Smoked beer

[EvanAltman36]

Okay, so I really enjoyed Sam Adams Bonfire when it was included in their Fall sampler last year or a couple years back. With that in mind, I wanted to try to replicate some of that same flavor of that for a nice Fall beer. I'm still pretty new at this and I'm an extract brewer, so I'm interested in any advice people can offer on this. I have seen the comments urging the use of light extract vs. Munich and that has been duly noted (though not changed in the recipe yet). I want the smoked flavor front and center, so I guess that's the main thing I'm looking for advice on.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... -rauchbier

 

[LarryBrewer]

Oop, recipe is not shared. Recipe Editor, Recipe Tools -> Share.

 

[EvanAltman36]

Argh, sorry about that:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... -rauchbier

 

[chessking]

The 2 lbs of smoke malt will give a noticeable, but not too strong smoke presence, but not up to Rauchbier standards. I have found that one pound is not enough to even notice in the average beer, but two is about right.
as far as a proper Rauchbier is concerned, I use 7 lbs smoke malt in my recipe, and the smoke is quite strong.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... /rauchbier

One thing to note, if you plan to use German smoke malt in an extract batch, do a partial mash. Steep it with the specialty grains at conversion temperatures (148 to 158 F) for 30 min to an hour in a fairly turbid solution. Without conversion the Smoke malt will leave some starches that will effect flavor and clarity.

 

[EvanAltman36]

It's interesting that you say that, as a buddy of mine madea clone of Stone smoked porter and only used .5oz in a 2.5 gallon batch and you could pick up the smokiness. I'm doing an extract batch and was worried that 2lb would be overkill.

 

[chessking]

It's interesting that you say that, as a buddy of mine madea clone of Stone smoked porter and only used .5oz in a 2.5 gallon batch and you could pick up the smokiness. I'm doing an extract batch and was worried that 2lb would be overkill.

It may be for your taste. I can only speak to what I like, but I have a smoke Irish Red that I have increased the smoke malt to 2 lbs for 5 gal. 1 lb wasn't enough for my taste. Try it with one lb and see. You can always adjust it on the second batch.

 

[EvanAltman36]

I figured out what the deal was with my friend using only .5oz in a 2.5 gallon batch: he used peated malt! That was really gnawing at me, but it makes sense now. I've not used it before, but my understanding is that the peated malt is much more pungent than the typical smoked malts.