Crystal Malt

Just how sweet is crystal malt? I'm trying to create an IPA with a grapefruit like aftertaste (sweet and sour) and I was thinking of using about a 1 lb of crystal malt and about 7 lbs of Liquid Malt Extract. Will that make the beer really sweet or will it just give it a medium caramel like flavor? I know flavors are totally subjective I'm just asking for an opinion from other brewers.

The flavor of crystal malt varies based on it's color. If you are looking to add some sweetness I would use a pound of 20L. If you want more caramel flavor use something a little darker like 40L or 60L.

Well, what lovibond? Light crystals are pretty neutrally sweet, medium are sweet/carmamelly, darker ones are generally perceived as a bit less sweet, more like dark fruit (raisens, plums, etc). A pound of something light- to medium (anywhere from 20L to 60L) would probably be OK (although I'm definately an advocate of making IPAs nice and dry).

And I thought the differences were only with the color. I was thinking of a pound of 30L. I like my IPA's to have a real grapefruity after taste.

What are you using for hops? Amarillo is wonderful (if you can find any) for its grapefruit-citrus overtones.

30L crystal will have a sweet, mild caramel flavor. That doesn't sound bad at all for a grapefruity IPA.

You also need to consider what LME you will use. If it is anything other than "light" (or "Extra Light," or something called something like that), it probably has some crystal malt in it, already.


TL

I'm using Magnum for it's bittering, then chinook and centenial for flavor/aroma.

If it's the grapefruit you're looking for, consider zesting 1 and adding the zest into the last 5 minutes or so of the boil. I've used orange zest in my Saisons and pending type of orange I use (sometimes blood, sometimes clementine) - I've had a strange grapefruit like flavor.

Grapefruit aint my thing, but a little bit of zest could really bring the flavor you want without trying to force it out of hops or sweet malts.