Adding chocolate malt to a Bitter recipe

[Matt]

My last AG batch was an easy drinking not-so-bitter bitter, and I'm just wondering where to take it next. I got some chocolate malt yesterday and am hoping to experiment with it.

Is this a good idea? I've seen it used in small quantities in some bitter recipes. Any advice out there on how much to use and what to expect, preferable mash temps etc?

My thought was to use the following:

Maris Otter - 4kg
Carapils - 250g
Crystal - 200g
Chocolate - 50g

Any advice greatly appreciated. Cheers,
Matt

p.s. this is my first post on the new forum. Thanks to all involved in building it

[mysterio]

A small amount of chocolate malt at the amount you're suggesting will give you a brown colour rather than any significant flavour. In fact your grain bill looks like a brown ale. Sounds good to start with.

Once you start using more (around ~200g), you're into porter/stout territory. Then you'll probably notice a nutty/toasted flavour.

Just use it like any other grain.

[Andy]

Similar discussion recently:-

viewtopic.php?t=267

[Matt]

Whoops for missing the other thread. And thanks chaps.

Andy are you planning a brew day for yours yet?

[Andy]

Matt - tomorrow is the day!

[Matt]

Nice one. I'm on for Sunday. Fingers crossed - it's only my third AG

Here is what I've decided to go with:

Octoberthirst
Pale Malt 4kg
Carapils 300g
Crystal 100g
Choc Malt 30g

EK Goldings 50g full boil
EK Goldings 15g last 15 mins
Safale S-04 yeast

If anyone has any suggestions about the recipe - I'm all ears.

Hope all goes well with yours Andy.

Best,
Matt

[Andy]

Like the brew name Matt, thanks for the best wishes and likewise to you!


Don't forget to take pics now

[Matt]

Roger that.

*plugs camera in to recharge*

[Vossy1]

Good luck on the brew Matt

[mysterio]

It's a solid recipe Matt.

If you let us know what kind of flavours you're looking for, we could maybe fine tune it even more.

[Matt]

Thanks blokes.

Mysterio - That last batch I mentioned in my post tastes a bit like John Smiths - fine but a little uneventful. I guess what I'm looking for is a little more bite to the flavour, but not a hoppy bite.

Jolly Ploughman springs to mind as one I've had that fits what I'm thinking of. I don't want to shoot for a clone recipe or anything, but getting some of the bitter-sweet maltiness is what I'm looking for I think.

Cheers,
Matt

[Matt]

Well, here's me relaxing, not worrying, having a home brew last night … before it went a bit pear shaped.



On preparing the EK Goldings I realised that this wasn't my third AG batch, it was my fourth, so I had c50g less than I had thought. I had to scavenge from a bag of Cascade and so the hopping was 50/50 EKG/Cascade. Should be interesting anyway.

I also had my first stuck sparge

Brew ended at quarter past midnight. Nice krausen forming today so I'm happy.

Cheers,
Matt

[Andy]

Matt - what type of manifold do you have in the mash tun ?

[Matt]

Reg an early bird is he

Good to hear abt the EKG/Cascade combo in Summer Lightning.

Dan, this is my manifold - the braided hose type.



Good as gold up til now. I think I had recirculated the first runnings a little too quickly and sloppily and moved on to sparging too hastily and added too much water - the bed hadn't settled and it was quite watery with husks floating etc. I was distracted explaining what I was doing to a neighbour who had wandered in to the garage.

I gather the above is a fairly normal scenario for causing stuck mashes - is that right?

Cheers,
Matt

[PieOPah]

My most recent brew (my Christmas Pudding) had 100g of Black thrown in to give it a nice dark colour. I wanted something to give colour but not effect the taste too much.

I am still wondering whethor or not I should have used Chocolate just for the subtle taste. Regardless, the beer has a great colour and I am really looking forward to trying it. (as I keep going on and on about in the thread!)