What are you drinking right now?

Herm brews said:
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I read that roasted barley can be an acrid bitter, and that didn’t sound appealing, so I went with an alternative, Chocolate Wheat.
I made my own recipe for an American Stout based on recommendations found in research, and it checks the boxes on the recipe builder. I wanted to build a beer I could call my own. One point was not to use too many different ingredients, and a roast bomb was not my intention. I would recommend trying chocolate wheat in place of all or some RB sometime. But then I’ve never used RB in any recipe, tmk.
My wife called an earlier batch of this stout Cascadian Dark Ale (CDA). I would not be offended if someone else called it the same.
Meanwhile, my AC Pale Ale is drinking nicely on the porch.
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I'm sure it's not for everyone, but I love Roasted Barley. I certainly don't get "acrid" from it at all, though I can understand the bitter description. Not a harsh bitterness, but something that leads to a kind of crisp dryness. Anyway, I usually compensate for that by aiming towards the lower end of style IBU's, a conservative "top-of-the-boil" addition.

What I do get form Roasted Barley is a very nice, smooth roastiness. But roast is exactly what I am after in my Stout, so there's that.

I'll keep Chocolate Wheat in mind and also Chocolate Rye, another malt that I've heard a lot of positives about.
 
I have some roasted barley, but I don't like porters & stouts.
What else could I use it for? Irish Red?
 
Megary said:
I'm sure it's not for everyone, but I love Roasted Barley. I certainly don't get "acrid" from it at all, though I can understand the bitter description. Not a harsh bitterness, but something that leads to a kind of crisp dryness. Anyway, I usually compensate for that by aiming towards the lower end of style IBU's, a conservative "top-of-the-boil" addition.

What I do get form Roasted Barley is a very nice, smooth roastiness. But roast is exactly what I am after in my Stout, so there's that.

I'll keep Chocolate Wheat in mind and also Chocolate Rye, another malt that I've heard a lot of positives about.
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Same I love roasted barley I add it to Irish a Scottish beers and 10% in stouts. Everyone has different tastes for sure
 
Megary said:
I'm sure it's not for everyone, but I love Roasted Barley. I certainly don't get "acrid" from it at all, though I can understand the bitter description. Not a harsh bitterness, but something that leads to a kind of crisp dryness. Anyway, I usually compensate for that by aiming towards the lower end of style IBU's, a conservative "top-of-the-boil" addition.

What I do get form Roasted Barley is a very nice, smooth roastiness. But roast is exactly what I am after in my Stout, so there's that.

I'll keep Chocolate Wheat in mind and also Chocolate Rye, another malt that I've heard a lot of positives about.
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I like my recipe and want to keep it the way it is. But I am open to new things, so somewhere down the line I will brew a proper stout using roasted barley.
 
Zambezi Special said:
I have some roasted barley, but I don't like porters & stouts.
What else could I use it for? Irish Red?
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You don't like Stouts and Porters?! What do you drink by the fireplace when the Zambezi has frozen over and the snow is piling up outside?

Yeah, a smidge in an Irish Red for a bit of coloring. I can see RB also being used in a Wee Heavy, maybe sprinkled into an English Brown or Dark Mild. But really, Roasted Barley = Stout, at least to me. :)
 
Herm brews said:
I like my recipe and want to keep it the way it is. But I am open to new things, so somewhere down the line I will brew a proper stout using roasted barley.
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Absolutely! We all brew what we like, the way we like it. And I'm not sure about "proper", because there are many different styles of Stouts, and I pretty much like them all. For my house Stout, I just like to make it dry and roasty so I use Roasted Barley. Not trying to be gospel, so apologies if I came off that way.
 
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When in Rome! Haha
Fantastic!
 
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Herm brews said:
I like my recipe and want to keep it the way it is. But I am open to new things, so somewhere down the line I will brew a proper stout using roasted barley.
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I like some dryness in stout but am open to this idea having just nicely brewed my first wheat beer last year and enjoyed it, particularly the texture. Glad it has worked for you and the dryness in stout may be something that you naturally veer towards over time. My tastes have certainly varied much more than I ever expected during the last couple of years. I would say definitely one to try on your new brewer's club as you never know where it may lead.
 
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Right on cue; my West Coast Wheat. ABV: 4.5%. 7 months old (bottle). Significant improvement in the carbonation over the two months since I tried the previous. Very similar to the result from the more recent keg so I'll continue to split future batches between those. I find it a bit bloaty so it is one for a single glass in future. Another nice option to add to my increasingly eclectic range:)
 
This,
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And 1 will do. 9.5%. Woohooo! This is golden Belgian Tripple.

Very malty, perhaps a little too sweet or not quite enough bitterness to offset the malt, but the strong alcohol kinda ruins why I like to try different things. Not unlike the bitterness of Guinness Stout putting me off for the opposite side of the IBU/FG curve. Dunno what they did to get 9.5%, but it tastes every bit 9.5, and maybe more.

Next up, Back Forty Naked Pig or a Chill Pils. That may be my limit tonight.
 
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