Specialty malt "teas"

[KepowOb]

I was reading an article at Beer and Wine Journal, where Chris Colby mentions making a tea from certain malts if you plan on using them a lot, to give you a good idea of what their true flavours are when used in a beer. He was talking about certain dark malts, so you can see the difference between them, but I'm assuming you can do this with pretty much any malt. And obviously it's best to do this to compare different malts...

I've always tasted my malts after crushing them, specially with new ones when I'm curious as to their flavour, but the idea of making a tea never crossed my mind.

He mentions just taking the malts you want to compare and put an equal amount of each grain into a glass, then an equal amount of hot water on top. Wait a few minutes and smell and taste them.

Has anyone ever tried this? If so, do I just boil some water and pour it on there, or should I am for a certain temperature range to get the best results. And obviously I don't think this is a perfect thing to do, but I think it would give me a better understanding of the ingredients I'm using.

 

[IslandLizard]

So you're basically steeping them. For the crystal, specialty, and roasted malts that will give you some indication of what they smell and taste like. But keep in mind, the final fermented product (beer) is a complex amalgamation and more than just the sum of it's parts.

Base malts cannot be assessed that way as the sugars will be converted to alcohol, and flavorful byproducts.

 

[RmikeVT]

As an opposing view point, I recently took a BJCP course and one of the classes did just that, making grain tea. While it is not beer, it will give you a good idea of the character the specialty malt will impart on your beer. You can taste the difference between c20 and c80 and taste the dried fruits in the c80, Or get the toasty, breadiness from Victory or Biscuit. Also, comparing Roasted Barley to Black Malt also give you a feel for the level difference between the two, as it is often confusing to new brewers. Roasted Barley tastes like compared to Roasted/Black Malt.

I think making grain teas is a great way to find out what types of flavors the malts are going to impart on your beer.

 

[KepowOb]

Yeah I don't expect this to tell the entire story, but I thought it sounded like a good idea to find out what type of flavours and aromas certain malts would impart on my brews. Obviously when you start combining things, adding hops, and getting alcohol in there, it'll change things up a bit, but if I want a certain flavour, it'd be nice to be able to know for sure what one dark malt is lending to my beer, when compared to another, or even the differences between some of the crystal malts. I think that type of information could be essential to recipe formulation, along with what information you can find out about the malts.

Anyone know how much malt I would need to do this? Obviously the size of these don't have to be very big at all, but say, 1oz - 2oz of each malt should be plenty, right?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Early on, I too tried malt teas.

But later decided I was more fond on corgi.

 

[IslandLizard]

As an opposing view point [...]

I don't read anything opposing, we all seem to agree that malt teas are a simple and quick way to sample malt flavors and aromas to help in making educated decisions on what to include and exclude in recipes. Extending this knowledge into previsualizing what a finished beer will be like, will turn one into a true beer designer. And experience is a large part of that.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I have never done a malt teal i have always popped a few grains in my mouth at the LHBS when purchasing new grains. How much does the taste experience differ?

 

[helibrewer]

A more accurate method is to nano-mash. Use a 1 pint Mason jar. Put 95 grams of base malt and 5 grams of specialty malt in the jar. Heat some brewing water to about 170F. Add the water to the grain up to about the threads on the jar. Place the lid on loosly and let it sit for an hour...then taste...do multiple jars to compare grains.

This effectively creates a wort of about 1.055 and a mash temp of 155F and a grain bill of 95% base, 5% specialty.