substitution of carafoam for crystal

I am going to be making a big batch of sierran nevada or summit pale ale clone. My recipes call for crystal of diffirent lavibonds? you know the "darkness" I really do not care if it comes out dark or light as long as it is clean with some nice hops in it. anyways. can i substitue any of the carafoam for crystal in you experience?

noobrich said:

I am going to be making a big batch of sierran nevada or summit pale ale clone. My recipes call for crystal of diffirent lavibonds? you know the "darkness" I really do not care if it comes out dark or light as long as it is clean with some nice hops in it. anyways. can i substitue any of the carafoam for crystal in you experience?

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No. carafoam IS a sub for carapils/dextrine malt, but not a sub for darker crystals.

The different lovibonds are more than just color- they are for flavor. A pound of 80L is NOT equal to 2 pounds of 40L, as an example! Crystal 20L is caramelly sweet, while crystal 120L has a burnt sugar/toffee flavor. The colors in between range accordingly, with 40L being probably the most common in pale ales. 80L is much more toffee flavored. Carafoam is relatively flavorless and colorless, and is used primarily to promote good head retention.

Thanks for the help. That makes good sense and agrees with I have tasted while using these crystal malts with different ratings

Sierra Nevada uses Crystal 60L, about 11% of grain bill