Keldling Brew A Tale of a Journey on The Path of Learning by Trial and Fear to Brew a Beer.
Contents 100% Munich Malt ? Appendix - Beer Color Chart Appendix - Beer Tasting Log
100% Munich Malt ? Munich malt seems to have many usages: "5–10% Munich malt contributes plenty of character to most ales" "use 10–30% of the grist for dark beers and bocks" "Can be used for up to 60% of the total malt in the brew" "Can be used for up to 100 % of the total malt in the brew" [R1] [R2] [R3] [R4] Munich malt has been made with a high kilning temperature adding color, aroma and body, but at the cost of less surviving enzymes. Enzymes are needed during mashing to break malt starks into sugar and sugar is needed by the yeast to produce alchohol. Munich malt supposedly has an enzymes level (diastatic power) so low, that it only just can convert its own starks to sugar. In other words munich malt hasn't got much extra power to help other malts (with a lower diastatic power), which might explain why some don't consider Munich a base malt. When Munich malt is added a(nother) base malt, it is said to add body and taste of malt and caramel. On that note it would be nice to try that taste - on its own. This is a brewing experiment with the purpose of getting to know the characteristics of Munich malt. The beer produced might teach us to recognize Munich malt in beers and maybe even to value it enough to let it find its way to our own brews.
Mashing Variations To test the Munich malt 2 worts were made: The 1st was made with a mashing temperature of 64 degress Celsius. The 2nd was made with a mashing temperature of 68 degress Celsius. The idea behind this variation is to have the enzymes in the Munich malt work differently. The 64 wort should become more clear (less haze) and sweet than the 68 wort. The 68 wort should become stronger and with more body than the 64 wort. In practice other things might happen. The brewing happened as follows: Water heated to to 64 or 68 degrees Celsius. 8 kilos of English Munich Malt (10-15 EBC) added during 10-15 minutes. Circulation running during 1 hour mashing. Water heated to 78 degrees Celsius during 10-15 minutes before mashout. Wort set to boil for 1 hour with 33 grams of East Kent Golding hops. Another 33 grams added after 30 minutes of boiling. Another 33 grams and 10 grams of Irish Moss added after 45 minutes. Wort chilled. The hops contains around 5% alpha acids, so the bitter hops should add around half a gram of alpha acids (30[%] * 5[%] * 33[g]), the taste hops adds half of that and the aroma hops adds a quarter of that. In total about 0.87 grams of alpha acids may end up in the beer.
The 64 wort became 22.5 liters, so its bitterness landed on approximately 38-39 IBU (1000[mg/g] * 0.87[g] / 22.5[l] = 38.5[mg/l]). A whole liter more of the 68 wort made that land on 37 IBU, so they both should have a bitternes similar to a standard pilzner. The original gravity ended at 1.058 for the 64 wort and 1.068 for the 68 wort, so the higher mashing temperature definitely gave it more body. If the 68 wort also was 22.5 liter its specific gravity would be higher. Fermentation Variations To test the Munich malt even further each wort was split in 3 tanks - each one getting a different kind of Mangroove Jack dry yeast: UK Dark Ale (M03). US West Coast (M44). French Saison (M29). UK Dark Ale (M03). Full, rich dark fruit. Floc.: Medium. Att.: Medium. [R5] US West Coast (M44). Clean. Floc.: 4/5. Att.: 77-85%. [R6] French Saison (M29). Spicy, fruity and pepper. Floc.: 3/5. Att.: 85-90%. [R7] These 3 different yeasts should turn the wort into 3 different beers... ... or at least beers with 3 different alcohol levels (attenuation differs). Does yeast really add taste? Find out, we shall.
After 2 one week fermentations the 6 different brews reached the following final gravities (FG) and alcohol percentages (ABV): 64 wort with UK Dark Ale (M03) reached 5.6% alcohol (OG 1.058, FG 1.016). 68 wort with UK Dark Ale (M03) reached 6.1% alcohol (OG 1.068, FG 1.022). 64 wort with US West Coast (M44) reached 6.2% alcohol (OG 1.058, FG 1.011). 68 wort with US West Coast (M44) reached 7.5% alcohol (OG 1.068, FG 1.012). 64 wort with French Saison (M29) reached 7.3% alcohol (OG 1.058, FG 1.003). 68 wort with French Saison (M29) reached 8.4% alcohol (OG 1.068, FG 1.005). In general the 68 wort becomes stronger than the 64 wort. It also ends up with a higher density, which could mean that it also ends up with more sugar. The M03 yeast had an apparent attenuation of 72% for the 64 wort, but only 68% for the 68 wort. Oddly, M44 only reached 58% for the 64 wort and 82% for the 68 wort. M29 got 95% and 93% apparent attenuation, so that beer might not be too sweet. [R8] A possible explanation to this is alpha vs beta amylase. At 68 degrees alpha amylase is dominant and it produces long sugar chains. Apparently M03 is slow to to eat these, but M44 is not. At 64 degrees beta amylase is dominant and it produces short sugar chains. M03 seems to like those and M44 doesn't. M29 seems to break and eat all kinds of sugar. Warning! Only 2 weeks of fermentation is rather short, so a lot of fermentable sugar may still be available in the brew. If the brew is bottled with extra sugar e.g. 5 grams per liter, it might turn into beer bombs. It might sound exciting, but the cleaning is not... not at all.
Tasting the 6 beers Beer evaluation is a discipline to learn - and I haven't - yet. Appearance of a beer seems reasonable to figure out. Color can be estimated with a [R9] Beer Color Chart. Level of clarity, amount of sediments and different head properties are also parts of a beer's appearance. We can try to measure these properties or simply give our opinions about them relative to what we think is normal. Aroma and Flavor of a beer seems harder to figure out. Let's say that we, after some discussion, can agree on bitterness or sourness. However, identifying a smell from a certain flower or fruit, and knowing what malt, hop or yeast it comes from is whole other ball game. After some searching on tasting wheels/forms I have settled on this [R10] Beer Tasting Log. It is usable by most, since it doesn't try to identify the origin of an Aroma or Flavor. The form uses ratings relative to normality of a beer type. This is of course highly individual, unless, the individual has in-depth beer knowledge and some tasting training. My lovely wife helped me taste the 6 different beers and here are the forms: UK Dark Ale (M03). [R11-R14] 64(Grith) 64(Keld) 68(Grith) 68(Keld) [R15-R18] US West Coast (M44). 64(Grith) 64(Keld) 68(Grith) 68(Keld) [R19-R22] French Saison (M29). 64(Grith) 64(Keld) 68(Grith) 68(Keld)
So how does Munich malt taste in a beer? We wrote bread, nutt, toffee or caramel. I think that is as close as we get. Grith mentioned roast/smoke and an unidentified sweet taste. Interesting. I wonder if I expect roast/smoke so much that I didn't notice it. The unidentified sweetness is ... well ...unidentified ... for now. So how does East Kent Golding hops taste in a beer? Assuming that hops - alone - brings the rest of the common notes recorded, we are left with spicy/pepper, citrus/floral and metallic. Hah! That is what google says! ... or almost at least. If we say that metallic stands for bitterness we are good. What about the 3 different yeasts? The easy part here is to verify sweet vs. dry in relation to attenuation. M03 with lowest attenuation left a lot of sugars behind in the beers, so the carbonation became tingling and the head bloating. Sweetness was rated from little to much. In contrast M64 with highest attenuation had less carbonation problems, less sweetness and even got tagged with alcohol once. M44 produced something inbetween, except it made head medium and creamy. Why? The hard part is to describe the notes that yeast brings to the beer. M03 should bring full, rich dark fruit. We noted honey, winegum and the unidentified sweetness once, but I don't think we can conclude anything from it. Citrus is consistently circled, so there is some overlap with the hops. M44 should give room for malt and hops. We found the beer from this yeast most bitter and it was consistently circled with metallic. Interesting enough it was also marked with leather and orange/grapefruit/lemon. I can't say if these tastes origin from the yeast or it just gives more room to the malt and hops. M29 should add spicy, fruity and pepper to the beer. Thanks a lot! We already have those! The taste forms don't show it, but this yeast adds more of those notes. It is also needed to compete with the alcohol. Strangely, we found a taste of bacon in the 64 degrees brew, but not in the 68 degrees brew! Otherwise, we once noted ester and unidentied sweetness for this yeast. What else? The tasting was done after about 5 months of storage. The yeast taste seems to have weakened much over time. I missed the early complexity of M29 a bit. The beers also had an early sourness that I didn't miss at all. It was in all the variations, so I wonder where it originated from. The 64 vs 68 degrees malting variations drowned a bit in the yeast variations. From this experiment the effect was visible from the gravities and alcohol percentages, but I could not use the tasting forms to derive anything related to malting temperature. In any case I am sure I have a better chance to recognize Munich malt in beers now. Maybe in the future when I taste a brew, I will think "this just needs some Münich malt". I have since served it side-by-side with 100% Pale malt beer without seperating the crowd.
References [R1] https://www.morebeer.com/articles/using_munich_malt [R2] http://byo.com/hops/item/1556-using-munich-vienna-malts-tips-from-the-pros [R3] http://www.brewolution.com/index.php/en/products/ingredients/grain [R4] http://www.haandbryg.dk/klumme/Noget%20om%20malt.htm [R5] http://www.homebrewing.org /Mangrove-Jacks-Newcastle-Dark-Ale-M03-Dried-Yeast-_p_4241.html [R6] http://mangrovejacks.com/collections/craft-series-yeasts/products /u-s-west-coast-yeast-10g-coming-soon [R7] http://mangrovejacks.com/products/m29-french-sasion-yeast-10-g [R8] http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/12/20 /mash-temperature-and-beer-body-in-all-grain-brewing/ [R9] https://keldling.github.io/brew/#appendix_beer_color_chart [R10] https://keldling.github.io/brew/#appendix_beer_tasting_log [R11] https://keldling.github.io/brew/images/tasting /KeldlingBryg-100Munich64EKGM03UKDA-Grith.JPG [R12] https://keldling.github.io/brew/images/tasting /KeldlingBryg-100Munich64EKGM03UKDA-Keld.JPG [R13] https://keldling.github.io/brew/images/tasting /KeldlingBryg-100Munich68EKGM03UKDA-Grith.JPG [R14] https://keldling.github.io/brew/images/tasting /KeldlingBryg-100Munich68EKGM03UKDA-Keld.JPG [R15] https://keldling.github.io/brew/images/tasting /KeldlingBryg-100Munich64EKGM44USWC-Grith.JPG [R16] https://keldling.github.io/brew/images/tasting /KeldlingBryg-100Munich64EKGM44USWC-Keld.JPG [R17] https://keldling.github.io/brew/images/tasting /KeldlingBryg-100Munich68EKGM44USWC-Grith.JPG [R18] https://keldling.github.io/brew/images/tasting /KeldlingBryg-100Munich68EKGM44USWC-Keld.JPG [R19] https://keldling.github.io/brew/images/tasting /KeldlingBryg-100Munich64EKGM29FS-Grith.JPG [R20] https://keldling.github.io/brew/images/tasting /KeldlingBryg-100Munich64EKGM29FS-Keld.JPG [R21] https://keldling.github.io/brew/images/tasting /KeldlingBryg-100Munich68EKGM29FS-Grith.JPG [R22] https://keldling.github.io/brew/images/tasting /KeldlingBryg-100Munich68EKGM29FS-Keld.JPG
SRM EBC/2 image/svg+xml BEER COLOR CHART YELLOW STRAW AMBER GOLD COPPER BROWN BLACK 2 4 6 9 14 19 17 40 30 DEEP AMBER / LIGHT COPPER DEEP COPPER / LIGHT BROWN 22 35 BLACK / OPAQUE VERY DARK BROWN DARK BROWN 10 18 SRM (Standard Reference Method) or EBC (European Brewery Convention) are 2 units for measuring beer color (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_measurement#Colour). This chart has been put together from public information in the 2008 BJCP Style Guidelines (http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/styleintro.php) and the BJCP Color Guide (http://www.bjcp.org/colorguide.php). SRM or EBC/2 Version 1.1 Keldling Brew A Tale of a Journey on The Path of Learning by Trial and Fear to Brew a Beer https://keldling.github.io/brew/
image/svg+xml BEER TASTING LOG LOOK DATE: BEER: ALC. / IBU/...: TYPE: PERSON: EVENT: Straw / Yellow / Gold / Amber / Copper / Brown / Black SIZE: CLARITY: Crystal / Haze / Opaque Head COLOR: LONGEVITY: None / Little / Medium / Big / Bloated None / Light / Natural / Dark None / Evaporating / Dimishing / Lasting DENSITY: None / Creamy / Soapy / Bubbly Body COLOR: SEDIMENT: None / Few / Some / Lots Comments: VISCOSITY: Thin / Normal / Thick CARBONATION: None / Flat / Normal / Tingling / Fizzy AROMA & FLAVOR SMELL: None / Weak / Normal / Strong / Extreme MOUTHFEEL: None / Weak / Normal / Strong / Extreme TASTE: None / Weak / Normal / Strong / Extreme AFTERTASTE: None / Weak / Normal / Strong / Extreme Power Comments: Notes Basics SWEETNESS: None / Little / Some / Much / Extreme BITTERNESS: None / Little / Some / Much / Extreme SOURNESS: None / Little / Some / Much / Extreme SALTINESS: None / Little / Some / Much / Extreme UMAMI: None / Little / Some / Much / Extreme Please mark with cirles ! Please mark with squares (aroma) and circles (flavor) ! Biscuit Bread Dough Crackers Caramel Toffee Toast Nutt Smoke Coffee Chocolate Licorice Roasty Citrus Piney Herbal Resiny Tropical Fruit Wood Pepper Earth Floral Mint Grass Spicy Grapefruit Grape Gooseberry Lemon Clove Banana Apple Vinegar Almond Leather Dark Fruit Barnyard Leaf Ester Alcohol Metallic Grain Honey Rice Corn Orange LOOK (1-10): AROMA (1-10): FLAVOR (1-10): TOTAL (1-10): BREWERY: Keldling Brew Version 1.1 A Tale of a Journey on The Path of Learning by Trial and Fear to Brew a Beer https://keldling.github.io/brew/