Alternative base malts for stout

Wheat malt is an adjunct, which excepting rare situations, should be used in smaller amounts with a barley base malt.
Vienna and Munich seem like fine ideas, just be aware that you might want to tone down your specialty malts, due to their flavor and color impact.

 

Golden promise is nice if you have access to it.

 

How about some stout malt?

 

Really? From what I remember it has more DP than Barley...a bitch to lauter, but there are some Wheatwines out there that use more wheat than barley

 

If you are going to use Munich, use the lightest you can find (6.5 L works best)...but I think the Golden Promise is your best bet as it has a slight sweetness to it.

 

I use some Munich in stouts, but have never tryed it solely as the base malt in a beer.

 

I use GP often as my base for beers I want to have a residual sweetness to. I'd also throw out Northwest Pale Ale as similar but a little different than MO.

 

Please report back on how this Stout turns out.

Cheers!

 

Unmalted/Flaked Wheat is definitely an adjunct. Malted Wheat does, indeed, have more diastatic power than standard 2-row. Nice little chart here.

 

In one of my early all-grain experiences, I made an oatmeal stout with mostly Munich base malt, like 80-90%. I didn't like it. Could have been because I messed up the process in some way, or could have been the type of Munich (Briess Bonlander, IIRC), or could have been the percentage. That was too long ago to give you much detailed info on my perceptions of why I didn't like it. More recently, I used 56% Weyermann Munich I in a Baltic Porter, and I have no complaints.

 

In a roast-forward beer, like a stout, Munich is probably your best bet for an alternative base malt, as it actually has a chance to show an appreciable difference when compared to standard 2-row. Munich, however, has just enough DP to convert itself, so adjuncts are out if you're using it as your only base. I've done anything from around 10% to 50/50 to 100%, all with pleasant results.

 

are you using Munich 10L?

If so , is it super chewy or are you mashing a 100% Munich brew real low?

 

You guys are right, I misspoke. Should have said “adjunct and non-barley malt”.
Unless you are purposely going for something like a wheatwine, I don’t think using a high portion of wheat (or malted rye or oats) makes sense because: Cost. Runoff issues. Possible haze. Less flavor.

 

Are you referring to the Irish Stout Malt from the Malting Co. of Ireland? I have access to this but haven't tried it, do you have any experiences using this in a stout or otherwise?

 

No experience, but would love a chance to give it a shot.

 

Ayep.

I don't do anything different with it than I would if I used a "normal" base malt.

 

I think I might mash a little longer (>75 min.) if I was brewing an all 10L Munich...but probably get away with less...btw,..I've done 100% 12L Red X batches that have worked fine.

 

That might be true for some Munich. But I've seen some munich malts rated at over 50 degrees Lintner (or the WK equivalent).

I should add too that even lower power Munichs can get the job done, depending on mash conditions. I've see people say that anything less than (say) 35 Deg L is too weak to self convert, but I have done mashes at an avg of ~25 Deg L that worked fine.