Smoked Malt

[wilfy1970]

With summer fast disappearing my thoughts turn to making comforting ale for the dark nights ahead. Has anybody used rauchen malt with any success in a good old british ale? I imagine a slight smokey taste to a darker beer would really get your senses going on fireworks night or christmas, the wonderful lip smacking taste of a good ale with the slight aroma of an open fire... I'll mop the drool up later. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[mysterio]

I've used rauchmalz in a lager with fantastic results, never in an ale though. You're right a good smokey beer is a feast for the senses. Great with a bacon roll on a Sunday morning

I don't see why it wouldn't work with an ale. I would just follow a recipe for a Rauchbier and use US-05, or follow an old ale recipe and use something like 10% rauchmalz for something unique. I'll be interested to hear if anyone has experience with this too.

[Invalid Stout]

I've made a top-fermenting beer with smoked malt. The beer was nice but I would definitely use upwards of 50% smoked malt if you want a smoky character. I think the rauchmalz we get in homebrew stores (which I assume originates at Weyermann in Bamberg) is quite a bit less smoky than the stuff that Schlenkerla et al make themselves. Otherwise, just remember it's lager malt and watch out for DMS.

[oblivious]

Smoked porters are fantastic Here is a link to my Smoke on the porter (the encore!)

I am also playing around with a smoked hefe, just try to figure out what percentage of Rauch malt I want to use, Weyermann have a recipe on their site for a Smoked mild by Ray Daniels, author of Designing Great Beers looking interesting.

[Invalid Stout]

One thing I noticed that was really weird is that I didn't notice any smokiness while mashing or boiling, only once I opened a bottle of the finished beer

[Cheshire-cheese]

I'm tempted to use smoked malt in a lager, from reading the above, would less than 50% smoked malt result in losing the smokey flavour, making it a pointless venture or would it still be discernable on a subtle level?

[Invalid Stout]

I think you would still notice it, I use more because I like an intense smoky flavour.

[Cheshire-cheese]

That's good, I'm after a slight smokiness to a lager and was aiming at using 500g Smoked Malt to 5kg Pilsner Malt.

[oblivious]

20% rauch malt in a porter give a nice smokiness back bone

[Cheshire-cheese]

Yes, I'd thought the same about stout. I'll try an unadulterated FSOS first before considering messing with it.