How would 20% carafa special I be in a beer?

[Leard]

I accidentally ****** up my order ordered 20% Carafa Special I rather than Munich. I was hoping to brew a Tribute clone, so the rest of the grain bill is 80% Maris Otter.

Anybody ever used this much in a beer? I'm not sure what to do now as the grain comes already mixed together in a bag, so I can't just remove part of the Carafa Special I. I guess I could add more Maris Otter, but it would need to be quite a lot and would really push my OG up high. I'm not really in a position to create a higher volume.

Thoughts?

 

[Alan_Reginato]

I accidentally ****** up my order ordered 20% Carafa Special I rather than Munich. I was hoping to brew a Tribute clone, so the rest of the grain bill is 80% Maris Otter.

Anybody ever used this much in a beer? I'm not sure what to do now as the grain comes already mixed together in a bag, so I can't just remove part of the Carafa Special I. I guess I could add more Maris Otter, but it would need to be quite a lot and would really push my OG up high. I'm not really in a position to create a higher volume.

Thoughts?

Buy more MO, mix and split in two batches. Don't worry if it's already grinded, should stay stable for 1 or 2 months, if dry.

Personal experience: I've brewd a stout, with 11% carafa I, not special, and that was nearly too much. I've used perla negra (similar to carafa special) in 10%, and was nice. Also, brewd with nearly 10% black Swaen coffee malt (barley) plus 10% black Swaen coffee (wheat), and the beer taste like coffee, really. It's something good, only if you are really in for stouts.

Hope I've helped!

Cheers!

 

[The Baron]

It will last ages even if crushed so do not be in a rush to use it and spoil your recipe by using too much. It will keep for over a year in fact I bet its got a bb date on it.
Do not use too much in a recipe 1-5% is the advised amount (all down to your taste)and be even more careful if its just ordinary Carafa and not Carafa special as the first is husked and will impart more bitterness/astringency than special which is de-husked and a smoother less bittered variety

 

[An Ankoù]

Carafa Special #1 is basically dehusked chocolate malt. How much chocolate malt would would you use in a beer?

 

[moto748]

Carafa Special #1 is basically dehusked chocolate malt. How much chocolate malt would would you use in a beer?

That's interesting. Can I ask, how does that compare to Carafa Special II, and the (more common?) Special III?

And Special B?

 

[An Ankoù]

That's interesting. Can I ask, how does that compare to Carafa Special II, and the (more common?) Special III?

And Special B?

Whoa. That's a big question. #3, in my understanding (which may be defective) is similar to patent black malt, but the husks have been removed before roasting as this reduces the bitterness. #2, I guess, is something in between. I make my mild with mild malt (Crisp's Vienna) and 6% each of #1. #2, and #3. I'm the only one who drinks it, but so far I've had no complaints.
Special B is a crystal malt. Special X, Special W and Simpson's Double Roasted crystal malt are all pretty much of a muchness. They're not like roasted malts, they're crystal malts.

Roughly, very roughly, roasted malts are roasted like coffee beans, while crystal malts are sort of stewed in their own juices first. No doubt some erudite will provide more precision.

 

[moto748]

Thanks, An Ankoù, that's helpful.

 

[The Baron]

close enough for me AA I understand Lay man's terms better than exact science must have been the way I was taught

 

[matt76]

How much chocolate malt would would you use in a beer?

I checked my notes on this... I don't have an exact answer using Carafa Special 1, but...
- My Porter uses 12% chocolate rye malt (along with 12% each of brown malt and dark crystal malts)
- I also have an American Stout using 5.5% each (i.e. 21.5% total) chocolate malt, chocolate rye malt and roasted barley

Both are deliberately designed to be low strength (<4%ABV) and finish high (around 1.020) due to all the non-fermentables, but both are also very tasty beers.

So to answer @Leard 's question, it could still work, but you might be better to mix it with some additional base malt. It depends a lot what else is in your grain mixture and how strong you want the finished beer to be.

Can I ask, how does that compare to Carafa Special II, and the (more common?) Special III?

I note @An Ankoù has already answered... my understanding is they're different colours, each one getting progressively darker due to different degrees of roasting.

I'm not a massive fan of them other than perhaps using a tiny amount for colour adjustment.

I've made a Black IPA a few times, usually with chocolate malt but last time I tried it with Carafa Special 2 - it was still an ok beer, but a bit "meh" compared to when I've used chocolate malt. I prefer a bit more roast flavour which seems lacking from Carafa.

(And for any BJCP style snobs, that Black IPA recipe has since evolved into the American Stout mentioned above where more roast is acceptable )

 

[Alan_Reginato]

I checked my notes on this... I don't have an exact answer using Carafa Special 1, but...
- My Porter uses 12% chocolate rye malt (along with 12% each of brown malt and dark crystal malts)
- I also have an American Stout using 5.5% each (i.e. 21.5% total) chocolate malt, chocolate rye malt and roasted barley

Both are deliberately designed to be low strength (<4%ABV) and finish high (around 1.020) due to all the non-fermentables, but both are also very tasty beers.

So to answer @Leard 's question, it could still work, but you might be better to mix it with some additional base malt. It depends a lot what else is in your grain mixture and how strong you want the finished beer to be.


I note @An Ankoù has already answered... my understanding is they're different colours, each one getting progressively darker due to different degrees of roasting.

I'm not a massive fan of them other than perhaps using a tiny amount for colour adjustment.

I've made a Black IPA a few times, usually with chocolate malt but last time I tried it with Carafa Special 2 - it was still an ok beer, but a bit "meh" compared to when I've used chocolate malt. I prefer a bit more roast flavour which seems lacking from Carafa.

(And for any BJCP style snobs, that Black IPA recipe has since evolved into the American Stout mentioned above where more roast is acceptable )

Did you brewd that? How it turns out?

And how much carafa special 2 did you use in your last black IPA?

 

[matt76]

Did you brewd that? How it turns out?

And how much carafa special 2 did you use in your last black IPA?

Black IPA here - but as noted above, it was ok but I don't think this version with Carafa 2 was as good as when I've done it before with chocolate malt.

Hurricane Porter

NPS American Stout

Yes I've brewed all of these at least twice, all very good. I probably won't bother making the Black IPA again because the Stout does all the same things (malty, roasty, hoppy) but better!

V4 of the Hurricane Porter is conditioning at the moment and will be ready to drink in a couple of weeks. I used Imperial A-09 "Pub" this time, but MJ M36 and WY1318 are both very good too.

V3 of the NPS American Stout is on the list, probably in January - still searching for the right hops, this time I'm gonna go out with Cascade & Centennial.