Chateau Special B ?

[The Baron]

Hi I bought some of this on a whim, it says its gives raisin/fruit flavours to darker ales how much should I really use as I would prefer somebody who has actually used it rather than the guides because I think it may be possible to easily use too much.
Come on AA I am sure you will have used it also is it like ordinary special B

 

[chthon]

It is indeed easy to use too much. I used 5% in Kasteel Donker clone, got more attenuation than I thought I would get, and although not bad, it can give a sharp molasses taste. I noticed this in several beers that I used it in. The Special B needs to be balanced by FG, because these tastes mellow only very slow over time.

With 5% usage I would next start from a recipe where I got a FG of 1.020-1025. Or only use up to 2-2,5%.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I use it a lot but mostly in Belgium beers from 1.6% in an Abbey beer to 5% in Leffe Bruin.

 

[samale]

Works well in a Belgian dubbel,Quad and stout.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

My FG's were 1014 and 1015 respectively gave ABV's of 6.7% and 6.3%. Both tasted good.

 

[raymondo]

I've been watching the Youtube video of their production. Can I ask where you purchase the malt from in the UK.
Thanks, Raymondo

 

[samale]

I've been watching the Youtube video of their production. Can I ask where you purchase the malt from in the UK.
Thanks, Raymondo

Special B homebrew company
Special W Geterbrewed

 

[An Ankoù]

Hi I bought some of this on a whim, it says its gives raisin/fruit flavours to darker ales how much should I really use as I would prefer somebody who has actually used it rather than the guides because I think it may be possible to easily use too much.
Come on AA I am sure you will have used it also is it like ordinary special B

Awfully sorry, Baron, but I haven't. I had a couple of kilos of Dingemans that I really must use up and, equally on a whim, I got a small quantity of Weyermann's Special W and Bestmalz Special X. I expect them to be much the same and I think I also think that Simpson's Double-Roasted crystal malt is probably just an English take on things.
But. You can never be too careful with Castle Maltings- their Caragold is 120 ebc, while Crisp's is 12 ebc!

 

[raymondo]

Special B homebrew company
Special W Geterbrewed

Thanks for that.

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi @the baron

There was an interesting sentence that used to appear in the entry for Special B in the Brupak's Guide to Grains ... an archive version of which is still available there (link), as it happens ... which said/says ...

An interesting usage is to blend Rauchmalz with Special B (60/40) to emulate the flavour of the traditional English brown malt, traditionally kilned over open fires.

... following that advice I used some in a Porter recipe, which (from memory) would otherwise have had 5% crystal in, so instead I used 5% Special B and swapped 8% of the Pale Malt for oak-smoked malt (to keep to that 40/60 - Special B/Rauch proportion) ... I think the recipe also had some Brown Malt in there, so I don't think I could end up deciding how the combination compared to modern Brown Malt ... but it did produce a beer with an incredibly complex set of flavours.

I must brew it again some time.
Cheers, PhilB

 

[An Ankoù]

Youre

Hi @the baron

There was an interesting sentence that used to appear in the entry for Special B in the Brupak's Guide to Grains ... an archive version of which is still available there (link), as it happens ... which said/says ... ... following that advice I used some in a Porter recipe, which (from memory) would otherwise have had 5% crystal in, so instead I used 5% Special B and swapped 8% of the Pale Malt for oak-smoked malt (to keep to that 40/60 - Special B/Rauch proportion) ... I think the recipe also had some Brown Malt in there, so I don't think I could end up deciding how the combination compared to modern Brown Malt ... but it did produce a beer with an incredibly complex set of flavours.

I must brew it again some time.
Cheers, PhilB

You're right and I think I tried it at some stage. Must dig back through my notes and check.

 

[PhilBrew]

Looking at my notes, I now remember that my recipe was a bastardisation of the Meantime London Porter recipe, which already has an incredibly busy grainbill (they say on the labels how it uses a combination of 7 different malts) ... my recipe ended up (including 8 malts) as ...

Pale Malt	48%
Munich Malt	23.8%
Brown Malt	8%
Rauch Malt	8%
Special B	5%
Torrefied Wheat	4.2%
Carafa Special II	2%
Black Malt	1%

... I brewed it to an OG of 1.044 ... with Fuggles beginning, middle and end to get 33 IBU ... turned out really tasty

Cheers, PhilB

 

[An Ankoù]

Looking at my notes, I now remember that my recipe was a bastardisation of the Meantime London Porter recipe, which already has an incredibly busy grainbill (they say on the labels how it uses a combination of 7 different malts) ... my recipe ended up (including 8 malts) as ...

Pale Malt	48%
Munich Malt	23.8%
Brown Malt	8%
Rauch Malt	8%
Special B	5%
Torrefied Wheat	4.2%
Carafa Special II	2%
Black Malt	1%

... I brewed it to an OG of 1.044 ... with Fuggles beginning, middle and end to get 33 IBU ... turned out really tasty

Cheers, PhilB

I'll bet it did. Looks amazing.
I've looked back through my own notes and I can't find any evidence of having tried the Brupaks recipe. So it's definitely going to be tried.

 

[Scrattajack]

I thought it must be a bit strong. I have a Patersbier recipe with 70g in it, just 1.3% of the grist. Only 430g to go...

 

[Nottsbeer]

I use it a lot but mostly in Belgium beers from 1.6% in an Abbey beer to 5% in Leffe Bruin.

Hi CC....I was drinking a Leffe Bruin recently and though I may look for a recipe. Do you mind sharing yours?

 

[peebee]

There was an interesting sentence that used to appear in the entry for Special B in the Brupak's Guide to Grains ... an archive version of which is still available there (link), as it happens ... which said/says ...

An interesting usage is to blend Rauchmalz with Special B (60/40) to emulate the flavour of the traditional English brown malt, traditionally kilned over open fires.

... following that advice I used some in a Porter recipe, which (from memory) would otherwise have had 5% crystal in, so instead I used 5% Special B and swapped 8% of the Pale Malt for oak-smoked malt (to keep to that 40/60 - Special B/Rauch proportion) ... I think the recipe also had some Brown Malt in there, so I don't think I could end up deciding how the combination compared to modern Brown Malt ... but it did produce a beer with an incredibly complex set of flavours.

A million years ago (approximately) I came across that snippet about emulating brown malt. I was severely shouted down for suggesting I'll try it. So, I went on to develop the lunatic emulations I hawk around now. What I did eventually learn is "English brown malt, traditionally kilned over open fires" referred to a practice that died out in the early 17th century, when "Porter" hadn't been conceived and "smoky malt" was widely detested (and soon to be exorcised).

All the same; I fancy ignoring the advice I was given back then and give it a try.

I'm not trying to persuade you not to try it because it might taste disgusting and is based on dodgy assumptions ... I'm trying to dissuade you from taking a path where you might end up like me




[EDIT: '"English brown malt, traditionally kilned over open fires" referred to a practice that died out in the early 17th century' could be misinterpreted too. Malt was still kilned over "open fires" for another couple of hundred years, but "open fires" paints the wrong picture; the fires were indoors and more "contained" ... well, contained up until the point where they weren't "contained", and the building burnt down.]

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Hi CC....I was drinking a Leffe Bruin recently and though I may look for a recipe. Do you mind sharing yours?

3500g Lager malt
1000g Munich light
1000g Abbey malt
300g Special B
250g Brown sugar
275g Golden Syrup.
15g Northern brewer @60m
25g EKG @15m
25g Saaz @5m (now I would whirlpool these)
MJ M47 @ 22C
BHE 70%
OG 1064 FG 1008 ABV 7.3%
IBU 20 SRM 14

 

[YeastFace]

One of my favourite speciality malts. Some in a mild is fantastic.