I want to add just a little smoked malt to an Alt. How much should I add to have just a hint of smoke? I don’t want a Rauchbier that looks like an Alt. Would I be better off adding a few drops of liquid smoke to the keg?
About 5% will put you at the limit of being able to taste it IME. For a “hint” I’d use about 10-15%.
DO NOT use liquid smoke. I don’t know if it’s because alcohol enhances it or what, but in beer it tastes absolutely vile.
Thanks! I think I’ll go 10% and see what happens. Thanks for talking me out of the liquid smoke. I’ve never liked the stuff and have the same bottle of it that I bought 5 years ago! Ain’t nothing like the real thing right?
It’s definitely better to start out on the light side with smoked malt. You can always change your recipe for next time, but it’s much better to drink a beer with too little smoke than one with too much. I think 10% is quite noticeable.
The amount of smoke you get will really depend on which variety of smoked malt you use.
Beechwood smoked
Cherry smoked
Peat smoked
I prefer beechwood personnaly
IME cherry smoked has a stronger smoke flavor then beechwood
Peat smoked has a very strong smoke flavor, i am not a fan of it.
Good point. I should have mentioned that I was talking about beechwood, specifically Warminster, since that’s all I’ve used. (Although I’m brewing a cherrywood porter tomorrow.)
