As a farm brewery we use New York based products in our beers. Today we were testing several grains to see where to fit them into our recipes. All of the grain is base malt (typically the majority of the grain bill in a beer). There were very interesting differences with one having a decidedly crisp Pizza crust thing going on. What I found out doing this is that the taste of the grain by itself (not as a tea), seemed to be the best way to get a flavor profile.
Of course, it’s all educated guesswork as far as the actual flavor that will show up in the beer. Flavor compounds change during the process , especially when the wort boils. The sweetness which represents sugar is eaten by the yeast. I was pretty happy with these samples – especially the Pale and the Pale Ale. We should be ready for our first order next week. After 3 years it will be great to finally brew some beer.
