[Joe Sr.]

No link, but when I was going through old Zymurgy's last week it popped out at me. 

5 Gallons
14 lb two row
1 lb carastan
1 lb 120 L crystal
0.5 lb chocolate
0.5 lb brown makt
0.25 lb roast barley
2.0 oz Cluster (7%) 60 minutes
1.0 oz Northern Brewer (9%) 2 min
1.0 oz Centennial (10.5%) 2 min
American or California ale yeast

We'll see how it turns out.

[brewsumore]

I can sure vouch for the Crisp brown malt.  That stuff is magic, well, when in Denny's BVIP for sure!

[kylekohlmorgen]

I used brown malt in a brown porter and had a definite smoke flavor in the beer. I've also had a special porter from Founders that had a similar smokiness. I'm a little leery of brown malt at this point.

I have gotten a phenolic 'smokiness' from a beer that had Crisp Brown from the same LHBS.

Since I've also had other homebrew/commercial examples that use the same malt with no such defect, I assumed it was a misstep on my part.

Perhaps they got a bad bag?

[mabrungard]

Perhaps they got a bad bag?

Kyle,

I agree. However, the fact that that special Founders brown porter that I had about 6 months ago at a tasting event suggests that it may be more than just a bag. That Founders porter has the same smokey character as my beer does. It was good...just unexpected.

[brewsumore]

I have a bit of a hard time weighing in, since both times I've used it for BVIP I've added medium or medium plus toast French oak.  My recollection of tasting the extra beer at kegging, prior to adding vanilla and toasted oak, does not include smoky phenolics... just a very expressive porter.  So expressive in fact, that I had no qualms about adding the vanilla and bourbon to balance it out a bit.

By the way, I've only sourced Crisp brown malt via MoreBeer.  The only other beer I've made that used it was Jamil's McQuaker Stout, but that was only a pound in 10 gallons of beer.

This last batch I had previously bought Thomas Faucett for the brew and decided that I knew how good Crisp worked last time so bought it instead once I re-sourced it.

[blatz]

Old Rasputin is a favorite, so if I can come close it will be dangerous.  And then I'll need to oak age it...

Me too! Is there a link to that recipe you're using? I brewed a dry stout with WLP004 and after aging for a year, I got a flavor reminiscent of Old Rasputin from the yeast. I cannot explain it, but I have a feeling they may use WLP004 in Old Ras

Denny's Fav 50 would be the best choice...

[beersk]

I like brown malt. I used it in a brown porter recently and it's definitely got a roast/toffee caramel flavor going on. I dig it. Not sure I get any smokiness from it, but perhaps people will pick up on that at my homebrew club meeting tonight.

[69franx]

I'd say get the brown malt.  It's a mainstay in my BVIP and I've never found an adequate sub.  Be aware that what some maltsters call brown malt others call amber.  What you want is the 70L stuff, not the 35L.  Here's some info from a froens who was looking for brown malt...

Thought I'd give you a heads up on something.  A while back I was asking about Baird brown malt, and whether it was really brown and not amber since the sack indicated both "brown" and "amber" (55-70L).  Weird.  The folks at Baird told me that it could be either brown or amber  depending on what the customer wanted it to be, that the two malts are interchangeable.  B.S!  Anyway, I purchased some Crisp amber malt (35L) from Greg Beron at Culver City Homebrew in So. Cal., and it is visibly identical to Baird.  Furthermore, I just received some Thomas Fawcett brown malt from North Country Malt and it is easily, visibly darker then the Baird.

Bump
Denny, my LHBS has Crisp Brown, Crisp website lists it at 45-60L. this is the Brown i can source locally and I don't have time to order online. Should I add a little extra of this or a little more Chocolate for your BVIP. My system was already going to produce a slightly lighter(numerically) beer than what your recipe says. So I am just wondering if I should bother with any adjustment or just run with it?

[stufr67]

I have always just ordered it, but you could make your own.

For Brown Malt (est. 175 L) that has a strong roasted flavor, roast your base malt for 50 minutes at 400 degrees F.

[quattlebaum]

Perhaps they got a bad bag?

Kyle,

I agree. However, the fact that that special Founders brown porter that I had about 6 months ago at a tasting event suggests that it may be more than just a bag. That Founders porter has the same smokey character as my beer does. It was good...just unexpected.

I know this is an older post but to comment on the "smokey" aroma/Flavor. I made a recent Porter with 13% Bairds Brown malt 60L and i did not get the smokiness either however my home brew club did. I get more roast/toffee Carmel flavor as "beersk" gets could be the 9% dark Crystal/80L though. By no means do i get the phenolic/smokiness out of this.  interesting thats for sure and i like it and so did my club