Small amount of black malt to clarify brew?

[Tobor_8thMan]

Reading the Brut article by Chris Colby in the Jan/Feb 2019 Zymurgy magazine. In the article he recommends 0.13 oz of finely crushed black malt in a 5 gallon batch to clarify. On page 83 he writes "... in my experience it clarifies light-colored beers noticeably."

New one on me. First time I'm hearing/reading such a claim.

Is this valid?

 

[Lefou]

I've got Colby's blog bookmarked.
Nowhere in his series of articles on Brut IPA does he write about small amounts of black malt in the grist as a clarifying agent. I don't have access to Zymurgy articles and have no idea about such a claim.
At what point in the brewing process is the grain added? His blog doesn't address it at all for this style.
I've never put black malt in any low SRM beer wort as a clarifying agent. It adds color and might change the pH slightly, but if it wasn't needed, why mention it at all?

 

[TechFanMD]

0.13oz is such a strange number.....why not 0.10 or 0.15? The number doesn't even translate to a round number in grams.....

I can't imagine black malt having any properties so strong as to affect the clarity of 5 gallons of beer using only 0.13oz ......

A brut IPA may have 10lbs of grain, so 160oz of grain.....to add 0.13oz would make it .08% of the grain bill as black malt? I'm not buying this claim.

This is 3.7 grams of grain (not extraordinarily different from the other grains used when considering the big picture).

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Page 63 "An old homebrewer's trick may also come in handy. If you crush roughly 0.25 oz (7.1g) of black malt per 5 gallons (19L) batch and stir it in the mash, your light-colored beers will turn out clearer. The small amount of black malt does not add as much color as you might think (or as your recipe formulation software calculates), but in my experience it clarifies light-colored beers noticeably."

The 0.13 oz black malt is noted in the "I Am Broot (All Grain)" recipe on page 61.

 

[ong]

0.13oz is such a strange number.....why not 0.10 or 0.15? The number doesn't even translate to a round number in grams.....

I can't imagine black malt having any properties so strong as to affect the clarity of 5 gallons of beer using only 0.13oz ......

A brut IPA may have 10lbs of grain, so 160oz of grain.....to add 0.13oz would make it .08% of the grain bill as black malt? I'm not buying this claim.

This is 3.7 grams of grain (not extraordinarily different from the other grains used when considering the big picture).

Probably because it’s 1/8 oz (.125).

 

[TechFanMD]

Probably because it’s 1/8 oz (.125).

Good call.....still seems odd. Nobody’s scale reads out in fractions.

 

[grampamark]

Mine does.

 

[TechFanMD]

Mine does.


View attachment 608038

I stand corrected

Seems strange to have fractions on the readout.....though marijuana is sold by fractions so maybe that’s why.

 

[grampamark]

The scale came from Sheets 'n' Siht (AKA Bed Bath and Beyond). I have another one that measures grains, carats, grams and ounces. It's pocket size; I call it "the dealers' scale" (it came from Midway Arms, so...).