Anyone used Amber or Brown malt?

[PseudoChef]

Got some of this (for free, so that's why I took it) this past weekend when another brewer said he wasn't going to go through his stash quick enough. I took a pound of each. The maltster is Thomas Fawcett.

Anyone ever used them or have any notes to give? What styles would they be best in?

I think I might just do a session-esque beer (after the SEBA I have planned) with some Marris Otter as base, and half pound each of the Amber and Brown and fermented with another freebie I have, the Danstar Windsor.

Thanks for any feedback.

[Lerxst]

I've used brown malt from AHS in the past for several recipes...nut brown ales, porters, stouts. Don't expect any smoky flavor but it and watch it in combination with crystal and other dark malts.

[poops4president]

i used amber in my amber ale (i know clever arent i?) i really couldnt tell much difference then a lightly kilned carmel malt... maybe a bit less sweet and slightly maltier... would work great in any light english style as a solid backbone in a simple grain bill

[Lerxst]

oh, I forgot...I used brown malt in my 888 so you've had it recently :)

[PseudoChef]

Haha, nice.

A couple of local brewers told me that too much of them is a bad thing, but didn't elaborate. Is half pound going to come through enough?

[poops4president]

amber? doubtful... its basically a base malt... use it as u would add vienna or munich to something. brown? not sure i remember seeing in BYO that all malts used to be "brown malt" at one point in history... but i dunno i would stick to a pound or less of that and see if you like it.

[PseudoChef]

Cool, I'll use the whole pound of amber and half of brown. Probably won't get around to this until November, however...unless I can pull a weeknight brew.

[Lerxst]

I just did some searching and saw a few posts on other forums where amber is compared to victory and warnings about using it sparingly. Might want to do a raw taste test in comparison with some victory or light crystal and see what you think.

[Lerxst]

http://madfermentationist.blogspot.com/2007/03/historical-brewing-event.html

Old Sock's blog might be of interest...he posts on NB and BA.