Your own experience with Crystal malt amounts

[thehaze]

Hello,

When I first started brewing, I began reading everything I thought neccessary on brewing: ingredients, malts, hops, yeast, temps., process, etc. Granted, I still have a lot of reading to do and a lot of brewing and experimenting.

I also read about crystal malts and their use in beer. Also, how much of these specialty malts, one should use in various beer styles. The general consensus says crystal malt is more or less " bad " or the bad guy in brewing... As I said, this is the general opinion I was able to find when looking for advice and experience on this particular subject: a general adversity towards the crystal malts or, more exactly, on the over use.

I am a beginner, thus I am more likely proned to over use some ingredients. My question and my curiosity is the following: have you ever tried to use more crystal malt than what a recipe calls for? And for more than just 1 occasional/accidental brew...

I for one used a lot of crystal malt for a leftover dark ale, some IPAs, a Belgian Dark Ale, some Red ales and I have yet to experience the overly sweet, heavy cloying and overbearing flavours from the over use of crystal malt. My taste could however be more inclined to " like " maltier/sweeter brews, but at 25% crystal malts, that should still make a difference in taste.

How about you? How much have you used and did you like it? Did you try to brew it again?

Would 20% of Crystal 15L in an American Pale Ale with lots of hops, be as bad as 20% Crystal 40-60L in the same recipe? I am looking more for a taste experience and not so much what the books say, if you get my drift.

Thank you and have a great weekend!

 

[chickypad]

It's impossible to say whether a particular grain is "good" or "bad" in a recipe without knowing what the brewer is trying to accomplish. Crystal/caramel malts are essential for certain styles. You also have to take into account the entire rest of the recipe - do the mash temp and yeast favor a drier finish or not, what is the bittering level, etc. Off the top of my head I think the most I've ever used is about 17% in an amber.

Personally I think the over use idea leads back to extract kits. It seemed at least when I started brewing that they were included in pretty much every kit since they are one of the few categories of malt good for steeping. I think that may lead some beginners to think that every recipe needs some crystal, at least that's the trap I fell into for the first couple years. Now I use it like any other ingredient - I think about what am I trying to accomplish and have a reason for adding or removing things (unless I'm cleaning house with a kitchen sink beer, then anything goes no reason required!). I will say that I use almost exclusively British crystal malts, just a personal taste preference from lots of experimenting.

 

[Yooper]

Some styles have 0% crystal malt (like German pilsner), while some styles have up to 15% (like highly hopped American ambers). It really depends on the goals of the recipe.

Crystal malt is a huge part of some recipes' profiles, and is necessary. In other cases it's not. Just like the spice rosemary when you cook- you wouldn't put it in oatmeal but it's an integral part of my lamb roast (and lots of it!).

 

[Northern_Brewer]

The general consensus says crystal malt is more or less " bad " or the bad guy in brewing... As I said, this is the general opinion I was able to find when looking for advice and experience on this particular subject: a general adversity towards the crystal malts or, more exactly, on the over use....

I have yet to experience the overly sweet, heavy cloying and overbearing flavours from the over use of crystal malt. My taste could however be more inclined to " like " maltier/sweeter brews, but at 25% crystal malts, that should still make a difference in taste.

Ultimately you're the head brewer, and you only have to satisfy your own taste - but holy crap, if you think that something with 25% crystal is not overly sweet and overbearing then either you are burying it under a shedload of other flavours, it's not real crystal, or you need to get your tongue checked out...

Since the use of crystal started in traditional British beer, that's the obvious starting point for a discussion. US brewers seem to think that a) British bitters are a bit sweeter than they actually are and b) mostly try to replicate what sweetness there is using crystal rather than a low-attenuation yeast. My taste is for northern bitters which are generally less sweet anyway, but even if you take Fuller's as a benchmark for the more crystal-rich southern English style - we know from the horse's mouth that they're only using 7.2% of light crystal in the main ESB/London Pride/Chiswick partigyle. So I just don't get it when I see US recipes putting 10-15% crystal in British-style beers. Yes there might be the odd British beer that reaches that level but it's not typical - and more to the point it just doesn't taste very nice. Whereas 5% crystal is typical and does taste good.

So it's not that crystal itself is "bad", it's using it in clumsy ways that unbalance a beer - British beers in particular should be a balance between sweet and dry, hop aroma and malt, bitterness and esters. You lose that balance when you put in 15% crystal to a British beer.

 

[imasickboy]

Some styles have 0% crystal malt (like German pilsner), while some styles have up to 15% (like highly hopped American ambers). It really depends on the goals of the recipe.

Crystal malt is a huge part of some recipes' profiles, and is necessary. In other cases it's not. Just like the spice rosemary when you cook- you wouldn't put it in oatmeal but it's an integral part of my lamb roast (and lots of it!).

I put rosemary in a brown ale once. Holy crap that was terrible. Great in the kitchen, bad in the brewery.