Making a all grain lager Question

It should be OK with 6-row (check your conversion, give it extra time if needed), but 2 lbs of carapils seems like a lot. 2-row would have been a better choice overall, but OK. What is your planned mash temp? OG? FG? How big is this batch, and how are you doing it? What is the style? Why not Pilsner malt?

 

Why would 6 row need extra time to convert? IIRC, 6 row has more diastatic power than equivalent 2 row. I may be overlooking something.

 

It’s your beer but for an American lager you could make it even easier and just use 2row and minute/flaked rice. Mash at 148 for an hour and be done.

 

You'll have no conversion problems. You will have a very fermentable mash. North American 2 row and 6 row are more similar than people credit. Both have a lot of diastatic power, and while 6 row has more husk material per lb, you won't see much difference in gravity contribution and you will be hard pressed to taste the difference. The husks might make 6 row taste a little grainier or earthier; I have experimented with it and was undecided on this point. If I could taste a difference it was small, and I found myself going back and forth on (1) whether I could distinguish beers that differed in only by these two malts, and (2) whether I could firmly state a personal preference. I

 

I am under the impression that 6 row is ideal for US brewers because it allows for them to use more adjunct with no conversion power at all; rice and corn. It is also domestic and widely available and therefore cheaper. 6 row has more diastatic power than 2 row, reportedly. None of which really matters to homebrewers.

But modern 6 row and modern 2 row are supposed to be quite similar now. The differences being more about agriculture. Though 2 row is sold as a premium product and I am fairly sure no Continental brewer would ever admit to using 6 row. Or Cluster for that matter.

Personally I use 2 row, because it is what is available and everyone knows if it preferred by Continental brewers it is superior.
Cheers.

 

^^^^ These things.

I'd definitely thing about using all base malt for this beer, or maybe base malt and an adjunct like rice. Maybe consider wheat?

 

Enzymes are proteins, so high protein means high Diastatic Power, it will convert, and fast. You might get haze with 6-row and no adjuncts to dilute the protiens.

6-row has more husk, so less starch per unit mass. The extract will be a little less than 2 row, but 81 vs 79% on a dry basis.

I have had little graininess when I mash 6 row at 5.2 pH.

 

With no adjuncts in the recipe, why even consider using 6 row? I doubt if it is much cheaper and probably a lot older.

 

Does your LHBS sell you 'old' 6-row malt?

Cheers!

 

They would if they could ...just assuming it stays on the shelf longer anywhere.

 

Prolly a safe assumption.

 

I read (somewhere) that two-row has a higher yield so it's cheaper and that's probably the main reason everyone uses it over six-row.

 

Let it ride.