Special B Malt in an Ale

[jjones17]

Hello out there! I was wondering what experiences others have had using special B malt in ale style beers? That would be any of the above using ale style yeasts. I have been really pondering over an APA using a bit of Special B, and wanted to get an idea of what to expect. To be honest, I have not used it before but I have a kilo (2.2 pounds) of it lying around. From all that I have read, its strong tasting and under 3% of the grain bill will work just fine for most beers.

Any thoughts? I will do a dubbel with it soon, but not yet.

 

[the_Roqk]

IMHO it works well in a brown ale. But you really need to use a neutral ale yeast with it too appreciate the plum, raisin, caramely flavors that it has. I made a Northern English Brown Ale last year and used 3/4 of a lb in it. It was one of my bests.

 

[snailsongs]

it will give a raisin-like flavor to your beer

 

[jmo88]

It's very similar to crystal 120 but a little darker and more intense.

 

[ChshreCat]

I used it in my brown ale recipe. Good stuff in the right beer. I wanna put it in an IPA.

 

[weirdboy]

I actually do have some Special B in my IPA recipe. It works really well. I also put some in my brown, and I think I put some in my last porter as well.

 

[oldschool]

sound good for a porter or a brown. what about a marzen? I can't remember if bjcp allows for caramel flavors or not in a marzen

 

[Teacher]

I like a little of it in an IPA, APA, or porter. I've used it in a brown and, contrary to the two posters above, I did NOT like it (yeast was US-05). Your tastes may vary.

 

[14thstreet]

I brewed a variation of Ken Lenard's Home Run Red Ale found here. His recipe calls for an equal mix of Crystal 120L and Special B. For my version, I used US-05 and a Simcoe/Amarillo hop combo. It was a split batch, with the other half using just a bittering charge of Cascade and a spice blend. Both turned out pretty good. My versions are posted here.

 

[jjones17]

Sounds like a few of you like it in a brown ale, which I never even thought of (duhhhh). Although, since I do love my IPAs and APAs I really was hankerin' for trying the special B in an earthy & somewhat darker version of those 2 styles. Interesting to hear some have used it with success in those styles.

I am thinking IPA with fuggles & willammette, some 2 row, munich, crystal 80L, and a little bit of special B. Perhaps some malto-dex or carapils for extra body and a 156 mash to keep the dextrins palatable.

I am excited to try this. Maybe I will do the IPA first, then the brown ale. I love ales, so many choices! It seems I could go my whole life just brewing ales and never try all the GOOD combinations. Nevertheless, I love brewing other styles... so I better live a darn time.

 

[thriftyshirt]

I used a 1/2 pound of Special B in a modified Arrogant Bastard clone that came out fantastic.

Recipe:

5 Gal. Batch
13.5 # 2-row
1 # Crystal 120L
.5# Special B

Tons of Chinook hops (I don't have the recipe/hop schedule right in front of me)

It came out to 8.9% ABV, and the Crystal/Special B really shine through.

 

[jjones17]

I used a 1/2 pound of Special B in a modified Arrogant Bastard clone that came out fantastic.

Recipe:

5 Gal. Batch
13.5 # 2-row
1 # Crystal 120L
.5# Special B

Tons of Chinook hops (I don't have the recipe/hop schedule right in front of me)

It came out to 8.9% ABV, and the Crystal/Special B really shine through.

Wow! Sounds pretty simple but delicious. Glad to hear it was good also, its encouraging. Definately going to give it a whirl in an IPA