Modify wort colour/flavour post boil

[kirkcaldybrewer]

My system has a maximum output of 10 gall/40L and I’ve become a big fan of splitting this in two or three at the time of fermentation to make multiple different tasting beers. So far, this has consisted of pitching different yeasts (lager/saison works well), or a DH/not DH combo.

However, these all essentially use the same wort, and I’m thinking I can take this further and create different worts by mixing a base with separately steeped-then-boiled speciality malts.

My plan to test this is to brew a pilsner/carahell base and separately steep-then-boil some carafa and crystal. I will split the base in two after cooling then add the (cooled) carafa/crystal liquid to one of these.

I will pitch 34/70 into both and ferment around 10-11C.

I thus plan to end up with both a lager and a schwartzbier from a single batch.

Has anyone else tried this or have any thoughts on process? Cheers!

 

[Steveruch]

That should work well.

 

[brewdude88]

Definitely interested to hear results, it's similar to those that cold steep roasted grains seperately from the mash and should work as long as you use grains that don't need conversion.

I have thought about trying a similar technique for dextrin malts, steeped at 156+ then boiled and added to the main wort, as I believe the dextrins may be broken down during the beta rest in the main mash (defeating the purpose of using dextrin malt in the first place).

 

[IslandLizard]

That should work fine.

I prefer to steep+sparge dark roasted malts in 150F water, while boiling the main batch. Then add the black potion when the wort has chilled to around 160F, and let it be there for 10' to pasteurize, before chilling to ferm temps. I think I keep the roast flavors fresher that way, less of that boiled coffee flavor/aroma.

 

[kevin58]

Happens all the time. You could also use a product called Brewers Caramel to darken the beer at packaging time. 19th and early 20th century English brewers did this as a matter of course. Brewers Caramel is a coloring agent and adds no flavor or extra ferment-ability. It's commonly found in the UK so if you want to buy it in the US the shipping will cost more than the product which sucks but I did it anyway.

 

[kirkcaldybrewer]

Great to hear positive feedback! So, from reading around recipes, my plan is to create my addition with 0.35kg (0.75lb) caraffa and 0.25kg (0.5lb) caramunich, which I'll steep at 71C (160F) for 25 mins, then boil for 10 mins (just to sterilise), then leave to cool. I have a relatively small pot for this so will have a high grain:liquor ratio (perhaps 2L water, max).

The only thing I'm missing is that most of the schwarzbier recipes I've seen have quite high (45%) amounts of munich basemalt. This omission will clearly be noticeable, but I'm hoping the resulting beer will still be nice!

 

[IslandLizard]

Great to hear positive feedback! So, from reading around recipes, my plan is to create my addition with 0.35kg (0.75lb) caraffa and 0.25kg (0.5lb) caramunich, which I'll steep at 71C (160F) for 25 mins, then boil for 10 mins (just to sterilise), then leave to cool. I have a relatively small pot for this so will have a high grain:liquor ratio (perhaps 2L water, max).

The only thing I'm missing is that most of the schwarzbier recipes I've seen have quite high (45%) amounts of munich basemalt. This omission will clearly be noticeable, but I'm hoping the resulting beer will still be nice!

There's no real need to boil it. I've had no trouble adding the steeped liquor to the boil kettle when it has chilled to 160-150F, and leave it at that temp for 10' before finishing the chilling.

If you can, use Carafa Special, either I, II or III, it's dehusked, lowering (potential) astringency.

Yeah, Schwarzbier gets a lot of its flavor and body from the high % of malty Munich.

 

[Beer666]

If you just want colour try this https://www.candirect.eu/Roasted-malt-Weyermann-SINAMAR-liquid-59-kg
Works a treat.

 

[Steveruch]

Great to hear positive feedback! So, from reading around recipes, my plan is to create my addition with 0.35kg (0.75lb) caraffa and 0.25kg (0.5lb) caramunich, which I'll steep at 71C (160F) for 25 mins, then boil for 10 mins (just to sterilise), then leave to cool. I have a relatively small pot for this so will have a high grain:liquor ratio (perhaps 2L water, max).

The only thing I'm missing is that most of the schwarzbier recipes I've seen have quite high (45%) amounts of munich basemalt. This omission will clearly be noticeable, but I'm hoping the resulting beer will still be nice!

Some brewers treat schwartz bier like a black pilsner without munich malt.

 

[kirkcaldybrewer]

There's no real need to boil it. I've had no trouble adding the steeped liquor to the boil kettle when it has chilled to 160-150F, and leave it at that temp for 10' before finishing the chilling.

I need to add it direct to the chilled wort in the fermenter, so I do need to boil it.

Some brewers treat schwartz bier like a black pilsner without munich malt

That's good to know! I'm hoping that the caramunich will add a little extra sweetness and flavour though, as my main goal is to end up with two qualitatively different tasting beers (from one brew day).

 

[kirkcaldybrewer]

So I went ahead and did this. All went to plan, other than I realised I couldn’t fit 2 20L batches in my ferm chamber, so I scaled down the schwarzbier to fit in a container that would (~13L in the end). Steeped addition certainly changed colour! Will report back when it’s done on how taste was affected...

 

[kirkcaldybrewer]

So, here’s the result. Very happy. I can tell the difference easily by smell alone and there’s also a clear toasty/burnt sugar flavour on the schwarzbier that isn’t present in the lager. I’ll chalk this up as a success since I feel I ended up with two quite different beers from a single brew. (P.s. I used the “brulosophy” quick lager method, drinking these 22 days after they were grain).