Honey Malt vs Crystal Malt

How does honey malt differ from a similar lovibond crystal malt??

Does honey malt add more unfermentable sugars than the cyrstal?

Thanks

Alan

I would say honey malt is used for sweetness while crystal is more for color but others feel free to chime in.

Honey malt gives you the flavor of honey, no other way to describe it really. I guess you could say it has a more intensely sweet character, a little candy-like. Crystal gives a sweetness, just not the honey flavor.

They are not interchangeable. 1 lb of Crystal in a batch can produce a decent beer. 1 lb of honey malt is way too much.

Crystal malt can be steeped to extract most of it's sugars. Honey malt needs to be mashed. Not sure what you get from it by steeping; you will not get any sugars.

The sugars from Honey malt (only extracted by mashing) are more fermentable.

honey malt is awesomeer than crystal malt. proven fact. science.

bwomp313 said:

honey malt is awesomeer than crystal malt. proven fact. science.

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Honey malt only works for the few styles where you want honey flavor.

McGarnigle said:

Honey malt only works for the few styles where you want honey flavor.

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I was more or less being silly but I think you could use it in pretty much any style and it would be a nice twist.

Is honey malt made in the same way as a base malt or crystal malt?

ChillWill said:

Is honey malt made in the same way as a base malt or crystal malt?

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Yes and no.

All malts start out by malting the raw grain. Then the process changes to get the various types. You would need to get a tour of the malt house to see how they processes differ and event then they might not tell you enough that you could make your own. Honey malt is supposed to be "stewed" to create that unique flavor.

Honey malt neeeds to be mashed? I have recipies that steep honey malt. Did I get bad information?

RM-MN said:

Yes and no.

All malts start out by malting the raw grain. Then the process changes to get the various types. You would need to get a tour of the malt house to see how they processes differ and event then they might not tell you enough that you could make your own. Honey malt is supposed to be "stewed" to create that unique flavor.

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I know how base malt and crystal malts are made.

If it is 'stewed', then that'll be treated the same as crystal (i.e. effectively mashed so the starch is converted into sugars then those sugars are caramalised in the kiln).

Or that's my rough understanding of the process whereas base malt is just kilned lightly to dry and stop malting.

So question is... how does it get a different flavour from crystal malts of similar colour? Does it start with a different base malt, do they stew at a different temp, do they get a different level of conversion, do they throw bees into the kiln?

Edit: I see my post was missing a comma making it look like I thought crystal and base malts were treated in the same manner.?Grammar; fail".

There are many factors involved in creating different malts: base grain, temperature, time, moisture, oxygen levels, etc. Some of that is going to be proprietary info from the maltster, so not all the data you seek may be public.

usfmikeb said:

There are many factors involved in creating different malts: base grain, temperature, time, moisture, oxygen levels, etc. Some of that is going to be proprietary info from the maltster, so not all the data you seek may be public.

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So what you're saying is.... you haven't got a clue either lol.

I'll have a word with the geeks I work with, I'm sure one of them will know.

No, I know the answer. The answer is that it's stewed at a higher temperature, which produces the flavor difference from crystal.

Oh, well you could have said that earlier lol

But seriously... do you know anything else? Like what malt they tend to start with (is it Belgian typically?).

Is it stewed at a higher temp, then dried/kilned fairly low or for not too long to stop it darkening too much?

Honey malt is like Munich on crack. I personlly don;t agree that it has that much of a honey flavour. I hate honey beers but use honey malt all the time. Its the secret ingredient in my Czech Pilsner and noone has ever said that beer tastes like honey.

Perhaps it depends on the hops/yeast you use with this malt.

bwomp313 said:

honey malt is awesomeer than crystal malt. proven fact. science.

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He sounds edgemacated listen to this guy!

hmmm perhaps if honey malt is steeped it just adds in flavor without the stuff needed for alcohol . that is the only reason I can think of .
Oh and honey malt is different than crystal as it is made by bees and crystal is made by that guy down the street from you with the boards over his windows .

In BC "honey" is often made by that guy down the street with those funky green plants, who's place smells like a mix of skunk and alcohol.

Steeping honey malt may impart some flavor, but it will also impart starch, thus why it needs to be converted.

Now, if you are using a diastatic malt extract like the stuff from Canadian Malting (used by a lot of ubrews) then steeping may actually convert it.