what is crystal malt?
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Crystal Malt
Crystal malt is produced using a special malting process that allows some of the starches to be converted to simpler sugars (such as sucrose and maltose) inside the intact grain. These simple sugars are fermentable. However a significant percentage of more complex sugars remain intact and can add body, sweetness and mouth feel to a beer. These sugars also help with head-retention in the beer. Crystal malt is a good grain to start with if youve never used a specialty grain before. It has a fairly mild flavor, and will generally not overpower the final product.
It comes in different degrees Lovibond:
Crystal Malt 10° 1.033-35 Sweet, mild caramel flavor and a golden color. Use in light lagers and light ales.
Crystal Malt 20° 1.033-35 Sweet, mild caramel flavor and a golden color. Use in light lagers and light ales.
Crystal Malt 30° 1.033-35 Sweet, mild caramel flavor and a golden color. Use in light lagers and light ales.
Crystal Malt 40° 1.033-35 Sweet, mild caramel flavor and a golden color. Use in light lagers and light ales.
Crystal Malt 60° 1.033-35 Sweet caramel flavor, deep golden to red color. For dark amber and brown ales.
Crystal Malt 80° 1.033-35 Sweet, smooth caramel flavor and a red to deep red color. For porters, old ales.
Crystal Malt 90° 1.033-35 Pronounced caramel flavor and a red color. For stouts, porters and black beers.
Crystal Malt 120° 1.033-35 Pronounced caramel flavor and a red color. For stouts, porters and black beers.
Lorena
Crystal malt is produced using a special malting process that allows some of the starches to be converted to simpler sugars (such as sucrose and maltose) inside the intact grain. These simple sugars are fermentable. However a significant percentage of more complex sugars remain intact and can add body, sweetness and mouth feel to a beer. These sugars also help with head-retention in the beer. Crystal malt is a good grain to start with if youve never used a specialty grain before. It has a fairly mild flavor, and will generally not overpower the final product.
It comes in different degrees Lovibond:
Crystal Malt 10° 1.033-35 Sweet, mild caramel flavor and a golden color. Use in light lagers and light ales.
Crystal Malt 20° 1.033-35 Sweet, mild caramel flavor and a golden color. Use in light lagers and light ales.
Crystal Malt 30° 1.033-35 Sweet, mild caramel flavor and a golden color. Use in light lagers and light ales.
Crystal Malt 40° 1.033-35 Sweet, mild caramel flavor and a golden color. Use in light lagers and light ales.
Crystal Malt 60° 1.033-35 Sweet caramel flavor, deep golden to red color. For dark amber and brown ales.
Crystal Malt 80° 1.033-35 Sweet, smooth caramel flavor and a red to deep red color. For porters, old ales.
Crystal Malt 90° 1.033-35 Pronounced caramel flavor and a red color. For stouts, porters and black beers.
Crystal Malt 120° 1.033-35 Pronounced caramel flavor and a red color. For stouts, porters and black beers.
Lorena
Not to be confused with Caramel malts, which are exactly the same.
Special B 220L is also considered a caramel malt, but is generally used in small quantities in porters and dopplebocks.
different degrees Lovibond - measure of how dark a malt is.
Special B 220L is also considered a caramel malt, but is generally used in small quantities in porters and dopplebocks.
different degrees Lovibond - measure of how dark a malt is.
cweston
Well-Known Member
Also, Crystal malts add richness and some sweetness to a beer. Almost all ales and many lagers have some form of crystal malt in them. Beers without crystal have a very dry and uncomplex finish.
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