Help With a Piney Beer

[csded26]

So I'm putting together a simple beer that I wanted to be piney with a hint of smoke, and I'm not sure I've got the proportions right. Here's what I've got:

Grains:
5 lbs. Breiss Gold LME
1 lbs. Breiss Dark LME
2 lbs. Weyermann Smoked Malt

Hops:
1 oz. Northern Brewer (60 mins)
1 oz. Northern Brewer (5 mins)

Yeast:
1 pack of Wyeast American Ale Yeast

Additional:
1 oz. Spruce Essence (Secondary)
0.25 oz. Juniper Berries (Secondary)

More or less smoked malt? Does the spruce seem on point? Let me know what you think.

 

[csded26]

By the way, I was shooting for a pale ale base.

 

[drainbamage]

Well for one, if you're just steeping the smoked malt, I think 2 lbs is probably more than you need. I haven't used it yet, but I'd imagine it's one of those "little bit goes a long way" kind of things.

If you're going for a pale ale base, dark LME might contribute more roastiness than you'd like. Were you going for just a color contribution or flavor as well? A pound of amber LME or Crystal 60L could darken your beer up without affecting the flavor as much.

Northern Brewer sounds like a good match for what you're going for. A little late-addition Simcoe could be cool too.

 

[csded26]

Thanks for the tips--I'm going to brew this this coming weekend! I did a little reading and I think that smoked malt (rauch malt) needs to be mashed--I'm going to do a partial mash with it. People seem to use it up to 70-100% of the grain bill too, so I think the 2lbs (20%) is okay. Here's what I'm going with:

Grains:
6 lbs. Breiss Gold LME
2 lbs. Weyermann Smoked Malt
10 oz. Breiss Caramel 60L

Hops:
0.5 oz. Northern Brewer (60 mins)
0.33 oz. Simcoe (60 mins)

0.5 oz. Simcoe (5 mins)
0.5 oz. Northern Brewer (5 mins)

Yeast:
1 pack of Wyeast American Ale Yeast

Additional:
0.5 oz. Spruce Essence (Secondary)
0.25 oz. Juniper Berries (Secondary)

 

[stpug]

So I'm putting together a simple beer that I wanted to be piney with a hint of smoke, and I'm not sure I've got the proportions right. Here's what I've got:...

More or less smoked malt? Does the spruce seem on point? Let me know what you think.

While there are smoked beers that use large percentages of rauch malt, a little bit DOES go a long way. If you're really after "a hint of smoke" then you should be looking more in the 1/2 lb range for 5 gallons as opposed to 2 lb range. It's at this range that you'll get the smoke without constantly thinking about campfire, IMHO. If you are going to a LHBS then taste the smoked grains before you buy them - you'll immediately see how much smoke is contained in just a few little grains.

Additionally, there is Oak Smoked Wheat malt that would also need to be mashed. This particular grain gives a very subtle and smooth smoke character and CAN be used in multiple pounds without going overboard. If your brew shop has this then give it a taste as well. You could easily use 2 lbs of this without going overboard.

I also think you could do a larger partial mash (since you'll be doing it anyway) and use some grains you wouldn't normally use (MO, Vienna, Munich, amongst others).

Edit: I should also add that I've never used spruce essence or juniper berries so I don't know how "on point" those additions are. However, I DO like the suggestion below by TriggerFingers to use Chinook; it has a dank piney quality to it especially in later additions.

 

[TriggerFingers]

I would probably use Chinook instead of Northern Brewer. While some say Simcoe = Pine, everytime I have used it that's never what I feel in the nose or flavor.