inspired by some beers at leeds beer festival

[oliver tate]

hi,
last night I attended the Leeds international beer festival at the town hall and it was awesome! (although it did empty my wallet)

I had many excellent beers and was wondering if anybody could help me out with a few recipe suggestions on brewing some similar beers.

Firstly, Quantum Brewing co.'s RED ROSE RYE, a deep red rye beer, that reminded me a little bit of the Amarillo brillo beer that I brewed (recipe here viewtopic.php?f=5&t=50519&p=550932&hili ... lo#p550932 ) but had a smoothness to it and a subtle spicy-ness. How can I add that smoothness, spicy flavour and deep red colour to my brew?

Secondly, I had a can of coconut porter from Maui brewery. The coconut flavour in this was the perfect amount. I have no idea how I would go about adding it to beer though. Any suggestions?

Third, a rauchbier called Schlenkerla Marzen. I have never brewed anything like this and wouldn't normally go for beer like this but I thought why not give it a go. Was very impressed and would love to brew something like this but I haven't a clue where to start whatsoever! any suggestions?

Other stand out beers for me were roosters IPA and smokless stout from red willow.

thanks for any help

Oliver

[TheMumbler]

hi,
last night I attended the Leeds international beer festival at the town hall and it was awesome! (although it did empty my wallet)

I had many excellent beers and was wondering if anybody could help me out with a few recipe suggestions on brewing some similar beers.

Firstly, Quantum Brewing co.'s RED ROSE RYE, a deep red rye beer, that reminded me a little bit of the Amarillo brillo beer that I brewed (recipe here viewtopic.php?f=5&t=50519&p=550932&hili ... lo#p550932 ) but had a smoothness to it and a subtle spicy-ness. How can I add that smoothness, spicy flavour and deep red colour to my brew?Oliver

I would guess crystal rye might give you that colour and spiciness, you could try a bit of flaked rye or rye malt as well.

Secondly, I had a can of coconut porter from Maui brewery. The coconut flavour in this was the perfect amount. I have no idea how I would go about adding it to beer though. Any suggestions?

Not a clue beyond coconut in some form or another. Coconut porter sounds bad and wrong to me but each to their own.

Third, a rauchbier called Schlenkerla Marzen. I have never brewed anything like this and wouldn't normally go for beer like this but I thought why not give it a go. Was very impressed and would love to brew something like this but I haven't a clue where to start whatsoever! any suggestions?

Go for Weyemann Beech smoked as your base malt. The Bamburg malt is super smokey so I would go balls to the wall with the Weyermann.
Something like 5kg weyemann smoked and 100g chocolate perhaps. Hopping with hallertauer of some kind, lager kind of hopping levels. I would ferment as a lager but you could probably get away with a clean ale given the massive smoke hit.

Hope that lot is of some use.

[AlphaAcidHouse]

I've made coconut stout before. I bought coconut shavings and then put them in the oven until golden and toasty, let them cool and then racked onto them in secondary for a month.

[seymour]

...Firstly, Quantum Brewing co.'s RED ROSE RYE, a deep red rye beer...How can I add that smoothness, spicy flavour and deep red colour to my brew?Oliver

I would guess crystal rye might give you that colour and spiciness, you could try a bit of flaked rye or rye malt as well.

+1. Lots of rye in various forms plus peppery Saaz hops will do the trick.

Third, a rauchbier called Schlenkerla Marzen. I have never brewed anything like this and wouldn't normally go for beer like this but I thought why not give it a go. Was very impressed and would love to brew something like this but I haven't a clue where to start whatsoever! any suggestions?

Go for Weyemann Beech smoked as your base malt. The Bamburg malt is super smokey so I would go balls to the wall with the Weyermann...

+1. A brewing buddy made a beer with 30% Weyermann Beech-smoked malt, and it still wasn't excessively smoky. It was really smooth and tasty though, probably along the lines of what you want.

[TheMumbler]

The Schlenkerla Oak Smoked (i think it is a Dopple Bock) is well worth trying if you get the chance.

[zgoda]

Schlenkerla is one of most smoked rauch marzen I ever had. Weyermann's rauchmalz doesn't fit it, it's too lightly smoky. You want Steinbach, much stronger.

[seymour]

Schlenkerla is one of most smoked rauch marzen I ever had. Weyermann's rauchmalz doesn't fit it, it's too lightly smoky. You want Steinbach, much stronger.

I stand corrected.

[Lugsy]

I've used close to 100% smoked malts (Weyermann Rauch and oak-smoked wheat and Gottland birch-smoked barley) in Dunkelweizens and I've never got the smokiness of the Schlenkerla in any of them. I think for a hit like that you'd need to smoke your own malt or source some of the Steinbach as zgoda suggests. Have fun with it and let us know what you go for

[TheMumbler]

Can you get Steinbach malts in the UK? I've certainly never seen them anywhere.

I agree with the comments about Weyermann rauchmalt not being as smokey as the Bamburg malt but you will get a pretty smokey beer if you go more or less 100% of it. That was my experience anyway. Perhaps that would be enough for the sake of convenience?

If you do go for some home smoking do post something up as I'm quite interested in the idea of home-smoking malt.

[oliver tate]

This is all brilliant info, thanks guys!!!

[seymour]

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen
Brauerei Heller in Bamberg, Germany
Style: Smoked Beer
OG: 1054
ABV: 5.1%
IBU: 30
Colour: 15°SRM/30°EBC, copper
Grainbill: 100% Bamberg German Rauchmalt 10L (with a double decoction mash)
Hops: Hallertau (75 min & 30 min)
Yeast: historic German lager strain, probably closely related to Wyeast 2206 "Bavarian Lager", the archived Weihenstephan 206 strain

[Lugsy]

I've never seen the Steinbach either but you never know - I didn't think I'd be able to get the Gotland either until Rob came through with the goods!

When I started using smoked malts it turned into a bit of an obsession, always on a quest for the smokiest beer I could brew. I have to admit that using them in a Weizen probably isn't the best way to bring out the smoke, the yeast seems to tame the smoke considerably and I've had smokier beers by other brewers who've used a lower percentage of smoked malts with different yeasts. I was planning on making a smoker this summer but work has been too mental for me to get it together so far, and I've become obsessed with Saisons so they've kept me happy recently. When I do actually build one I'll post my efforts on here

[Rookie]

A good starting point is 20% rye malt. You get a better ryeness from the malt compared to the flakes. Amarillo hops play very nicely with rye.
I've never toasted coconut, but I do some times brew a coconut wheat beer with unsweetened coconut. After two weeks in primary I rack the beer to another carboy that has the coconut already in it. Get the largest flakes that you can.
The last smoked beer that I brewed was a smoked porter that had one pound of rauch malt in it. It was a little old and probably too small of an amount anyway. I ended up adding some smoky tea in secondary.

[oliver tate]

Many thanks for the suggestions, I have my next two brews planned now for next weekend..

Firstly for my rye beer I think I will take the Bombay recipe which is on here (and it's 1 that I have brewed before) and add 20% rye malt and see how that turns out.

For the smoked beer, for the sake of convenience, I think I will brew with wyermanns smoked malt Upto nearly 100%, but I would like to add just a little something to give it a bit more body and smoothness. Was thinking a small amount of oats or would the oak smoked wheat available be better suited? Any suggestions?

Think I might as well have a go at a double decotion mash as well whilst I am at it with the smoked beer.