Peated, Smoked Ale

9 lbsLight LME
.5 lbsCrystal Malt 40L; Briess
1 lbs Peat Smoked Malt
3.25 lbs Cherrywood Smoked

1.25 ozFuggle (Whole, 4.75 %AA) boiled 60 min.
.75 ozFuggle (Whole, 4.75 %AA) boiled 30 min.
1 ozCascade (Whole, 5.50 %AA) boiled 15 min.

I'm going to use some sort of belgian yeast, something that won't be a huge flavor, but add a little complexity. This beer is for a friend of mine who loves EXTREMELY smokey scotch. He likes craft beer, but stays away from IPA's, so I'm going for something a that'll focus more on the malt flavors. Any feedback? Advice?

I'll tell you one thing. I just bottled a dark lager yesterday that I'd brewed with .5lb rauchmalt among other things. Little of the flavor is left after fermentation. So you def need at least 3-4 pounds to get some of the smoky flavor in there.
Reduce the bittering addition to 1oz,increase the 30 minute to 1oz & move it to 20 minutes if you want more of that earthy/herby flavor. Leave it at 30 minutes if you want more bittering than flavor from it.
Also,smoked malts must be mashed,but have little diastatic power of their own. Some base malt with a lot of diastatic power would help with the Weyermann's anyway.
Midwest says the peated malt's smoke is stronger than weyermann's rauchmalt that I used. Dosen't give any numbers for it's diastatic power though. But the diastatic power of the Breisse cherrywood smoked is 140. So on second look,the Breisse smoked malt should be able to convert all in a partial mash.

Can you explain that last part to me?

If you've never used peat smoked malt before I would do a little research on it. One pound is a lot. I know you said your friend likes extremely smokey scotch but that malt is powerful stuff. The last beer I used it in only called for 1.5oz in a 5gal batch. And when I was buying the grains the guy at my LHBS even commented on how little is needed to get that smokey flavor.

Let us know how this one turns out!

That's a little weird. I know midwest says the peated malt is stronger than the rauchmalt,but I didn't think it was that strong. I used 1/2lb of wyermann's smoked malt (rauchmalt) in a dark lager,& so far can't taste the smoke. The wort at the beginning had a rasted /grilled pork sort of flavor to it. Now that I bottled it yesterday,nada. Need a couple pounds of that beachwood smoked weyermann's.
Since The weyermann's smoked malt has a diastatic power of 48,it needs to be mashed with some base malt like 2-row with a high diastatic power to convert the starches to sugars. The Breisse cherrywood smoked has a diastatic of 140,& will convert itself.
Diastatic power is the ability to have enough enzymes to convert the starches to sugars expressed as a number.

So if I'm using 3+ lbs. of the breiss cherrywood, that should be enough to convert the starches in the 1 lb. of peated malt, right? or should I throw some two row in there just for good measure?

I'll definitely keep this updated in the coming months. It's not going to be a beer that everyone likes, but then again, what is? It's going to be in your face and everyone will have a sure opinion of it.

The Breisse smoked malt should have enough power to convert it all in the amounts you're using.

I'd add some 2-row if you can handle it.

I'm assuming the smoked malt is relatively fresh. The smokiness fades as the malt ages.

I used 3 lbs of cherry Smoked malt in a smoked Porter, and it turned out excellent.

I used a quarter of a pound (that is 0.25 lbs) of Peat Smoked Malt in a Stone Smoked Porter clone and nailed it.

Maybe 1 lb of Peat smoked malt is what you are looking for, but be cautioned, you could be making an undrinkable beer. Do some research.

You might want to use an English yeast instead of the Belgian one. Depends on how much flavor you want from the yeast.

I'll throw some two row in there just for good measure. The peated malt is from a different source, my usual store doesn't have it, so it'll be packaged separately. I'll taste it before adding and see how strong it is. I think that's going to be a brew day decision.

Try making a cup of tea with a teaspoon of of the peated stuff and see how potent it is. Let it steep in a coffee mug of of 150* water for a half hour, covered.

also, I'm not sure of I'd try the Cascade with this. The northwest citrusy stuff seems like it wouldn't complement the smoke and peat flavors well. I'd personally go with a German or English hop. Hallertau maybe?

Good call with the hops. I put the order in last night and made the last minute decision to use hallertau. Seeing that as a recommendation makes me more confident in my decision.

With all of the concern about the strength of the peat malt, I'm wondering if I can make the wort with a small amount, then if it needs more, do a mini mash with just that malt and add it to the fermenting wort. Thoughts?

Use a small amount with the Breisse smoked malt. If it needs more,which it likely won't,you could mash a lilttle bit & add it in if you don't wait too long. It'll probably be fine with the Breisse & a couple ounces of the peat smoked malt.

steeldrummerj said:

With all of the concern about the strength of the peat malt, I'm wondering if I can make the wort with a small amount, then if it needs more, do a mini mash with just that malt and add it to the fermenting wort. Thoughts?

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Sure, do it. Brew it strong. If it comes out strong, brew a small batch w/o the peat and blend to taste. That's what I'd do, with out having used it before (just be sure to come back and tell us how it turned out so we can learn too!).

I would probably cut out the peat malt if I was brewing this. You should get plenty of smoke from the Briess cherrywood. If you still want to try the peat malt I would crush around 2-4 oz and see what that gets you. You can always brew another batch if doesn't turn out the way you want .

Alright. I'm brewing Monday or Tuesday as written, plus some two row, and using hallertau. The end. You guys will be the first to know how it turns out.
The scotch this is supposed to resemble is SO heavy with peat and smoke that some would say its too much. The friend I'm brewing this for loves it. I don't doubt it'll be too much for some people, but I'm aiming for that to be far and away the biggest flavor.
I really appreciate the input, y'all have a bunch of experience (understatement?) and I will absolutely give you a review of it when it's brewed and at different points along the way.

Laphroig I'm guessing? Good stuff. Let me know hoe it goes. I have a small oak barrel that I can see throwing a batch like this on for a year.

you know that was the only liquor legally imported during prohibition because it was used as a medicine due to its near medicinal flavor.

Brewed Monday night, with a couple changes. I cut the DME to 6#, and dropped the second hop addition. I did that because I added the DME after the boil, and I boiled the full 5 gallons. According to beersmith, that left me with somewhere around 35 IBUs, right where I wanted it. As far as the taste, it was just what I was expecting. Not too much peat or smoke, but I'm sure once the sweetness fades those flavors will come out. SWMBO came home in the middle of the boil and said it smelled a little like a camp fire, so I have a good feeling about it. Checked it this morning before work and it was bubbling away. Nothing like the airlock orchestra in the morning (a three piece airlock on this one, and double bubble on a batch of Edwort's Apfelwein)!

My favorite part of brewing is sniffing the aroma that sneaks out of the air lock.

Took a hydro sample last night, still has a little way to go. Tasted it and it was still a little sweet, but the smoke was almost where I wanted it. I'm feeling pretty good about this brew.

Opened a bottle last night. It is spot on. Exactly where I wanted it. Plenty of smoke, the peat is there, subtle oak, and quite dry. This will definitely benefit from a few months in the bottle, but I'm very happy with how it came out.

Looks like I'll have to add more of the rauchmalt to my own recipe,since the Briesse version is stronger flavored than Weyermann's original. Maybe 4lbs rauchmalt with the other mash constituents I've been redoing in BS2. But that'll be a couple months down the road for fall or so.