Confused: Speciality malts fruitiness & maltiness

Hi,

I've read different things on some of the same malts and that confuse me.
I'm working on a couple of recipes (all strong ales) and I'm looking for some specific flavors, particularly different kinds of fruitiness and maltiness from speciality malts.
(how fruity/malty, how much fruitiness/maltiness and for how much of the grain bill)

So what about aromatic malt?
special B? (plum or raisins??)
caramel 150-160L? (I read somewhere that it can lead to some malty-fruitiness???)
caramunich and caravienne? (dried fruit?)

Thanks!

Some "frutiness" in ales can come from yeast/fermentation (esters), too.

Crystal 90°L-120°L can have some raisin-y flavor, IMO, but not sure above that.

CaraMunich I, II, or III can give you that generic dried fruit flavor. I place it somewhere between plum, raisin, and dried cherries. CaraMunich I would be more dried cherry-like; CaraMunich III would be more a little more plum/raisin like. But not as strong as Special B, which is easy to over-do, IMO (probably why it's really intended for high-gravity Belgians).

Caravienne is just a less intense version of CaraMunich I. Caravienne & CaraMunich malts will also impart a deeper caramel-ish/toffee-ish than the Crystal malts of similar SRM.

For strong ales, I'd suggest experimenting with Caramel 90°L , depending on how dark you want to go, and maybe some more ester-y yeast (Windsor, perhaps).

Or try making a doppelbock grain bill with a clean-finishing ale yeast.

All of the darker Crystals give you more plum/raisin/fig flavors.

Crystal 10 - just sweetness
Crystal 20 - Sweet, light caramel
Crystal 40 - Caramel
Crystal 60 - Dark caramel, still sweet
Crystal 80 - Slight raisin, darker caramel, not as sweet
Crystal 120 - Burnt caramel, raisiny plum
Crystal 150 - Dark burnt caramel, raisiny fig plum
Special B - Heavy in the dark fruit - raisin fig plum, especially when used 0.5 lb or so

The caramunich malts can give some fruit character, mostly in the darker range.

For the most part, if fruity flavors is what you're after, look at the crystal/cara malts 80-150º in color. The higher the color, the more intense the flavors with less sweetness

Exactly what I was looking for! :rockin: