Rauchbier
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BoundForBeer
Well-Known Member
Never can use enough Rauchmalt!!! doing a 100% one when I free up room in the fermentor chamber
wyoohio
Well-Known Member
Agreed. I love Rauchbier. It is very unique. Also, the smell on brewday is awesome.
Side note, boil some brats, onions and peppers in some if you can spare it.
Then grill after that. Best brats I have ever had.
brrman
Well-Known Member
Rauchbier is great, but there are lots of different variations - some use only 15% rauchmalt, others go up to 100%.
It is not for everyone though - some people hate it. But it ages really well, and after a year in the bottle it tastes velvety smokey. I have a batch on deck right now - has about 35% rauchmalt.
It is not for everyone though - some people hate it. But it ages really well, and after a year in the bottle it tastes velvety smokey. I have a batch on deck right now - has about 35% rauchmalt.
asterix404
Well-Known Member
From reading about it basically I follow these guides:
10% will add a hint of smoke
20% will add a moderate amount, you can taste it
30% you can taste smoke, smell smoke, and basically it covers everything else except for very strong flavors
There are two types of smoked malt available, peat smoked and wyermanns beach smoked malt. You only want to use wyermanns for this beer. Peat smoke is very heavy. I recently made a smoked heff and I only added 10% and couldn't really taste it but others could. I would think starting off with a light flavored beer and doing like, 20% of the bill as smoke would be a good starting point?
10% will add a hint of smoke
20% will add a moderate amount, you can taste it
30% you can taste smoke, smell smoke, and basically it covers everything else except for very strong flavors
There are two types of smoked malt available, peat smoked and wyermanns beach smoked malt. You only want to use wyermanns for this beer. Peat smoke is very heavy. I recently made a smoked heff and I only added 10% and couldn't really taste it but others could. I would think starting off with a light flavored beer and doing like, 20% of the bill as smoke would be a good starting point?
CTownBrewer
Well-Known Member
They've recently come out with a 3rd smoked malt...Briess Cherrywood Smoked Malt. I used it in a smoked rye & it gave it a sweeter subtle smoke character.
The main thing to note is to make sure you're getting fresh grain if you're making a smoked beer of any kind. I used more cherrywood smoked malt than a lot of recipes I researched & mine came out very subtle. Other people who used less said they got an intense smoke character. The only explanation I can think of for this is that mine was sitting for awhile on a shelf somewhere.
The main thing to note is to make sure you're getting fresh grain if you're making a smoked beer of any kind. I used more cherrywood smoked malt than a lot of recipes I researched & mine came out very subtle. Other people who used less said they got an intense smoke character. The only explanation I can think of for this is that mine was sitting for awhile on a shelf somewhere.
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I would add that
Austin Brewing has a Mesquite Smoked malt. I have a pound have not used it anything.
MidWest has a cherry wood smoked malt. I used 1/2 lb in a 1.75 gallon batch and there is a nice hint of it there.
Sorta repeating everyone, but...
If you like Schlenkerla Marzen, just go 100% smoked malt. Trust me on this. (BTW, to really get close, you need to smoke your own malt, preferably Munich, and use it 100% in your mash).
If you want a sweeter Bacon'y flavor, try using the Briess Cherrywood malt. Quite different from Weyermann Beechwood malt.
I've smoked ales, but for a good smokebeer you need to use a lager yeast, ferment cold, and age at cold temps for a while.
If you like Schlenkerla Marzen, just go 100% smoked malt. Trust me on this. (BTW, to really get close, you need to smoke your own malt, preferably Munich, and use it 100% in your mash).
If you want a sweeter Bacon'y flavor, try using the Briess Cherrywood malt. Quite different from Weyermann Beechwood malt.
I've smoked ales, but for a good smokebeer you need to use a lager yeast, ferment cold, and age at cold temps for a while.
What malt are you using. Weyermann Beechwood malt you could go as high as 100% as others are saying. If you're using peat malt, which isn't usually used for traditional rauchbier, I would say keep it in the ounces range. Peat is quite strong, so you may only want 2-4 oz. To be honest, I haven't used much peat malt.
Is this something you're planning to enter in a competition, or just for personal consumption. The reason I ask is for competitions you'll want to error on the higher percentages. Smoke categories are sort of like judging IPAs where the judges' taste is overloaded after the first couple of beers. If your beer is judged later in the flight, it needs more smoked flavor to be perceivable. However, hopefully the judges would see a Czech lager and judge that first or second. So in reality, you probably don't need to error on the higher percentages for this particular smoked beer. It wouldn't be fair to judge a Rauch Czech lager that after a Rauch double bock. If focusing on personal consumption, then I would go with 15-20% so that it accents the lager and doesn't overpower.
I found that when I used my home smoked malt (2row with cherry/maple) it was more intense than compared to Weyermann Beechwood malt. I'm speculating this is because my LHBS buys the malt and it sits for some time. So the Weyermann's smoke is not that fresh. Take this with a grain of salt, I have no education when it comes to the properties of smoke flavor & food.
Czech lagers are light and should be consumed somewhat fresh. So you're marrying the light, crisp czech lager with robust smoke flavor. Personally, I would go with the smaller % of smoked malt. If I was making it, I'd start around 10-20% (1-2 lbs). Remember you'll have to drink 5 gallons of this stuff. Plus it gives you a reason to do a second batch based on this batch.
One thing to point out, if it does come out too smokey. Just let the beers age. The smoke flavors do mellow out over time.
Is this something you're planning to enter in a competition, or just for personal consumption. The reason I ask is for competitions you'll want to error on the higher percentages. Smoke categories are sort of like judging IPAs where the judges' taste is overloaded after the first couple of beers. If your beer is judged later in the flight, it needs more smoked flavor to be perceivable. However, hopefully the judges would see a Czech lager and judge that first or second. So in reality, you probably don't need to error on the higher percentages for this particular smoked beer. It wouldn't be fair to judge a Rauch Czech lager that after a Rauch double bock. If focusing on personal consumption, then I would go with 15-20% so that it accents the lager and doesn't overpower.
I found that when I used my home smoked malt (2row with cherry/maple) it was more intense than compared to Weyermann Beechwood malt. I'm speculating this is because my LHBS buys the malt and it sits for some time. So the Weyermann's smoke is not that fresh. Take this with a grain of salt, I have no education when it comes to the properties of smoke flavor & food.
Czech lagers are light and should be consumed somewhat fresh. So you're marrying the light, crisp czech lager with robust smoke flavor. Personally, I would go with the smaller % of smoked malt. If I was making it, I'd start around 10-20% (1-2 lbs). Remember you'll have to drink 5 gallons of this stuff. Plus it gives you a reason to do a second batch based on this batch.
One thing to point out, if it does come out too smokey. Just let the beers age. The smoke flavors do mellow out over time.
I used a few ounces of peat malt in something and it didn't come through at all. It was one of those times when popular wisdom didn't come through for me.
This was an interesting experiment which, according to the OP, was a resounding success. 100% Peated Malt beer.
Good to know. I've only used peat malt with the beech wood smoked malt. So I could never distinguish between on with the other. I was just basing the smaller percentages on things I've read & heard.
Here's another quote from previous thread "...One thing to point out, if it does come out too smokey. Just let the beers age. The smoke flavors do mellow out over time."...(Have you warned everyone reading this thread that you open your presents prior to Christmas & then rewrap them?, that would 'relativize' things!) 
