Caramel

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salanry

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Has anyone ever tried to use caramel when brewing, in addition to malt extract? I have a stout that I will brewing this week and think that it would be great if it had some caramel hints to the taste. I am not a chemist so I am unsure of the composition of caramel. I am assuming it is loaded with sugar but I don't know what else is in it. Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated.
 
If you're talking caramel candy, then its probably a bad idea since they tend to have a large amount of butter / cream in them which would make the beer oily, cause poor head retention, and potentially go rancid.

If you're talking about simply cooking down sugar to various temps to achieve different levels of darkening and flavors you'll be fine. This is often done to create homemade candi syrups.
 
Crystal 40 should give you that caramel flavor you are looking for (according to Jamil Zainashef not me). I would avoid putting candy in your beer for the reasons already specified.
 
That makes sense. Sounds like the Crystal 40 might be the best idea. Probably won't add it to this batch as I am looking to brew tonight. Thanks!
 
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