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Crystal malt vs British Crystal malt
Posted: Monday Jul 03, 2006 5:21 pm
by Cat
Howdy all,
I've been looking into crystal grains and was wondering what the major differences between normal crystal and british crystal were. I've heard stuff about colour and sweetness, etc.
How much crystal malt would you substitute for british malt to get the correct sweetness ratio? Or are they completely different grains?
Posted: Monday Jul 03, 2006 9:44 pm
by chris.
Cat,
You should be able to swap it 1:1 depending on the specs of the grain in the recipe & the grain your substituting with.
Do you know the lovibond/EBC of the grain? The colour (amount of kilning) of Crystal grain can affect the flavour in many ways. From sweet honey like flavours (produced by lighter crystals like caramalt, honey malt) through to toffee, plum, raisiny from the darker crystal types. Therefore if your trying to stay faithful to the recipe you should really try to substitute something close in EBC.
Then there's also the process of the maltster & the variety of grain they use. I tend to prefer English brands like Bairds & Thomas Fawcett (which I don't think is available in Oz anymore). I find the flavour of Bairds to be a little more richer & more to my liking than the equivilent Joe White (an Aust. Brand) Crystal. But I'll happily substitute JW if Bairds is unavailable. The Joe White Crystal is slightly lower in colour (125 compared to Bairds 140 from memory) & is pretty close in flavour.
Posted: Tuesday Jul 04, 2006 11:24 am
by Cat
Cheers, thanks for that chris. The grain I bought was regular crystal malt from Grain and Grape - I didn't ask for anything specific, so I think I just got the 'usual' stuff if that makes any sense
Posted: Tuesday Jul 04, 2006 12:06 pm
by Chris
The good old JW caramalt.
Posted: Tuesday Jul 04, 2006 12:48 pm
by chris.
More than likely is Joe White as its cheaper than the imports. Probably not Caramalt (40-60EBC) but the regular Crystal (125EBC)
Posted: Tuesday Jul 04, 2006 12:51 pm
by Chris
The best way to find out would probably be to read the front of the bag.
I find at G&G that you usually get JW cara as 'default' crystal.
Posted: Tuesday Jul 04, 2006 1:38 pm
by Ned
Wow, chris is arguing with himself.
Posted: Tuesday Jul 04, 2006 1:43 pm
by chris.
Chris wrote:The best way to find out would probably be to read the front of the bag.
Indeed. I'm not sure about G&G but the 3 or so HBS I order my grain from generally put the EBC (or atleast the grain type) on the bag.
Posted: Tuesday Jul 04, 2006 2:38 pm
by Cat
The bag I have from Brewcraft says the colour is 115 - 145 EBC. The Grain and Grape bag has no markings, but is similar in appearance, although the grains do look larger.
So in this case, would I be fine substituting the same amount of crystal grains for british crystal grains? Similar end result?