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Author Topic: Malt percentages  (Read 8526 times)

Offline denny

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Re: Malt percentages
« Reply #15 on: February 01, 2012, 12:37:30 pm »
I would like to counter the idea that you can't go higher than 10% specialty malt.  Beers that have a strong roast character often use an equal or greater amount of crystal malt as well.  For a Robust Porter or RIS you could easily use 10% crystal and another 10% roasted malt.  In the end its all about the flavor and balance of the beer.  I would tend to agree that 10% is approaching the maximum for crystal malt but there are some good beers out there that use a bit more than that.  I was looking at Jamil's Dopplebock recipe the other day and he uses 2lbs of Caramunich in a 6 gallon batch.  That beer won gold at NHC...just sayin'.

I agree with you and pretty much said the same thing.  Then it was pointed out to me that what was wanted was a general guideline.  I agree that 10% is a good place to start, but by all means don't limit yourself to that.  I have recipes with much more crystal than that.  Let your tastebuds be your guide and experiment.
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Offline malzig

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Re: Malt percentages
« Reply #16 on: February 02, 2012, 04:12:52 am »
I would tend to agree that 10% is approaching the maximum for crystal malt but there are some good beers out there that use a bit more than that.  I was looking at Jamil's Dopplebock recipe the other day and he uses 2lbs of Caramunich in a 6 gallon batch.  That beer won gold at NHC...just sayin'.
Jamil would admit that the recipe that wins competition often isn't the recipe that makes the beer closest to style.  You need to play to the judges expectations, which sometimes means making a parody of the style.  So a beer like this or a Scottish Ale might be made with a lot of crystal malt for competition, while a real example might contain little to none.