Friday Video August 21st Even Sharks Need Water by Verdant and Malt choice
Hello, welcome to our Friday video, today I am drinking Even Sharks Need Water by Verdant. I have chosen sharks for a couple of reasons this week.
- We were recently evolved in the Llallemand / verdant /Brew Con London / TMM competition, which was all about the release of the Llemand yeast that Verdant use to brew this beer, entry has closed but judging is progressing at the moment.
- Verdant were generous to give us the recipe and method including details on water treatment, I have added a link to the blog post below.
- It is the beer, or at least the style of beer that we see as being the most popular, being that talked about , brewed, tried to brew, struggled to brew etc.
So given that we have the recipe from the brewer lets have a look at what goes into the malt bill and perhaps why or what each ingredient brings to the finished beer. Take note this is my interpretation,
The malt bill :-
Crisp Extra Pale 60%
Flaked Oats 8%
Weyermann Carapils (Simpsons Dextrin works well also) 8%
Flaked Wheat 4%
Crisp extra pale, that is bulk of the malt bill at 60% and where most of the sugar points come from. It is used as a base to build from, we don’t need strong tasting base malt here but what is important is that it converts consistently and reliably with a single temperature mash, whilst adding little in colour.
Simpsons Golden Promise, Simpsons malt is a family owned independent maltster, managed by the 5thgeneration of the Simpsons family, that’s an incredible wealth of knowledge and we are delighted to be able to use and provide their malt.
At just 15% of the grain bill this is starting to build on the mouthfeel of the beer again, without adding colour, it’s only about 4 EBC. It’s adding a layer of body that is needed to balance the big hop flavour.
Flaked Oats, these are unmalted but importantly pre cooked or gelatinised, this means that they can be added direct to the mash. These add a more intense character than malted oats. They increase head retention and add that thick oiliness type texture
Weyermann Carapils. We were lucky enough to be invited over to the the Weyermann party November 2019, the passion that is shown by all the staff there truly shows in the final product. The Carapils at 8% of the grist is just about the lightest crystal malt, has next to no flavour or fermentables so again adds body but also has major effect on head retention which this style of beer really benefits from
Crisp Wheat Malt at 4% of the grist, this add a firm texture but lacks sweetness and also a little acidity and again aids head retention.
Flaked Wheat 4% of the grist, has a more intense wheat flavour than malted wheat. Now I thought why not just add 8% of this rather than using the malted wheat, my guess is because if you use unmalted wheat at that level it may well cause run off or luatering issues as it does get really sticky at higher percentages.
So hopefully that has given, at least my interpretation of why each malt was chosen. Recipe formulation is a massive topic but it needn’t be intimidating. My advise is to start simple with smash recipes, changing just one ingredient on each brew, that way you know what each one is brings to the party.
That’s all for this week, have a great weekend.
