Emulating Brown Malt

[peebee]

Came across this on Brupak's Web site and its repeated on many other sites:

"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."

Don't need to emulate traditional (defunct) Brown Malt, but it looks interesting to try (I recently used 80% smoked malt with 20% high colour crystal and it didn't win me a lot of credits! I liked it though). BUT: 40% Special B? That would be over a kilo in 5 gallons for the recipe I have in mind (3ish% ABV). All the advice seems to suggest 5% max.

Anyone else experimented with such high percentages of Special B? Or even the 60/40 brown malt emulation?

 

[clibit]

It means replace the brown malt with the same quantity of smoked and special B in a 60/40 mix, surely, not 40%of the total grain bill.

 

[peebee]

It means replace the brown malt with the same quantity of smoked and special B in a 60/40 mix, surely, not 40% of the total grain bill.

Thanks for the reply!

But yes, it will mean 40% of the grain bill!

Current recipe uses 80% smoked malt (it replaced all the pale malt in the original) and 20% high colour crystal (ignoring the 1% black malt). I'll be substituting the crystal with Special B.

So I'm looking at replacing all the malt with the 60/40 mix. Therefore 40% Special B! Or, about 1.2Kg Special B in 23 litres.

 

[clibit]

I wouldn't do that. Really. The brupaks article means that instead of using brown malt in a recipe, you could replace it with rauch and special B. So if a recipe uses 300g Brown malt, use 300g rauch and special B, split 60/40. If you use special b as 40% of the total grain it won't be drinkable.

 

[peebee]

...it won't be drinkable.

I'm going to take that as speaking from experience! I'll fiddle about with the quantities and come up with something within the "recommendations". And reduce the smoked malt (my girlfriend might drink it then!).
Thanks a lot!