Malt Freshness

[Owenbräu]

I am a big fan of Belgian and Trappist ales, and I have brewed many lodo. Pilsner base is my preference for them, and I believe a touch of pale malt is appropriate for more malt flavor. Munich and Vienna malts seems out of place to me. The lodo malt flavor is more than I am used to for Belgian beers, so I am inclined to restrain my malt preferences now. I prefer the Abbey, aromatic or melanoidin malts more than light or dark Munich. Interestingly, Belgian candy syrups taste much different now, and I don't think I like them much anymore either. The burnt sugar and marshmallow characters really come through strongly, and I don't care for that intense of a flavor anymore. It may be an interaction with the FWH too, and I may need to tweak the hops to compliment the syrups. I like dark caramunich and special B considerably more.

[Big Monk]

[Big Monk]

[lhommedieu]

Thank you for the malt analysis. How does one determine the Kolbach index?

[Big Monk]

[lhommedieu]

I did the same. One of the things that intrigued me when I visited the website is the implication that they will malt to the brewer's specifications. I wonder what the minimum order for that kind of thing would be?

[Big Monk]

[lhommedieu]

I just got an email from Adam at Pioneer Malting. He said that the Kolbach index was 35.

[Owenbräu]

[Big Monk]

I think the style I'm most excited about exploring in lodo space, besides lagers, is the Dubbel. I want to bring all the things I love about BDSA and Dubbel together in a 7%, 15-18 SRM Belgian Dark beer. For years I've been told that malt heavy Belgian beers "aren't right", "won't taste accurate" and "aren't traditional".

I will revel in combining Aromatic, CaraMunich and Special B together in the same recipe.

I'm also interested in a RIS lager.