De-husked (Hulled) roasted barley for red / amber colour.

[peterpiper]

Roast barley is suggested to achieve a nice red - amber colour, without adding flavour. Either by late mash addition, or using cold steep.
Though in the Briess picture below, I prefer the colours from Munich20 & caramel malts.

rows are: 2; 5; 10; and 20 SRM.
columns: Aromatic Munich Malt 20L; Caramel Malt 60L; Caramel Malt 120L; Chocolate Malt; Roasted Barley; and Black Malt.

De-husked roasted barley is meant to give a roast aroma and dark colour, without astringency.

I don't like any astringent flavour (in light beers).
So wondering if de-husked roasted barley, is just as good at giving a red-amber colour, or is does that come from the husks?
Might help if de-husked would avoid the separate soak (which maybe doesn't give so much colour anyway).

Was thinking of doing comparison cold steep trials using both, unless anyone's got the info already.

Also came across note saying is intensified by longer boil times. Might90min rather than 60min (my default) help much?

 

[Clarence]

The colour doesn't come from the husks so whatever you're trying to do regarding colour should give you the same results whether you use standard or de-hulled barley. (I haven't come across the latter). You might also look into chocolate wheat malt.

 

[foxy]

I think this is a good tip from Gordon Strong.
Put the chocolate malt in a mesh bag and steep briefly in the full volume of the hot strike water before the mash begins. Steep just long enough so that a deep reddish color appears. This should only take a few seconds, but you may have to stir the water to judge the color effect. (American Amber recipe Gordon Strong) You will still get a nice red hue from roast barley, cold steep, and add the liquor to the boil avoiding any astringency from the roast malt.

 

[peterpiper]

I think this is a good tip from Gordon Strong.
Put the chocolate malt in a mesh bag and steep briefly in the full volume of the hot strike water before the mash begins. Steep just long enough so that a deep reddish color appears. This should only take a few seconds, but you may have to stir the water to judge the color effect. (American Amber recipe Gordon Strong) You will still get a nice red hue from roast barley, cold steep, and add the liquor to the boil avoiding any astringency from the roast malt.

Ta -like that idea, where you can quickly see the effect.
Guess it would work just as well using a large hop spider, and maybe save having an extra item to clean.