BlackSands Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 I have some milled grains... 6kg in fact of an unknown blend. It was a bill milled in error at the store. When I inquired about it about a week after it was milled the young lad responsible couldn't remember what the recipe was. It was going to be thrown out but I grabbed it thinking I could make something drinkable from it! What I've decided to do is split the bill into 3 x 2kg lots and use each one in a brew using my usual partial-mash approach - i.e. paired up with a Coopers OS lager can. I've got 2 x 2kg bags in the freezer and the other I'll probably brew tomorrow. I know the bulk of the grain is obviously a base malt... probably pale ale, but there could also be vienna, munich or whatever else in there too. Who knows? I can see a dark crystal-like malt too... perhaps caraaroma, special W or something similar? There's also a very dark grain which I am pretty sure is roasted barley. However, I don't think this was a bill intended for a porter or stout as I just don't think there's enough dark grains in the mix for that. Probably a dark beer more in the colour range of a dark amber or brown ale I'm guessing. Anyway... I'm just wondering what three beers to brew with this unknown grain bill? I obviously won't get a real idea of the actual colour until I've brewed the first one but I'll assume it's going to be reasonably dark so maybe brew with the likes of Brown ales, Brown IPAs etc in mind perhaps.... should be interesting either way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spudley Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 All of that unknown grain , Will prob end up with the best brew you have ever done and will never be able to replicate. Can see the brew name right now. The Great Unknown Lagale Good luck Cheers Spud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Captain!! Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Yep. My best kit based beer was something I threw together. Had no idea what was in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSands Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 I'm mashing the first 2kg of this unknown grain bill now. I was completely wrong about colour and what the bill was probably intended for. The mash is as black as tar! Probably was a stout or similar though I often see a generous amount of oats used in stouts and porters. I will of course be 'diluting' this grain bill by half because I'm essentially making up the other half with light LME. I'll just call it a "Dark Ale" I think and dose it up with some fuggles and/or goldings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowbrew Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Very interesting, any updates on this brew Ian? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSands Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 On 2/21/2019 at 12:02 PM, Rowbrew said: Very interesting, any updates on this brew Ian? Sampled the first bottle about a 5 days ago... it'd been in bottle about two weeks so still very young! As mentioned it's as black a tar and I incorrectly said I was 'diluting' by half but in fact I realise I only used 1/3 of the grain intended for a full batch! I have a hunch now that the possible error in the milling may well have been way too much roasted barley added to the grain bill. Dunno for sure... but if it's this dark at 1/3 then I can only imagine what it would have been like if it was brewed as the full 6kg AG batch! Anyway... first tasting wasn't anything special, quite drinkable but nothing to get to excited about at this early stage. The taste is certainly at odds with the colour though which is more suggestive of a strong, roasty porter or stout but it's actually quite light on the palate I found - more like a brown ale perhaps in terms of flavour and definitely lacking the body and mouthfeel that I would normally associate with a stout. Mind you, that could in part be a function of the relatively low mash temp I used and high attenuating M42 yeast. I actually thought the recipe could work well as a Schwarzbier and as I still have 2 x 2kg bags of this unknown grain bill left I may well give that idea a try. I have the remaining milled grain in the freezer so hopefully it will still be in good shape when I eventually get round to doing the next brew. Meanwhile, I'll give this one a bit more time before I dive in for another assessment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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