arachnyd

Recipes 

Crystal malt is malt which has been "mashed in the husk" by being heated to saccharification temperatures while it is still wet. The process is carried out in such a way that saccharification is complete, converting all of the starches into sugars. The malt is then kilned (dried), causing the sugar to set into a hard, glassy lump inside the barley husk.

It does not have to be mashed to used, and can be crushed by something as simple as a rolling pin or mortar and pestle. It provides color, mouthfeel and additional fermentable sugars for your beer.

__________________
"We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."

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Mark

Recipes 

So should I steep it or boil it or something? or can I just smash it up and throw it in the barrel and shake?! : )

Also, can you make a beer using only that? Or is it better to use a kit and add some Crystl malt as an addition?

What Im wondering is can I buy this stuff which sounds pretty simple to use, mabe add some spray malt, yeast and hopes and make myself some beer somewhere between homemashed and supplied in the can?

Tophe

Recipes 

Where is the seller from?? I didnt know Bells made copy cat kits?? Bells brewery is right in my town and thats where I buy my supplies from and they don't sell kits there.....at least not that i know of.

rooftopbrew

Recipes 

You'll want to buy some from a brew supply shop, mill it there, then steep in your brew kettle for ~ 30-45 minutes at 150F before bringing the water to boil. this will give the beer some color (depending on the type of crystal malt), and give it a nice body.

Crystal malt comes in very different colors depending upon the time it was roasted. It varies from light (Crystal 10L) to dark (Crystal 100+L). The flavors that come from crystal range from candy sweet at the low end to caramel in the middle to toffeet at the high end.

Just make sure you don't grind it up and put it into the fermenter. Its got to steep to extract the sugars.

rooftopbrew

Recipes 

You can get a Two-Hearted clone from here: HomeBrewerSupply.com

ChrisKoivu

Recipes 

CRYSTAL MALT
The classic British body builder and a British invention. Unsurpassed in Bitter beers for adding subtle sweetness to balance the customary high hop rate. It is produced in the same way as Caramalt except that kilning is prolonged until the desired colour is reached. Crystal malts cover a wide range of colours but the usual level is around 120 EBC.

Colour80- 140EBC

Maximum percentage 20% <-- Don't use more than this amount in your beer..