I’m having trouble getting carafa special III locally and I’m about to brew a Schwarzbier. My LHBS has de-bittered black malt but I’ve never used it. Obviously don’t want the roasty flavors or bitterness in this beer. Anyone used the debittered black that can ease my mind on this?
I believe when we did a 15 gallon dark wheat, we used de-bittered malt… I couldn’t find that bitter coffee notes in that brew… I put down on my notes if I didn’t see it, there is no way to tell its a dark brew… Very dark… I tell you to go with it! Sneezles61
The guy that owns our local homebrew store absolutely loves midnight wheat. He feels that some of these other supposedly less bitter products can still come out bitter if enough is used.
I’ve used it twice now and it gave a deep black color without any roasted bitter taste.
I considered that one. I’ve heard good things about it but my concern was that the wheat would add that full mouthfeel that’s not consistent with the style. Maybe I’m over thinking it.
If you’re concerned about the bitterness, you can grind it to a powder and toss it in the last 5 minutes of the mash. Or toss a bit of powdered black malt right in the boil, it’ll give you a lot more color that way with less total malt, so less bitterness.
Perhaps just do a mini mash and taste it… See if its bitter or not? Sneezles61
I second the midnight wheat suggestion. I was turned on to that by a professional that used it in a recipe I provided (basically Denny’s Waldo Lake Amber). It was the prize for a win in a local competition.
If you are using the Carafa III just for color adjustment another option would be Sinamar. It’s an extract from Weyemann made from Carafa. It’s used to adjust color without adding flavor or body. Check it out and see if it will work for you.
https://www.weyermann.de/eng/gelbe_Seiten_en.asp?snr=1&idkat=1023&umenue=yes&idmenue=37&sprache=2
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I’ve been trying to think of the name of that for days…tip of the tongue thing…Thanks!
I’ve bought some sinamar just can’t find a use for it. I thought maybe a nice refreshing black American lager to confuse people.
I got midnight wheat. 550lv I can use just enough to get the dark color I want and I’ll probably just add it the stir it in gently at the end of the mash.
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I’ve used it for a couple of brews… nothing bitter there… I did use it in conjunction with white wheat so couldn’t say IF it was good for head retention tho… Sneezles61
