Purple Egyptian Barley Malt

[KC]

Anybody ever used this stuff? It's a blue hull-less barley that mashes pale.

I've got access to a version (obsidian) that's been developed, farmed, and malted all locally. I want to try a few recipes that feature it but not sure how the heck to use it. SMASH? Replace rye in my roggenbier? Replace wheat in my hefe? Something with African spices? Roast a portion of it? I can do up to three half-gallon test batches at a time.

 

[Nosybear]

If it's hull-less, don't forget the rice hulls!

 

[KC]

Sticking is never a problem with my BIAB setup. Filtering, however, is awful.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Sticking is never a problem with my BIAB setup. Filtering, however, is awful.

My 2c go a pale mash to bring out any color it may bring sounds pretty cool how is its diastic power for mashing?

 

[Nosybear]

My 2c go a pale mash to bring out any color it may bring sounds pretty cool how is its diastic power for mashing?

Makes sense in that respect. Never heard of hull-less barley, though! The main reason it's our brewing grain is the hulls.

 

[KC]

DP is 94 so it will self-convert but not much more.

I am curious if I can keep any of the color. I did a purple sweet potato beer once. The mash definitely had blue color but most of it was lost after a standard boil and it ended up a very pale pink. I've been doing much shorter boils lately, 20-30 minutes, so if blue is there at all maybe it will stay.

 

[GFHomebrew]

DP is 94 so it will self-convert but not much more.

I am curious if I can keep any of the color. I did a purple sweet potato beer once. The mash definitely had blue color but most of it was lost after a standard boil and it ended up a very pale pink. I've been doing much shorter boils lately, 20-30 minutes, so if blue is there at all maybe it will stay.

Well maybe a pils/ wheat / this base grain for an estimate then . CleArly it's uncharted territory only problem is mouthfeel maybe mash mid range to high use a clean Chico yeast too that way you know the malt flavour and color wise.

 

[KC]

I'm going off the board with a recipe concept:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/491714/egyptian-purple-obsidian
Included is a photo of the purple barley next to some pale malt.

I tasted the purple barley. It's hard like stones to chew and has a flavor I'm describing as 'primal.' I got a hunch feeling of Caribbean island so I grabbed some Mosaic for tropical fruit and Revolution for floral, and merged it with a sweet potato ginger beer that I've gotten pretty good at doing. Potato doesn't add much flavor and I think I can capture some purple color from it. Yeast is a tossup between Saison and Nottingham because that's what I have ready. I'm leaning towards Saison because fruity esters support the concept and I can temper them with a low primary temp.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

must be a test since its one gallon, good luck, I cant comment on one that has unknown ingredients to me

 

[KC]

Yeah it's a test batch, I've been doing a lot of those this year to try out unfamiliar ingredients. Actually, six hop trials, three historical beers, a peanut butter beer, a lemon beer, and this will be the eighth malt trial. Only one full size batch since last November, whoops!