[S. cerevisiae]

I had the day off from work and decided to give crystal malt another shot.  I used a pound of various crystal malts in a 7.5 pound grist (my standard batch size is 3.66 gallons).  Here's the grain bill:

6.5 pounds of Avangard Pils
3/8ths of a pound of Avangard Caramel 8L (more of a dextrin malt than a true crystal malt)
3/8ths of a pound of MFB CaraVienne
1/4th of a pound Dingeman's Special B

O.G. 1.064 for 3.66 gallons

[beersk]

What hops and yeast?

[dmtaylor]

That's kind of a lot of Special B.  Your beer will taste like Special B.  Hope you like it.  I love it.

[udubdawg]

you picked some good ones, certainly.
caravienne is probably, along with Belgian caramunich, my personal favorite.

[S. cerevisiae]

What hops and yeast?

I used a hop that I grew for which there is no name.   I sent 150 grams to Alpha Analytics for analysis.  The hop looks like Zeus from an alpha, beta, and volatile oil point of view.  However, after brewing with it, I can confirm that it is not Zeus; therefore, I am taking an NCGR scientist's advice and giving it a name until I can find a match.  I had a couple of names in mind, but the one that has stuck is Verde e Rosso, which I have shortened to Verde Rosso.   Verde e Rosso is Italian for "green and red," which is the color of the bine.

Hopping Schedule:

1/2 ounce of the hop formally known as "unknown" 16.4% AA, 1.81% v/w (1.81ml of oil per 100 grams of cones), 60 minute boil

1 ounce of the hop formally known as "unknown" 16.4% AA, 1.81% v/w (1.81ml of oil per 100 grams of cones),  20 minute hop stand at 160F

I pitched Bry 97.  I have several very nice strains in my bank that are unobtainable via the home brew trade, but Siebel Bry 97 (a.k.a. Ballentine "Ale" Brewery, "Anchor,"  Wyeast 1272, White Labs WLP051, and Lallemand  Bry 97)  seems to have the perfect balance of characteristics for a modern hoppy beer.   It's not as bland tasting as Siebel Bry 96 (a.k.a. Ballentine "Beer" Brewey, "Chico," Wyeast 1056, White Labs WLP001, and Fermentis US-05), nor is it as dry.  The only downside to using this strain is that it has a fairly long lag period.

[S. cerevisiae]

That's kind of a lot of Special B.  Your beer will taste like Special B.  Hope you like it.  I love it.

I thought that I had made a serious mistake adding Special B to the grist, but the wort was fairly Pils-forward going into the fermentation vessel.  Avangard Pils is a strongly flavored Pils malt. I also added CaCl₂ to the mash, which tends to enhance Pils malt flavor.   Special B has a surprising amount of coloring power.

[beersk]

Interesting... I look forward to hearing how it turns out. Post a picture of the pint when it's ready with a flavor profile, please!

[HoosierBrew]

  Avangard Pils is a strongly flavored Pils malt.

+1. In a good way, I think.  Yeah, Special B definitely has a big color (and flavor) contribution as well.

[erockrph]

I'm very interested to hear your assessment of the mystery cones after the hop stand.

Quality Pils malt and Special B is a recipe for success, IMO. I use 4 ounces/3 gallons in all my dark Belgians, so I'd say you're right in the butter zone. Sounds like a real tasty brew.

[chumley]

That is way too much crystal malt.  You are going to hate that beer.  Hope you have a bunch of dumb, gullible neighbors.

[S. cerevisiae]

I fear that you may be right.  I had to give crystal malt another shot after dannyjed wrote "Crystal Haters...c'mon guys it's Crystal malt not Crystal meth." 

Believe it or not, there was a time when I was not a crystal malt hater.   However, that was a long time ago when one could have any base malt that one wanted as long as it was Briess or Schreier 2-Row brewer's malt.

[tress]

That is way too much crystal malt.  You are going to hate that beer.  Hope you have a bunch of dumb, gullible neighbors.

+1 Ha ha ha

[dannyjed]

I fear that you may be right.  I had to give crystal malt another shot after dannyjed wrote "Crystal Haters...c'mon guys it's Crystal malt not Crystal meth." 

Believe it or not, there was a time when I was not a crystal malt hater.   However, that was a long time ago when one could have any base malt that one wanted as long as it was Briess or Schreier 2-Row brewer's malt.

I'm glad you're giving it another shot I'm enjoying a Pale Ale that I made using 8.5 lbs Avangard Pils, 1lb Avangard Munich, 1 lb Vienna, and .5 lb Crystal 40. It has a nice hoppy, dry finish.

[santoch]

I fall into that camp of "too much crystal ruins a good beer" too.  I tend to "top out" at about a lb in a 5 gallon batch as being that tipping point in a pale ale type beer.  I'm afraid your small batch size comes out almost twice that level.

That said, I hope you'll try it again but scale down the crystal malts so you end up with roughly a half pound in 2.5 gals.  I think you'll like the crystal again if its used with restraint.  It definitely has its place.

HTH-

[dannyjed]

I fall into that camp of "too much crystal ruins a good beer" too.  I tend to "top out" at about a lb in a 5 gallon batch as being that tipping point in a pale ale type beer.  I'm afraid your small batch size comes out almost twice that level.

That said, I hope you'll try it again but scale down the crystal malts so you end up with roughly a half pound in 2.5 gals.  I think you'll like the crystal again if its used with restraint.  It definitely has its place.

HTH-

This ^