Headcutter

Recipes 

Just wondering which level of caramel malt people think is the "best" when making a hoppy beer. I usually use 40, but I wouldn't mind getting some of the colour of a higher L malt.

I know some people don't like crystal malts. That's fine, but I would like to hear from the people who do use them.

Cheers.

bjohnson29

Recipes 

Sometimes I use as high as 80L crystal malt in my IPAs...I just use a lot less of it. Depends on the flavor you're looking to impart.

Yooper

Recipes 

I use crystal 40L the most in APAs, but one of the things I've enjoyed is mixing it up. I've found that "layering" the crystal malts really gives a depth of flavor that I love. For example, .5 pound of 20L and .5 pound of 60L. Or, .75 pound 40L and .25 pound of 120L. I have one IPA recipe that uses quite a bit of crystal malt, and I don't have the recipe right in front of me so I"m guessing, but I think it's got about .5 pound 20L and .5 pound 80L.

I'd suggest trying something like that- it provides some interesting depth without being too sweet.

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Broken Leg Brewery
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phenry

Recipes 

I usually try to shoot for around 7-8% Crystal 20 in my IPAs/APAs. For some reason I just don't like the darker stuff with hoppy beers.

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Primary: English IPA 1
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heferly

Recipes 

I usually use .5 lb c60, but I also use 2 lbs of vienna to round it out...I feel like just 2row and 60 doesn't give me the depth I'm looking for. Layering the crystals sounds like a great option, too

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Basement Cafe Brewery

heyblinkin

Recipes 

I agree with the Vienna Malt comment. Though not a crystal malt it gives off great color and flavor to the beer. I use 2 lbs of vienna along, 10 oz of crystal 20, and 8 oz of carapils in my IPA. (5 gallon batch)

sonex

Recipes 

I totally agree with you Yooper. I like to use crystal 10 and 20 with vienna. sometimes I'll sub the vienna for munich 1 The layering creates a more complex malt profile.