Carafa III vs. Carafa III Special

[Beer-lord]

Anyone ever actually tasted the difference between CIII and CIII Special? I've used both, though only in amounts of 8 oz or less. It's said the Special is smoother and a bit less roasty while the regular can be more bitter and acrid. I've never noticed it.
Further, I've read that the deshusked isn't as dark due to the lack of roasting the husk. I doubt I could tell the difference.
I'm doing a black IPA and have used CIII once and loved it and used CIII Special once and missed some roastiness in the beer though the actual recipe calls for special. I'm thinking of splitting this 50/50 this time to see how that works out.

[Inkleg]

Nothing to add here, haven't tasted the CIII Special. Let us know what you do and how it turns out.

[MadBrewer]

I always thought Carafa was Carafa and that all of it was Dehusked. Apparently, it's the Carafa Special that is Dehusked, leading to a milder, mellower roast character. I made a Southern Brown Ale once that was supposed to be like a bigger version of a Dark Mild. It called for .25 or .5 lbs of Carafa Special, well I used the regular Carafa and it turned out a lot roastier than it was meant to be. To me, instead of a Brown Ale it came out like a small Porter. It wasn't bad, just not what I was shooting for. So yeah, I have had similar results as you and there is definitely a difference.

[Beer-lord]

My LHBS tells me if you just ask for CIII, you're likely to get the dehusked most of the time and that's what they use.
I think I'll use 50/50.....regular/dehusked and give that a try. Actually, I prefer a roaster black IPA so I don't think I can go wrong.

[Rebel_B]

I haven't had the Carafa special, but in recent brews I have been using Briess Blackprinz[emoji768] malt. Seems to be just a wee bit smoother than the Carafa; IMHO.

[Beer-lord]

Midnight Wheat is another nice, black malt which adds very little bittering or acidic character.

[Kealia]

It's said the Special is smoother and a bit less roasty

There's your answer.

[Foothiller]

Like Beer-lord, I have had good results with Midnight Wheat -- in my case, selected because it was there at the LHBS that I use most frequently. Unfortunately they stopped carrying it, so I'll need to look elsewhere or use a different option.