Anyone Entering the NHC?

[Mase]

Congrats! And the beer sounds delicious as well.

 

[Nosybear]

Ooooh, I hope I can get to try that one. Bringing it to Providence? I'm not sure if I can judge or not, as I will be working at the Brewer's Friend booth on Thursday, speaking on Friday morning, etc, and I'm pretty sure that BF needs my presence more than the NHC final round. I will be there for the awards on Saturday though- maybe I can cheer for you!

I hadn't planned to go. Best I could do was a third place and I'm a bit piqued at the table assignments. I entered two beers in Catagory 27, both ended up elsewhere, my Piwo ended up in smoke flavored beers and the Ky. Common in American Brown and Amber. Hint, it's neither a brown nor an amber and will not do well competing against them. Czech lager ended up with all the Germans and the Pre-Prohibition pilsner.... Okay, what the heck does the National Homebrew Association publish those damned styles for if they're not going to use them? /* end rant */

 

[Nosybear]

What kind of beer is that?

Smoked wheat. Name's Polish: Means the beer of Grodzisk.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

I got one as well, my Piwo Grodziskie.

Took 1st in the Belgian Ale category in Milwaukee with a Belgian Blond.

Congrats to both of you. Are either one of you re-brewing the beer?

 

[Meatwad]

Congrats to both of you. Are either one of you re-brewing the beer?

I will be once I get the scoresheets back. I’ll probably re-brew at least twice to dial it in.

There’s none left of the original batch.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

I will be once I get the scoresheets back. I’ll probably re-brew at least twice to dial it in.

There’s none left of the original batch.

Ditto here as well. I plan on brewing the Kolsch with a decoction mash and one without to see if there is much of a difference.

 

[Nosybear]

Congrats to both of you. Are either one of you re-brewing the beer?

Will see how it scored and if there's a need. I have to brew it again anyway - a new brewery here in Denver wants to brew it.

 

[Meatwad]

Ditto here as well. I plan on brewing the Kolsch with a decoction mash and one without to see if there is much of a difference.

Tbh, throw in a few oz of melanoidin and it'll get you there without the decoction.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Tbh, throw in a few oz of melanoidin and it'll get you there without the decoction.

I know a lot of people swear by it, but I don't like the flavor of that malt. If I decoct, it doesn't have that weird malty character to it. Or maybe it just me.

I want to turn that beer into an experiment anyway, I'll decoct one and the other I'm going to try to lowering my hot side aeration on another, both will be treated as best I can to lower cold side aeration. It's always a long shot at nationals, but at least I'll have 10 gallons of delicious beer for summer. When it's brewed correctly, it's hard to beat a nice Kolsch.

 

[Nosybear]

Tbh, throw in a few oz of melanoidin and it'll get you there without the decoction.

No, I've tried that. I find melanoidin tastes like ball point pen ink. It may help darker styles but it destroys light beer. One thing on the decoction though: Find the least modified malt you can. The Bohemian floor malted malt from Weyermann is less modified than their Pilsner but still, if you can find a craft maltster nearby with an undermodified malt, that stuff makes decoction sing!

 

[ChicoBrewer]

We are not worthy.

 

[Nosybear]

We are not worthy.

Que?

 

[Meatwad]

No, I've tried that. I find melanoidin tastes like ball point pen ink. It may help darker styles but it destroys light beer. One thing on the decoction though: Find the least modified malt you can. The Bohemian floor malted malt from Weyermann is less modified than their Pilsner but still, if you can find a craft maltster nearby with an undermodified malt, that stuff makes decoction sing!

To each their own. It only takes a few oz in a 5-gal batch to get the result you need.

 

[ChicoBrewer]

Que?

Just saying that us rookies can learn a lot from the expertise here on the site.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

The Bohemian floor malted malt from Weyermann is less modified than their Pilsner

I have both, the Bohemian malt has a stronger flavor than their pilsner, maybe I'll blend them.

 

[Head First]

To each their own. It only takes a few oz in a 5-gal batch to get the result you need.

Just saying that us rookies can learn a lot from the expertise here on the site.

As a semi rookie I have found most all speciality malts need to be lightly added (Canadian honey malt, Breiss xtra special, melanoidin,etc).
That being said "what does a ball point pen ink taste like? I really don't want to do a taste test. To much Melanoidin in a recipe as a comparison? Ben there, yucky.

 

[Nosybear]

It requires a bit of imagination.

 

[Yooper]

I rarely do decoctions, but I do them when I think the style can benefit from them. I tried melanoidin malt, but it's not the same. It's not "ball point pen ink" to me, but it's weirdly overly sweet/malty but not sweet in the finish. I also don't like honey malt, so it's likely just me.
I do use Munich II when I want a stronger malt aroma (not all that often), and I like that and it's been argued that melanoidin and Munich II are very much the same, so there you go.

 

[Nosybear]

I rarely do decoctions, but I do them when I think the style can benefit from them. I tried melanoidin malt, but it's not the same. It's not "ball point pen ink" to me, but it's weirdly overly sweet/malty but not sweet in the finish. I also don't like honey malt, so it's likely just me.
I do use Munich II when I want a stronger malt aroma (not all that often), and I like that and it's been argued that melanoidin and Munich II are very much the same, so there you go.

I use Munich II frequently and find it doesn't have that melanoidin flavor, the one you describe as "overly sweet/malty" and I describe as ball-point pen ink. I could see "raisiny, but not in a good way" as the flavor I'm describing so I think we're converging on the fact that melanoidin, at least in light colored beers, is not a good thing. By the same token, I wouldn't use Munich II in a light beer recipe.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

I wouldn't use Munich II in a light beer recipe.

It's kind of funny, but melanoidin malt is up to 30L in color, so in light beers it should be used sparingly so the color doesn't get away from you. Ironically if you use Munich I (7-8L) or II (8-10L) it will add a little more flavor without a lot of color. The other option Vienna malt (3-4L), it can added up to 25% without a lot of addition color. It's way of adding subtle malt character without too much trouble or color.