I'm done with dark beers!

[FedoraDave]

Or, more specifically, I'm done with chocolate malt. Or something. I dunno. I'm just really, really frustrated with the fact that every recipe I use that has chocolate malt in it results in gushers.

I know Palmer says that gushers are most likely a result of poor sanitation. But I follow the same procedures for every batch, and still get gushers. And always with the recipes using chocolate malt. So unless my sanitation procedures suck ONLY for the batches using chocolate malt, something else is up.

Gymrat posted a link about gushers being a result of grain that's been harvested when wet. And I suppose that my chocolate malt may have been so affected. And since most of the time when I use it, I only use a small amount, and I have to buy by the pound, I'm using the same stuff in multiple recipes. Sadly, there's no real way for me to trace this. I don't even know what company this was. My LHBS carries a couple different suppliers of grain.

But this is driving me crazy. I feel like I can't trust chocolate malt anymore.

[Gymrat]

Try buying some chocolate malt from a different source and brew with that. I have a really difficult time believing roasting a malt a particular way would have this effect. Also I use chocolate malt in a lot of my beers and have not experienced this.

[Tabasco]

I'm pretty much done with choc malt for a different reason. After three or four years, I've finally realized that I don't like it.


I brew awesome stouts now that are just roasted (black) malt of one type or another, base grain, and hops. mmmmmm



I'm getting away from brown ales. Too finnicky tweeking the recipe. pfffftttt.

[joechianti]

I never thought I'd say this, but it seems safer now. I've been hooked on heavy dark brown and black beers, but lately I've been interested in lightening things up a bit. At least now I know I'm in good company.

[Gymrat]

I love my brown ales and I don't think a decent one can be brewed without chocolate malt. And honestly I have never had any issues with it. It is just another way of roasting barley.

[philm00x]

I'm thinkin maybe it's just that batch of chocolate malt ya got, Dave. I've used it before in my Mr. Rufus Choco Brown and didn't have any gushers.

[Brewbirds]

I posted on another thread about not liking any of the beers I've done with chocolate. And I didn't like one I bought from a micro because that was all I could taste.
It just won't mellow out if you get to much and for us in LBK size batches that is only partial ounces. It is just to intense.

[Tabasco]

I even tried putting a little lactose in one of my browns that had a little choc malt in it .... to try and "cream things out" with a little unfermentable sugar. It didn't make a diff .... the choc is just so strong. I'm thinkin' maybe if I do a brown again, I'll use just a trace of choc, say 1/8 oz in 5 gal batch, and use just brown malt for the color.

Eh, why am I spouting? There's lots of brown recipes on the net I haven't tried, so maybe I should get more into recipes if I want to try a brown again.

But, for now, they're off my menu.

[RickBeer]

I used Pale Chocolate in my Moosedrool and it's fine.

[Brewbirds]

Well I was gonna start a beer rant thread today once I catch with unread posts but if I rant here it might make The Hat feel better.

Just had to dump our SNPA kinda clone kinda (where does my brother get these beer names from ) batch today.

Finally got my first bottles bomb the other day, the bottom of the bottle separated so cleanly that when I fit the two pieces back together you couldn't see a seam, so I thought at the time it was a bad bottle. The sample on bottling day was awesome, no flaws at all at the time.

I moved all the others into my Bomb Squad just to be on the safe side and sure enough two more late Saturday night and another this morning. Man that sure freaks the dogs out.

So I put my bottle bomb suit back on and went through the oh so scary task of uncapping the rest.

The first bomb went off after only 4 days in the bottle.

I, like you Dave, feel like the sanitation/sterilization processes we have in place on brew day could not get any tighter. We used a mini sugar cube to bottle prime so there is no question of over carbing, it had to be infection.

You should tell the guys you bought the chocolate from. Seems to me they or the Maltsters owe you a few batches of beer.

Anyway my sad beer story/rant is now over. for listening er reading.

[Gizmo]

I use chocolate malt in numerous recipes without issue. I'm a big brown/stout/porter fan, hard to avoid the malt making those styles. I agree with trying a new company next time you go for a recipe with it, before writing it off completely.

[FedoraDave]

Yeah, I was just having a temper tantrum.

I didn't track any one particular package of chocolate malt, but most of the time, even in darker styles, I don't use an entire pound, so there had to be overlap with the problematic package. There was even a California Common that had just a touch of chocolate malt in it that had gushers. And the Trilby Brown Ale and 'NillaMilk Stout -- fuhgeddaboudit.

I'll keep trying to perfect my Trilby recipe, but I'll be sure to keep a closer eye on the chocolate malt supply, and if I get gushers, I guess I'll just toss the remaining grains rather than risk it in another batch.

[BigPapaG]

Yeah Dave, I think it's better to toss suspect grains...

I just dumped about $10 of old ones, opened, used some, sealed as best as I could but stilll...

They had about a year on them (oh the horror of it all!)

Yet still, rather than use them and risk a $20-30 batch (or worse on a really big, complex beer), I'ld rather lose the $10 worth of suspect grains.

[mashani]

I like my British chocolate malt. I'm not so much of a fan of the American stuff. The British stuff is darker, yet it is smoother to my tastes.

[Yankeedag]

I really should make another stout.. really... I should... um, maybe later