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Author Topic: Bru'n Water and British Brown and Amber Malts  (Read 3909 times)

Offline dak0415

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Bru'n Water and British Brown and Amber Malts
« on: September 02, 2011, 01:43:38 pm »
Martin,
What categories should Brown and Amber malts come under in the mash acidification sheet?
Dave Koenig
Anything worth doing - is worth overdoing!

Offline mabrungard

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Re: Bru'n Water and British Brown and Amber Malts
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2011, 07:53:59 pm »
I believe brown and amber malts are just higher kilned base malts.  I would just input them as base malts with the indicated color level. 

The good thing is that the slopes of the base malt and crystal malt acidity vs color relationships are actually quite similar.  I would still use the base malt setting for these grains though. 

All brewers should note that Roast malts are malts with color greater than about 200L.  Below 200L, grains are either Base or Crystal malts.  Crystal malts are stewed in the kernal and don't require mashing since they have already been converted to sugars.
 
 
Martin B
Carmel, IN

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Offline richardt

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Re: Bru'n Water and British Brown and Amber Malts
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2011, 11:15:30 am »
martin,

this might warrant its own thread, but what allowances should be made when using bru'n water if one wants to explore some of the ideas mentioned in GS's BBB book about cold- or hot-steeping dark, roasted grains, or top-mashing with crystal and/or dark grains right before sparging?

Do these techniques significantly affect mash pH?

Offline mabrungard

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Re: Bru'n Water and British Brown and Amber Malts
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2011, 09:37:36 am »
The hot and cold steeping methods that Gordon mentions are good alternatives to some water treatment altermatives.  The main opportunity they present is avoiding the need to add alkalinity to mashing water when crystal or roast malts are a significant component of the grain bill.  Those of you that are natually blessed with low alkalinity water or who brew with distilled or RO water can benefit from this method. 

Bru'n Water is great for assessing what the effect of leaving those acidic crystal or roast malts out of the grist for the main mash.  The thing a brewer is looking for during the main mash is creating a more ideal mash pH in the 5.3 to 5.5 range.  If keeping those acidic grains in the mash results in predicted mash pH lower than the ideal range, then reserving those grains for the end of the mash is a good alternative. 
Martin B
Carmel, IN

BJCP National
Foam Blowers of Indiana (FBI)

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Offline richardt

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Re: Bru'n Water and British Brown and Amber Malts
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2011, 09:31:36 pm »
Would we still need to account for the increased acidity from late roasted malt or crystal grain additions (e.g., top-mashing) when calculating sparge water additions?

Offline mabrungard

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Re: Bru'n Water and British Brown and Amber Malts
« Reply #5 on: September 05, 2011, 09:32:34 am »
Sparge water is its own issue and is not affected by the grain bill. 

Sparge water alkalinity should be brought down to around 20 ppm (as CaCO3).  Since the starting water alkalinity of various sources vary, the resulting target pH of the sparge water may vary.  For instance, a high alkalinity water might need to be brought down to a pH of 5.5 while a low alkalinity water may only need to be brought down to 6.0. 
Martin B
Carmel, IN

BJCP National
Foam Blowers of Indiana (FBI)

Brewing Water Information at:
https://www.brunwater.com/

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