Can I substitute C40 for a combo of C20/C60?

[KidLightning]

I have an American pale ale grain bill that I'm looking at from an old BYO style profile for APA's–

8.5lbs 2-row
0.5lbs Caramel 20
0.5lbs Caramel 60
0.5lbs Cara-Pils

And I'm wondering if I can substitute 1lb of C40 for the 1/2lb each of C20 and C60? My LHBS only sells grain in 1lb or larger packages and I'd rather not have extra 1/2lbs of those lying around as none of my upcoming recipes will use them.

The updated grain bill would look like this–

8.5lbs 2-row
1.0lbs Caramel 40
0.5lbs Cara-Pils

According to the recipe calculator I just used at work (Brewer's Friend) the color and OG should remain the same, which I would expect, but am I going to lose anything or drastically change the beer?

My thoughts are that I may lose some complexity by using a single source of mild caramel flavor/sweetness, rather than combining lesser amounts of light caramel and dark caramel. This is something I'm totally fine with in this beer and would actually prefer.

Are there any other consequences I might have from this substitution? Is this a common method for substituting grains and simplifying grain bills that others use?

 

[Yooper]

The color would be the same, but the flavor would be a bit different. Crystal 20L is caramelly sweet, while crystal 60L is more like toffee. I like to use two different crystal malts in beers, especially American ambers, to "layer" the flavor. But if you don't want to have two different crystal malts, the beer will be fine with just the crystal 40L although a bit different than the recipe intended.

 

[KidLightning]

Thanks Yooper! I think "layering" the flavor is what I was trying to describe with my "complexity" remark.

I also think for this beer I would like to stay away from the toffee flavor and just have some mild caramel sweetness to balance out the hops, so C40 it is!

 

[Echoloc8]

Heh, my LHBS owner is always trying to get me to average out the Lovibond of any multiple crystal additions in the recipes I bring him.

He can opine all he wants, but I'm a proponent of the "unique flavors for unique kilning" argument.

-Rich

 

[helibrewer]

Sierra Nevada PA uses a single C60 addition, I say buy a pound of each, you will use them in something and they last a long time on the shelf.

 

[IslandLizard]

Heh, my LHBS owner is always trying to get me to average out the Lovibond of any multiple crystal additions in the recipes I bring him.

He can opine all he wants, but I'm a proponent of the "unique flavors for unique kilning" argument.

-Rich

Exactly, I'm with you, flavor over color, naturally! I prefer the self-serve LHBS outfits, which are becoming a rare breed now. No-one "asks" questions when I grab 8-10 different specialty malts.

 

[Echoloc8]

I prefer the self-serve LHBS outfits, which are becoming a rare breed now. No-one "asks" questions when I grab 8-10 different specialty malts.

Actually my LHBS allows us to get our own malts/hops together from the bins if we want, but of course we talk recipes the whole while.

-Rich

 

[KidLightning]

Thanks for your input everyone!

I was hoping not to sacrifice any (or at least not too much) flavor, and if the Caramel malts were any farther apart I probably wouldn't have asked the question–substituting C40 for two separate additions of C20 and C60 kind of makes sense to me, in a way that subbing C80 for two separate additions of C40 and C120 doesn't.

Some of the descriptions I read of C40 and C60 made them sound fairly close in character while others–like Yooper's description of C60 being more toffee-like than caramel–made them sound much farther apart. I just looked through some of my recent recipes, however, and it looks like I may have half a pound of C60 left over from a brown ale I brewed back in December, so might as well use that up and buy the C20 this time.

In any case, I may brew the C20/C60 version this time around and make a separate batch later that subs the C40 to see what the differences are.

 

[KidLightning]

And, by the by, my LHBS–Brew & Grow in Chicago–is completely self-serve, which I love. They're also plenty helpful with questions, if I have them, but I try to have everything decided before I go in and just grab what I need, so that I don't end up browsing and going broke buying everything.