Smoked Base Malt

[rodwha]

Has anyone smoked 2-row over wood in a BBQ pit to add a smokey flavor? I'm drinking a Scottish beer and wondering if I could smoke 2-row over mesquite wood for a smokey flavor addition for a jalapeño beer (cream ale maybe).

How long would you want to smoke it for without becoming overbearing?

Very low heat and far from the heat source?

 

[jrgtr42]

I would be very careful about adding smoked malt - the flavors can become very overpowering very quickly. Unless you're looking for a full on rauchbier, I would be very sparing with smoked. Commercial smoked, maybe 5% tops, home it would depend on how long and such - short smoking times will have less smoke flavor, obviously, and vice versa.
There was an article in one of the magazines - Zymurgy or Brew Your Own - a couple years ago about home smoking. I would normally be able to put my hands on the issue, but they're all packed away in prep for my upcoming move.
Anyways, if you want to home smoke your own, I would probably do no more than a pound or so of malt, and probably not put all of it in, at least for a first beer.
Look for lighter flavor woods, cherry or apple, I would think - something like mesquite gives a super-sharp, phenolic flavor from what I remember reading.
You want to moisten the malt before putting in in, and spray it down with a mister a couple times during smoking. Low temp and far away from the fire is what you want.

 

[greyghost]

I brew a lot of smoked beers and smoke all my own grain. Around 2# for a 6 gal. batch. Like jrgtr42 says use lighter woods oak, alder. cherry and apple. Smoke time 2 to 3 hours. Cold smoke. I like to put the grain in a bowl add a bottle of water shake it up then drain off excess water. Forget about misting while smoking. Never use tap water as the chlorine will make it bad. Bottled water is best. Two very important things, never use tap water and roast it in the oven 200-225 degrees for a hour. This is to drive off the phenolics and makes sure the grain is dry. Makes a much more mellow flavor. Put in a paper sack for 4 or 5 days to off gas. You don't have to do this but it dose help.

 

[C-Rider]

Austin Home Brew sells mesquite smoked 2 row. I've used as much as 45% and didn't feel it was to smokey. We have a lot of brush fires here in the summer and I'm making a Summer Ale with about 44% mesquite smoked 2 row in a week or so. Not contesting what the others said, just giving my results.

 

[rodwha]

Is wetting with filtered tap water a no-no as well?

When smoking on my pit I generally like to mix mesquite with either hickory (which is hard to find where I now live) or oak to mellow the flavor. This is what I had in mind...

 

[fivepointslow]

Had my first smoked ale lastnight and it was horrible!

 

[rodwha]

What was it, and what about it was terrible?