Chevallier Malt

[JonB]

Hi all,

I have read through the various threads I've been able to dig out of the forum and found these very interesting (PeeBee's detailed experiences were very helpful in formulating my process). I do however have a few queries and wondered what everyone else's experience of these were?

IBUs:
I did read that this beer decimates your perceived IBU count, and I've found in the brews I've done with it this is definitely true. I brewed a 4% bitter that was ~3.5kg Chevallier, ~0.35kg Torreried whet, ~200g Crystal 150EBC and boosted the recipe to ~60IBU (the previous version with MO was about 35). This beer is sticky, malty and stupidly crushable (I can't stop drinking it) but I still think it could do with another ~5-10 IBU to get it "just so."

Similar experiences occured with an IPA I brewed with Mystic, Harlequin and Olicana where I was hoping the malt profile would compliment the fruity flavours. This was ~70 IBU but defnintely didn't taste like it (more like a ~40IBU IPA)

Has anyone managed to work out a general "rule of thumb" for IBU calculation (i.e. increase your IBU by a factor of ~1.X from the base recipe to get you in the right ball park)? Or anyone found any tips and tricks that work well here?

Mashing:
Based on PeeBee's advice in other Chevallier threads I do a step-mash with this: 45mins @ 66 and 45mins @ ~68-72 depending on dryness intent. My understanding is that this is due to the antiquated enzymatic properties of this malt so you consequently have to use simlar "antiquated" techniques to get the most out of it. If you therefore combined it (say) 30% MO/Pale and 70% Chevallier in a standard infusion mash would you get similar results to the classic step-mash in terms of flavour and body? I'd expect a bit less because you're using less, but my logic is the MO is there purely to boost the diastatic power of the mash overall.

Main reason is I like to go heavy on the brown malt in porter and stout (1:1 with base in some cases), and think the sticky body & flavour from Chevallier would compliment this nicely. However if it struggles with conversion to the extent it needs a step mash then will this not present problems here?


DMS (cooked corn)
My general practice over the last few years has been to switch from 60 to 30-minute boils as it makes a big difference to the amount of my copious free time I have to carve out to do this (and to my electric bill). I made a bitter in June and at my local club someone suggested there were hints of DMS in it (however the yeast used was suspect at the time and that specific bottle was a gusher, so we were all trying quite a "yeasty" sample).

Is there anything to suggest that the precursor levels in this malt are high enough to prohibit a 60-minute boil? I know even modern Pilsner malt has been improved to the point you can comfortably get away with 30-minute boils, where the advice even ~10-15 years ago was 90 minutes to avoid DMS with Pilsner. Is this the case with modern Chevallier malt? Should I be concerned about DMS and stick to the 60-minute here?

[Rookie]

Two years ago I brewed a 3 gallon batch of mild with chevalier as the majority of the base malt: 2.5 lbs with 1.5 lbs maris otter. I mashed at 154f for 45 minutes and got the same original gravity as when I brewed the recipe with all maris otter. My final gravity was a little higher, but it came out quite tasty.