Huna Red - How do they get that nutty biscuit flavour?

[subfaction]

Hi Guys,

I had a wonderful cask ale the other day in a pub in town. Huna Red by the Sunny Republic, nice dark red, malty but balanced, what really struck me though was the nutty biscuit flavours in it. Having never tasted those flavours so pronounced in another ale, I was intrigued on how to achieve that specifically in an all grain brew.

Being very much a learning brewer (~5 AG's under my belt), I was hoping the more experienced out there could help.
Wondering if anyone else out there can guide me on a similar recipe to highlight those flavours. Which grains (or combination grains) provide that, and in what particular quantities. I'm not fussed on throwing in flowers, (other than hops) but if this is where the taste comes from why not!

Here's the breweries description:

If you like to be different and enjoy your beers a little maltier than our Blonde this is for you. A beautifully red hued ale with fruit and berry aromas. We are the first brewery in the world to brew with Hibiscus Flowers (Hibiscus sabdariffa). The hibiscus is designed to lift the drinkability of the beer and add to the red hue provided by the Munich and Chocolate malts.

We made a cracking malt base using Pale Malt, Roasted Wheat, Munich Malt, Dark Crystal and Chocolate Malt. A range of hops are added throughout the boil including Motueka, Willamette and gold old English Brambling Cross giving blackberries and citrus fruits in the nose. 14 days cold conditioning with Brambling Cross rounds off the smoothness of the beer…..If you’re a hop head you might not get this one – it’s a little more subtle than our Beach Blonde.

thanks in advance guys!

[seymour]

Maris Otter, Munich and Chocolate malts will all provide good nutty/biscuity notes. Stick to all English malts if possible. Many historic English Ale yeast strains do too.

In particular:
Timothy Taylor strain (available as Wyeast 1469), Anchor Liberty strain (available as Wyeast 1272 and White Labs WLP051), Gales/Hales strain (available as Wyeast 1332), Scottish and Newcastle strain (believed to be White Labs WLP038), Windsor, and even Nottingham can produce some mild nuttiness.

Of course, it's not unheard of for breweries to include actual nuts. Probably not in a Blonde ale like this, but nuts are a fairly common adjunct to darker brown ales and dunkelweizens.

[subfaction]

Thanks Seymour - that's just it I've heard lots of US breweries on podcasts and the like refer to MO as giving a biscuity taste, but haven't experienced this myself using MO and dry yeasts... It tastes well kinda grainy to me , maybe a very mild biscuit but no real nutty character, I'm thinking so perhaps you do need the right yeast.
Munich malt - so would a large amount of that in the bill be a good contender of it as well?
The biscuit is really pronounced in the Huna you see...

[seymour]

...Munich malt - so would a large amount of that in the bill be a good contender of it as well?
The biscuit is really pronounced in the Huna you see...

Definitely, though you won't even need a large amount, per se. Too much and you'll lose the blonde colour.

Think about what biscuits are: a very basic recipe of fine-ground cereal grain flour and water, heat applied, turning the water to steam, converting carbohydrates to sugars, until caramelly golden brown and aromatic. Maltsters use those exact same chemical reactions to create Munich and Chocolate malts, so it makes perfect sense you'd acheive the same flavor and aroma profiles in the resulting beer.

I highly recommend every homebrewer experiment with baking their own base malt to achieve a fresher version of this concept for free. You've probably read other threads where I've championed it, and at least two people have taken me up on it so far, with excellent results.

[weiht]

Maris Otter will not give u full on biscuit like in ur face. It is more nutty and biscuity than regular pale malt especially those that's not from UK, but dont expect it to give upfront flavour as compared to using amber or biscuit specialty malt itself. It is there more as a complexity vs other base malt, but I think it varies across maltsters as well. With Simpsons i found it to be the difference to be minimal, but the muntons had that signature nuttiness.

Munich malt add more of a melanoidin taste that give u that perceived maltier taste.

I do however find chocolate malt does give it a nice nutty flavour when used moderately. Or else, why dont u just use some amber victory/biscuit malt?

[subfaction]

Thanks chaps that's really interesting. So how much of each would you expect to put in a standard 23l batch?

[seymour]

I'm well aware of this beer, but I haven't personally tasted it nor even seen it in a glass. Perhaps the oddest assertion from the brewery is calling it a Blonde, since it's much redder than classic examples. Other websites list it as amber ale or standard bitter (a style with very wide range of allowable colours.) Using this BJCP scale, what number would you rank the depth of colour?

• Color Descriptor: SRM Value
  Straw: 2 - 3
  Yellow: 3 - 4
  Gold: 5 - 6
  Amber: 6 - 9
  Deep amber / light copper: 10 - 14
  Copper: 14 - 17
  Deep copper / light brown: 17 - 18
  Brown: 19 - 22
  Dark brown: 22 - 30
  Very dark brown: 30 - 35
  Black: 30 +
  Black, opaque: 40 +

[subfaction]

I'd say around 25-30, very dark in tone with a rich red hue - although on 2nd thoughts it wasn't my first pint and the place was quite dark, still deffo dark and red though

[schlafsack]

Biscuit malt?