molasses flavor in beer

[squiggy]

I was recently in Eastern Europe (Czech Republic and Hungary). I had 2 very tasty black lager biers; Eggenberg and Dreher. Both beers had very nice molasses aroma and flavor. I believe these are all malt biers. Where does this molasses flavor come from? Dark caramel malt like special “B”???

[liammckenna]

How about this product.

It is common.

Perhaps there are others.

Pax.

Liam

[BigWilley]

If you want molasses flavor, why not use molasses? I have used 1 gallon in a 9 Bbl batch with nice results. Molasses is potent stuff so be careful. FYI i threw it in the whirlpool and used the unsulphured variety in an Imperial Porter.

[jerrymcmahan]

I would guess that a decoction mash is responsible, possibly compounded by mild oxidation.

[ParishBrewingCo]

I use raw molasses from a local sugarcane mill. I go pick it up in 5 gallon buckets during the cane harvest season. It's amazing stuff - but VERY strong. You dont need a lot to get the effect. It can add quite a bit of minerally taste too. Not recommended for lighter bodied beers. I also get some licorice from it too if you add at flameout and dont lose all the wonderful volatiles in the molasses. The best barleywine I make uses molasses. Great for keeping big beers dry and not cloying.

Andrew

[HubCity]

Molasses flavor can be achieved with infusion mash all grain beers as well. Quite a few imperial stouts have at least a bit of this flavor. If you use a decent amount of caramel malts and a bit of roasted barley it's likely you will get at least some of the flavors you are looking for. You may also end up with a bit of a black licorice flavor as well.

[squiggy]

Thanks for the replies, if I were looking for a large quantity of unsulfured molasses where would I source it? Our standard brew length is 30-40 BBLs... I am in Washington state.

[einhorn]

Maybe the local food suppliers can help you with the unsulphered molasses (Sysco & friends).

[Jephro]

Read this before brewing w/ molasses

It can be very good stuff, in fact i got a Bronze @ NABA 2009 on my "ÜberDunkel" i brewed with molasses..... BUT:

**BEWARE** as stated above, it is powerful strong stuff, it took about 6 weeks cold conditioning before it really mellowed and matured into what it wanted to be. For the first 3-4 weeks it was on tap it tasted like a different beer every friggin day, had me worried but tured out to be really nice. It Barrel aged very nicely too.

Also, even it adding at WP get if VERY WARM first (i like to drop it in the MT after runoff before i grain out- works great w/ honey too) pour in VERY slowly, or mix it in a bucket with some post-boil wort to thin it down & then add to WP.
--->the first time i did it w/o heating it and it sank right to the bottom and scorched half of it to the bottom of the BK, yes even after flame out, it was a waste of product and it was not at all fun to clean.

Hmm, gonna add that to the got a great tip thread

[Jephro]

Thanks for the replies, if I were looking for a large quantity of unsulfured molasses where would I source it? Our standard brew length is 30-40 BBLs... I am in Washington state.

I picked mine up at Cash & Carry (great source for bags of inexpensive rolled oats too), but if you have one near by (i think there is one in Oly) its worth checking out. I used one 1 gallon jug of it on an 8 bbl yield, 10 bbls at KO. Maybe check with Larry's too, i know he has some good wildflower honey there i like to use.