Thoughts on malts
When I first tasted the malt for the Hefeweizen, I realized that there was something about the flavor that just wasn’t right for me. It was good in general, but I know I can do better.
I started researching what malt actually is and how I could use my experience to narrow down my options. Malt is finely ground and processed grain. The most common places that the general public is exposed to malt is breakfast cereal. Some may also have tried malted milk ball candies and Ovaltine. Some may have had a soda shoppe malt. The one malt that really sticks in my taste memory is Cheerios, which is almost pure oat malt. That’s probably my favorite breakfast cereal. So now I’m on the hunt for the ultimate oat malt.
Next, I started considering how the oats would fit into a brew recipe. Joleen wants to make a mead, so there’s about to be a lot of honey in the house. Honey, oat malt… HONEY NUT CHEERIOS BEER! So I googled around for honey oatmeal homebrew and came up with some ideas for recipes: