Nickhouse80
Active Member
I'm gonna ask a really stupid question now. Ready? Does crystal malt need to be crushed like all other grains? I assume it does.
I'm gonna ask a really stupid question now. Ready? Does crystal malt need to be crushed like all other grains? I assume it does.
Thanks for the quick replies. Another stupid question. If you don't mash it then what is the point of crushing it? What do you do with it?
I'm new and having a hard time with the difference between mashing and steeping. I've actually looked them both up in a "homebrew glossary" and still don't know the difference.
Very helpful information, especially to a beginning brewer like myself who had the same questions.
I recently did my first brew and mashed (?) some crushed Carapils Barley at 155*F for a half hour to convert starches to sugars. However at the time I was under the assumption that mashing and steeping were the same things (haha). But what I did was a mash right? Steeping would just be allowing certain grains in the water for whatever period of time at no specific degree of temp.? Am I right on this or still way off lol?
Ahhh... Its becoming clear. So would I steep crystal malt separate from mashing my base malt? or can I do it all together? or something totally different? From what I understand a base malt is to be mashed at approximately 150 degrees for about 45 minutes or so. Would I do the same when steeping crystal malt?
From what I understand a base malt is to be mashed at approximately 150 degrees for about 45 minutes or so. Would I do the same when steeping crystal malt?
You don't have to mash a crystal malt, because as the way it was kilned, it doesn't have the enzymes for converting starches to sugar.
No, you don't have to mash crystal because it's already converted, in the husk, during the stewing process. You CAN'T mash (just) crystal because it has no enzymes.
Well the sugars in crystal malt are unfermentable: they've been caramelized from the kilning and hence don't ferment to add sweetness to finished beer.
Purposely being anal.
Crystal malts are not kilned, but cooked moist in a process called "stewing".
Unfermentable sugars can absolutely add sweetness to beer.
Saying you don't have to mash crystal because there are no enzymes is like saying you don't have to mill coffee grounds because you don't have a mill.:cross:
My analogy is to point out that you don't have to mash crystal because it's already done. Like coffee grounds are already ground.
so if my recipe calls for 1 lb or crystal 60 and 1 lb of crystal 20 ... but i forgot to add them to the mash ... could i put them in a bag and heat them for 15 min in my kettle with the wert to get the same results?
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