Use of low color crystal/cara malt

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Shenanigans

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Hi All,

I wanted to order some normal Fawcett Caramalt (10 to 12 Lovibond) but ordered the pale version ( about 6 Lovibond) by mistake.
Over the years I've ordered about 10 pounds of other low color crystal/caramalt that I haven't really used.
I have Carahell, Carablonde, Pale Caramalt, Carabelge which are all from 5 to 15 Lovibond.

I brew a lot of IPAs and have never needed to use much of these except the normal Caramalt in some British beers.
Do you know some recipes which use a decent amount low color crystal malt?
IPA would be preferred but any other suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks.

:mug:
 
The crystal malt police would have a field day with that recipe, 28% carahell in a pale ale
Maybe the "crystal malt police" can "stand down" while the the lead investigators do their investigation thing :).

seriously, it might be a typo.

Although I've done a couple of 25%-ish crystal malt beers. The beer (obviously) comes out sweet; and many people here don't like those type of beers.

eta: I don't have light crystal 'in stock' otherwise I'd queue up a gallon batch of this. Curiousity did nothing more to the cat than kill a couple of hours. :)
 
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Maybe the "crystal malt police" can "stand down" while the the lead investigators do their investigation thing :).

seriously, it might be a typo.

Although I've done a couple of 25%-ish crystal malt beers. The beer (obviously) comes out sweet; and many people here don't like those type of beers.

eta: I don't have light crystal 'in stock' otherwise I'd queue up a gallon batch of this. Curiousity did nothing more to the cat than kill a couple of hours. :)

:)

I'll see what other suggestions I get but I might put it on my to brew list for sometime in the next 6 months.
If it ends up being too sweet I can always pour off a pint, make a hop tea and add it back to the keg.
 
Thanks for the tip, exactly the type of recipe I was looking for.
The crystal malt police would have a field day with that recipe, 28% carahell in a pale ale :oops:
Carahell tastes more like a basemalt than a crystal malt. Big part of it's starches is also still not converted. 30% of the grist is no problem at all.
 
Carahell tastes more like a basemalt than a crystal malt. Big part of it's starches is also still not converted. 30% of the grist is no problem at all.

Looks like you are right.

https://bsgcraftbrewing.com/weyermann-carahell-25-kg
Under specifications it says up to 30%

I wonder if I could incorporate it into an NEIPA, just replace 0.5 Kg base malt with it.
People already have different opinions about adding a bit of crystal (mainly Honey Malt) to an NEIPA so maybe this would be a way to get a more subtle flavor in there and help use it up. 🤔

I have Cara hell from both Best Malz and Weyermann I think but these should be interchangeable.
Cara Blond from Castle Malting should also be very similar.

Carabelge I only have a little bit of and have a use for it, also worked well in a Cali Belgique clone as a sub for C-15.

I just need to see what I can do with the Light Fawcett's Caramalt.
Maybe an English golden ale?
 
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Fawcett is probably a different thing, more like a real crystal malt. I wouldn't hesitate throwing it into an IPA at 10% with pale malt making up the rest of the grist. Or a pa. English or American, both should work, also your blond ale idea!
 
Well I never got around to brewing a Donner Pass but I've used up some in a few NEIPA recipes and they turned out nice.

However now I've discovered that I have a similar problem with CaraRed which is similar to crystal 20.
I thought I was running low on it and ordered another Kilo recently only to discover I now have almost 3 kilos of the stuff.😖
I blame Beersmith for not saving my changes in my inventory properly :rolleyes:
 
At work we make beer for a contract brewer who always has 15-30% caramel malts in his recipes, without fail. They are all sweet, but I can see how they might attract some people.

Otherwise make a big beer with a lot of these caramel malts for ageing. Often they turn more mellow and raisiney over time. Add a bit of toasted oak chips in there for some barrel character, medium bitterness and there you go. Perfect gift beer for the holidays. :)
Make a big batch so you can bottle quite a few of them in some large bottles (75cl is always a good size). But also use up the malt you don't want to have. Then you can open one every year for a while at least.

I blame Beersmith for not saving my changes in my inventory properly
Always do periodical inventory checks! They are a live saver ;)
 
At work we make beer for a contract brewer who always has 15-30% caramel malts in his recipes, without fail. They are all sweet, but I can see how they might attract some people.

Otherwise make a big beer with a lot of these caramel malts for ageing. Often they turn more mellow and raisiney over time. Add a bit of toasted oak chips in there for some barrel character, medium bitterness and there you go. Perfect gift beer for the holidays. :)
Make a big batch so you can bottle quite a few of them in some large bottles (75cl is always a good size). But also use up the malt you don't want to have. Then you can open one every year for a while at least.


Always do periodical inventory checks! They are a live saver ;)

Might give that a go with a big beer for longer aging; maybe make some over the top patchwork beer to use up excess malts and hops.
Bottle it and like you say age it over a few years and see how it develops.

I also found a recipe for a Rogue Brutal IPA that would help use some low color crystal.
It has 2 pounds of Caravienna in it, which is same color as CaraRed.
It also asks for a lot of Carawheat which I also want to use up.
I'm just missing the crystal hops but I'll sub them with some German Saphire of which I have 1/2 a pound in the freezer.
 
Might give that a go with a big beer for longer aging; maybe make some over the top patchwork beer to use up excess malts and hops.
Bottle it and like you say age it over a few years and see how it develops.
It is my favourite way of having gifts and do clean up in my malt bin :)

I also found a recipe for a Rogue Brutal IPA that would help use some low color crystal.
It has 2 pounds of Caravienna in it, which is same color as CaraRed.
It also asks for a lot of Carawheat which I also want to use up.
I'm just missing the crystal hops but I'll sub them with some German Saphire of which I have 1/2 a pound in the freezer.
Sounds interesting!
My experience with German Saphir is it being a very mild and delicate. So depending the other hops they might over power it. But maybe it was just my harvest that was like that? It was an organic grown one.
 
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