin brings to the beer? I have heard malty decoction goodness to gross raspberry when it comes to this grain. Also heard it is easy to over do. Thanks!

This response is coming from a guy who is preparing to experiment with Melanoidin, not having used it I am no expert, but I keep getting strong urges to give it a try. Words other brewers use: great color, roundness and mouthfeel. My biggest goal using Melanoidin in a wheat beer is to slightly adjust my SRM. If I can get a lot of character with .25# of Melanoidin against a 10# grain bill, I think it is full body. 35L is the color addition.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Can you guys explain the flavor Melanoidin brings to the beer? I have heard malty decoction goodness to gross raspberry when it comes to this grain. Also heard it is easy to over do. Thanks!

Its a hard flavor to explain. Drink some Goya Malta and its the rich cloying sweetness you get.

 

[tgolanos]

I would describe the smell as nutty or earthy. It's quite pleasant, in my opinion. The taste can be very over-powering if you use too much, though.

 

[Bassman2003]

Thanks. I need to try some and see if I like it. I have always used aromatic malt for sort of this purpose but will try something new in a helles or hefe.

 

[Morrey]

Thanks. I need to try some and see if I like it. I have always used aromatic malt for sort of this purpose but will try something new in a helles or hefe.

The beers you mentioned are exactly the styles I focus on, and the Melanoidin malt has been suggested to me several times as a very effective addition. Small amounts is what I keep hearing.

 

[Bassman2003]

I switched to a BIAB type setup last year so I am still getting a baseline for my recipes. So it will have to be in the future. Always something new to try with homebrewing!