Whats the colour difference between malts?

[landy813]

Hi all,

what's the colour difference between Golden promise pale malt and larger malt? I ask because i have the golden promise to hand and some wheat malt and fancy doing the hoegaarden clone in Wheelers book.

Would i end up with just a darker colour brew ?

Do the oats make the brew cloudy ?

Is best to add just sugar or rice to up the strength ?

[mysterio]

Probably depends on the maltster, but Hop&Grape has lager malt as 2.75 EBC and GP as 5 EBC. So if you use GP pound for pound you'll probably get a slightly darker colour and slightly maltier flavour (no bad thing unless it bothers you). I've often done wheat beers with Maris Otter.

Oats certainly make for a cloudy wort... However I've never used oats in a pale beer (that doesn't have wheat) so I can't say for sure whether this carries through to the final beer. I would guess it does though. Your beer will certainly be cloudy with 50% wheat malt.

If you want to up the strength it will alter the intended flavour of the recipe, but I would tend to just up the amount of malt & wheat slightly if you want it stronger. Sugar will contribute no flavour or body of its own, but will add alcohol. Rice is similar although it has a little bit of flavour.

[oblivious]

Hi all,

what's the colour difference between Golden promise pale malt and larger malt? I ask because i have the golden promise to hand and some wheat malt and fancy doing the hoegaarden clone in Wheelers book.

Would i end up with just a darker colour brew ?

Probobly niot a hole lot

Do the oats make the brew cloudy ?

I have heard they have a clarifying effect

Is best to add just sugar or rice to up the strength

wits tends to be low to medium strength, i would stick to the recipe

[steve_flack]

Would i end up with just a darker colour brew ?

Yes, but it would be the difference between golden and straw coloured

Do the oats make the brew cloudy ?

They can as they have relatively high beta glucan and protein levels. It depends on the amount you use and your mash process.

Is best to add just sugar or rice to up the strength ?

Generally speaking I'd avoid using sugar unless you want to make a really strong beer (>7%) or want to dry your beer out. Other than that I'd just scale up the recipe until it hits the strength you want. Wit beers aren't known for being much more than 5% anyway and an all-grain grist would be fine for this.