Caramelized Malt

[Cousinz]

What does caramelized malt taste like, and how could i be sure this is what I am tasting or not?

 

[mr_clean]

A bit like carmel.You have to sample many beers before you start reconizing flavor.

 

[david_42]

Caramel is the primary, non-hop flavor in Pales and the source of sweetness in Browns and Porters. If you compared a Pilsner to a similarly bittered and hopped Pale, that would give you a good idea.

 

[BarleyWater]

I bet if you were to go to your LHBS and ask if you could taste some, they would let you put a couple grains in your mouth and chew on them to see what flavors they contribute.

Different levels of crystal will get you different flavors (and colors) depending on how dark they are. American crystal malts usually range from 20L to 120L. 20L is the lightest and has a sweet slightly dark sugary flavor. 40L and 60L I think have the most pronounced caramel flavors, 60L being a little stronger than 40L. Anything over 80L and you start getting more complex flavors like dark fruits (plum, raisin) and rich sweet caramel flavor. 120L gives a very noticeable almost burnt sugar flavor, a dark sweet aroma, and some deep red hues to the beer.

 

[Cousinz]

sorry for the confusion what i really meant to ask was how would i know if i burnt or caramelized the dme during the wort boil? would i be able to taste the difference in the beer?

 

[david_42]

Yes, it would be fairly obvious, except maybe in a stout. The beer would also be darker than calculated.

If you burned the DME, you would see residue on the kettle.

 

[Cousinz]

Any description on what the taste may be like? or smell? Trying to rule out a "sweetness" in the taste/smell of all brews so far...