Darkening Malt

[erikn68]

I am trying to find out what malt others use to darken beer but without any flavor added. I have heard using carafa special II, but I tried in vorlaug but had it grind to a powder and I get the roasty bitter flavor. I want something that has NO roast. Any ideas.

Erik

 

[RedlegEd]

I am trying to find out what malt others use to darken beer but without any flavor added. I have heard using carafa special II, but I tried in vorlaug but had it grind to a powder and I get the roasty bitter flavor. I want something that has NO roast. Any ideas. Erik

Hi Erik. If you're just looking for color but not flavor, try Sinamar. It's fairly inexpensive and will definitely darken your brew. Ed

 

[JimRausch]

Midnight wheat? Most of the roastiness flavor is in the hulls, and wheat has none. But, this is just speculation, NOT based on personal experience.

 

[day_trippr]

I use black patent for deep color but while I enjoy roasty notes others don't.
In that case consider using debittered black malts such as this Dingemans product https://www.midwestsupplies.com/maillard-malts-dingemans-debittered-black-malt

Cheers!

 

[Big Monk]

You want Sinamar. That’s it’s sole purpose in life.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

How "dark" do you want to go? A 90 minute boil might get you an extra 1 or 2 SRM. You can also maybe select different base malts that are in the 3's instead of 1's.

Carafa II is going to give you a hint of coffee. You might consider Munich II but it will bump up the maltiness (not roasty but it's only about 10L). Munich III or Caramunich is even darker but starts to bring in the dried fruit and caramel malt flavor. Some brands of Special B might help if you keep it really low like 1-2oz per 5 gallons. They can add some nuttiness and breadiness. Be careful though, Special B's vary greatly from different suppliers.

Of course there is always food coloring