exBEERiment | Roasted Grains: Carafa Special II vs. Chocolate Malt In A Schwarzbier

Author: Marshall Schott

Brewed in the Thuringia, Saxony, and Franconia regions of Germany with a documented history stretching all the way back to the 16th century, Schwarzbier’s likeness to squid ink is bound to confuse some lager lovers who expect such “black beer” to taste of coffee, chocolate, or ash. Fortunately, this is far from the case, as Schwarzbier is essentially a darker version of a Pilsner with a similarly light bodied crispness that makes it enormously crushable.

My introduction to Schwarzbier came quite recently– on a family vacation 6 years ago, I picked up a six-pack of Uinta Brewing’s Baba Black Lager and immediately developed an infatuation with the style. Over the following the months, I tried every commercial example I could get my hands on including the popular, not to mention delicious, Köstritzer Schwarzbier as well as numerous versions from American craft breweries. When I finally decided to brew my own Schwarzbier, I knew I’d have to figure out a way to extract the smooth roast character and dark color from some type of roasted grain while avoiding any acrid or ashy character typically associated with Stout and Porter. In reviewing various homebrew recipes, I discovered the common usage of a malt produced by Weyermann called Carafa Special II, a de-husked malt purported to impart the smooth roast character expected in German dark lagers.

During a recent trip to New Zealand, I struck up a conversation with Gabi Michael from Gladfield Malt and mentioned my love of Schwarzbier. She explained they don’t currently offer a de-husked roasted malt, but that she’d be interested in an xBmt comparing Carafa Special II to chocolate malt, offering to provide me with their Light Chocolate malt since it is roasted to a similar level. Having used chocolate malt in Schwarzbier in the past, this variable definitely interested me, so I agreed to put it to the test!

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between Carafa Special II and Chocolate malt when used in beers of otherwise similar recipes.

| METHODS |

The recipe I designed for this xBmt was inspired by one I’d made many times, May The Schwarzbier With You, with a few changes to accommodate the variable.

Chaff In The Dark

I built up a single large starter of Imperial Organic L13 Global yeast with enough time to ensure solid viability.

Since this xBmt would require dual mashes, I collected 2 sets of water the night before brewing and adjusted them to the same profile. I then did an observational comparison of the whole Carafa and Chocolate malts to see if there were any differences.

With the grains measured out, I proceeded to mill each set into its own bucket.

My brew day began early the following morning, hitting the flame under one kettle of brewing liquor about 20 minutes before the other.

Once strike temperature was reached, I transferred the water to my MLT then gently incorporated the grains.

Both batches hit the mash temperature I was targeting.

A pH measurement 10 minutes into either mash revealed only the slightest difference. (???)

The mashes were left to rest for 60 minutes, each being stirred once at the halfway point, then with the help of some curious assistants, the sweet wort was collected.

As the worts were being heated, I measured out the hop additions for each batch.

Both batches were boiled for precisely 60 minutes, during which hop additions were made at the same times.

At the completion of each boil, I quickly chilled the worts to 80°F/27°C, slightly warmer than my summer groundwater temperature, then took refractometer readings showing they’d achieved a similar OG.

Separate sanitized fermentors then received equal amounts of either wort.

The fermentors were placed next to each other in my cool chamber to finish chilling. It took about 5 hours for both to stabilize at my desired fermentation temperature of 50°F/10°C, at which point divided the yeast starter equally between 2 smaller flasks and pitched. The beers were left to ferment for 9 days before I began ramping the temperature up to 68°F/20°C, where I let it sit for another 5 days before taking hydrometer measurements showing both had reached FG.

With no detectable off-flavors present and signs of fermentation absent, I cold crashed to 32°F/0°C, fined with gelatin, then kegged the beers 21 days after they were brewed.

The filled kegs were placed in my keezer and burst carbonated at 50 psi for 14 hours before I reduced the gas to serving pressure and allowed the beers to lager for an additional 2 weeks before collecting data. I observed a slight but noticeable difference in appearance once the beers had cleared, though both looked quite nice.

| RESULTS |

A total of 24 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 1 sample of the Carafa Special II beer and 2 samples of the chocolate malt beer then asked to identify the sample that was unique. While 13 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to correctly identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, only 10 (p=0.25) picked the odd-beer-out, indicating participants in this xBmt were not able to reliably distinguish a Schwarzbier made with 12 oz/340 g of Carafa Special II malt from one made with the same amount of Gladfield Malt Chocolate Light malt.

My Impressions: I love Schwarzbier! Both the Carafa Special II and the chocolate malt versions were delicious, possessing the crisp drinkability I expect from a lager with a touch of subtle roast and chocolate. I went into this xBmt convinced the beers were going to be quite different and thus approached my first triangle test attempts somewhat arrogantly, presuming I’d be able to pick the unique sample immediately. Of course, that’s not how things turned out, the beers ended up tasting very similar. Over 6 semi-blind and very biased triangle test attempts served to me by a friend, I was correct only 3 times.

| DISCUSSION |

The first time I ever used Carafa Special malt was by complete accident. Many years ago, I brought a recipe sheet for a Stout I’d designed into my local homebrew shop and let the dude who worked there gather and mill the grains for me. As he was ringing me up, he realized he’d mistakenly used Carafa Special III instead of the Raosted Barley that was printed on the sheet. Unfamiliar with Carafa, and pressed for time, I paid for the bag of grains and figured I’d roll with it. It wasn’t until making the substitution in BeerSmith after mashing in the next day that I read up on what exactly Carafa Special malts were intended for. Slightly annoyed with the “fact” my Stout wasn’t going to have the roast character I desired, I pressed on and 3 weeks later began drinking the beer only to realize it possessed all the characteristics of… Stout.

Despite this experience, I remained convinced the dehusked nature of Carafa Special malts did serve a purpose and used them in the same way many do, to darken lagers without imparting the more pungent roast character typically associated with Porter and Stout. For this reason, I settled on a Schwarzbier for this xBmt and admittedly expected to see significant results. Surprisingly, not only were participants unable to reliably distinguish between a beer made with Carafa Special II and one made with the same amount of chocolate malt, but I couldn’t either, they tasted exactly the same to me.

In considering reasons for these particular findings, the fact each beer was made with only 12 oz/340 g of either malt came to mind. It is entirely possible this relatively small amount made it such that any impact of the malts were covered up by other beer characteristics, though given the yeast and hops used, this is difficult for me to accept. I also wondered if the lack of a noticeable difference between the beers might have something to do with the malt source, perhaps Gladfield Malt’s Chocolate Light malt somehow has a smoother character than other commonly used chocolate malts. Still, the fact Gladfield does not dehusk their malt leaves me skeptical this is the answer. Could it be that Carafa Special II really isn’t all that different than chocolate malt? While I’m not ready to adopt this perspective just yet, I certainly won’t hesitate to use a little chocolate malt in a Schwarzbier or Dunkel if I’m all out of Carafa Special II.

If you have any thoughts about this xBmt, please do not hesitate to share in the comments section below!

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