Too much caramalt

[davidgrace]

I have just received an order from "The Malt Miller"to make a Mosaic IPA. The grain bill for the 23 litre recipe is as follows:

Maris Otter 4.3kg
Vienna Malt 940g
Caramalt 188g

I cut this amount in half to make an 11.5 litre batch. By mistake, however, I ordered the full 188g of Caramalt instead of 94g. The milled grain from the Malt Miller comes mixed in just one sealed bag so there is no way of cutting the caramalt to 94g.

My question is will this extra caramalt make a great difference? Should I write the whole thing off or is there a way of off-setting the extra caramalt? Suggestions gratefully received.

 

[Drunkula]

You're talking about a difference of less than 2% of the grain total compared to the original recipe, it really won't make much difference.

 

[An Ankoù]

I have just received an order from "The Malt Miller"to make a Mosaic IPA. The grain bill for the 23 litre recipe is as follows:

Maris Otter 4.3kg
Vienna Malt 940g
Caramalt 188g

I cut this amount in half to make an 11.5 litre batch. By mistake, however, I ordered the full 188g of Caramalt instead of 94g. The milled grain from the Malt Miller comes mixed in just one sealed bag so there is no way of cutting the caramalt to 94g.

My question is will this extra caramalt make a great difference? Should I write the whole thing off or is there a way of off-setting the extra caramalt? Suggestions gratefully received.

No question of writing it off. It'll just be a tad richer. It was a tiny amount to start with. Might even be better doubled.

 

[Norfolk79]

I agree, go with it. Might end up being the best brew you’ve done

 

[Duxuk]

I'd just brew it but if you were worried that it might be a tad sweeter you could drop the mash temperature by a degree. This would leave less unfermentable sugars and hence less sweetness. Though it would also be a shot in the dark!

 

[peebee]

I've never seen the point of "Caramalt" (ultra light crystal malt). I think if you doubled the quantity again you wouldn't notice.

While about it, you can double the quantity of "Vienna malt" too. That wont make any difference masked by all that Maris Otter malt either! Munich malt? Now that stuff can become noticeable, but your recipe don't use it.

Actually I've had this conversation recently. There are some forms of "caramalt" from particular maltsters that can have a subtle difference, but I don't remember what it was now …

 

[matt76]

I've done something similar where i used:
61% MO
20% Munich (similar to Vienna)
10% caramalt
9% flaked barley

It was good but maybe just a touch too sweet, so in future I'd reduce the caramalt to 5%.

In your case you're just under 3.5% caramalt so I'd say you're bang on there. Best of luck with it

 

[davidgrace]

Thank you for all these helpful comments. I am now fully assured that the extra caramalt will make little or no difference to my brew. I was unsettled because all-grain brewing takes a lot of time and I didn't want to do it all and then feel unhappy with the result.

 

[matt76]

No worries dude - let us know how brew day goes (start a thread in the brew days section - I'll be interested to see the full recipe) and then post some pics when it's ready

 

[davidgrace]

Mosaic IPA Full Recipe


23 L al 5.4%


OG 1055

FG 1014


Grain

Maris Otter 4.3kg

Vienna Malt 940g

Caramalt 188g

Hops

Cascade 75g at start of boil

Mosaic 30g flame out

Mosaic 50g dry hop at 4 days in.

 

[Clint]

What ibu are you getting?

 

[davidgrace]

A friend brewed from this Mosaic IPA recipe and liked the ale. He shared the recipe with me but did not include the ibu rating. My intention is to simply brew the ale on his recommendation. Do you have some reservations about the recipe?

 

[Oneflewover]

I suspect that Clint is alluding to a view that 75g cascade (what AAU?) boiled for 60 mins might be quite bitter and not especially balanced with the ABV. But everyone's tastes are different!

Run it through a calculator?

 

[foxbat]

The last Cascade I used was only 5.1% AA. 75g of it at the start of the boil would have given 52 IBU so not really too bad for an APA. Then there's the problem of AA loss over time of which Cascade is particularly bad so I reckon he'll be fine.

 

[peebee]

I've never seen the point of "Caramalt" (ultra light crystal malt). I think if you doubled the quantity again you wouldn't notice. …

Ah, it was "Carapils" (aka Dextrin Malt) I was grumping about, not "Caramalt". Caramalt at EBC 25-30 has got a bit of something about it (he says, having just pulled a bag of it out of his own stores). You can still use a big quantity of Caramalt before worrying about over doing it.

Ignore me. Like everyone else does (they don't even bother to argue with me anymore; even when I'm wrong).

I can still think mixing Vienna Malt and a malt from Maris Otter barley is a waste of time though (too similar).