I recently watched the Apartment Brewer episode on his Munich Dunkel:
and it reminded me of the Dunkel I brewed a few months ago (see my earlier post). That was literally one of the most enjoyable beers I have ever brewed - it was pure toasty malt goodness with, much to my satisfaction, none of the roasty, coffee, or astringent notes that you sometimes see with attempts (non-Bavarian ones, of course!) of the style.
So, it came as a surprise when the Apartment Brewer noted that his version was excellent, but not true to style because it was too roasty and tasted almost like a schwarzbier. He attributed this to the use of Carafa Special III at 5% of the malt bill, even though he added it at the very end of the mash. This made me curious since I vaguely recall using Carafa in my recipe which absolutely did not have these roasty characteristics.
In re-visiting my recipe, I saw that I also used Carafa (albeit Carafa Special II) at around 4%. However, I added it at the very beginning of the 45 min mash. I also mashed at a slightly higher temperature (152F vs 150F), although I don't have perfect temp control with my stovetop method so it is possible that it was actually mashed at a lower temp.
So, what gives? Do you think this was really a difference between Carafa II vs III, or maybe something else in my method vs his? Per Josh Weikert of Craft Beer & Brewing (https://beerandbrewing.com/make-your-best-munich-dunkel/), "the advantage of the Carafa malts in a beer like this is that they’re de-husked, which means they’ll be far less likely to impart the roasty, tannic, coffee-like flavors of other dark malts."
Let me know what you think. In any case, I am already looking forward to brewing this one again next fall and winter. Prost!