CaraWheat vs. Caramel 40

[langdonk1]

Does the carawheat give off the same sweetness as C40? How are they similar? How are they different? Thnx

 

[Talgrath]

Carawheat is essentially wheat malted in a similar method to Crystal malt, which is barley; wheat tends to have more proteins so it will result in a cloudier beer, it also produces a thicker mouthfeel. In terms of taste, Carawheat and Crystal 40L will be similar, but the Carawheat will have a bit more of that earthy wheat flavor instead of the cleaner barley flavor.

 

[QuercusMax]

I recently made an American Pale Ale using 10lb Pale Ale malt and .5lb of Briess Caracrystal wheat, plus a total of 4.5oz of Chinook hops (3oz late kettle, 1.5oz dry hop).

It was a very tasty beer, but I didn't get quite as much caramel flavor out of the Caracrystal Wheat as I would have expected from the equivalent Crystal 40. It sure disappeared quickly though!

Might be fun to try comparing the two with each other. I know that for example Midnight Wheat has an extremely mild flavor but seems to really improve head retention, as compared with Dehusked Carafa III.