Pages: 1 2
crystal and specialty grains
ok someone please explain the purpose of crystal and specialty grains.
crystal malt, victory malt, chocolate malt, carapils, black patent, carafa III, caravienne, caramunich, biscuit malt, acid malt , aromatic malt are a few.
Color, flavor, head retension, and aroma mostly. It depends on the type and how much you use. I use a lot of crystal because I like the color and the caramel flavors from the lower lovibonds.
Each grain has its purpose. Munich for malty, carapils for head retention, crystal 10L to 120L for different flavors, melanoidin for bread like, and so forth.
If you want details on specific grains, just google the name. That's what I used to do. Different grain has different characteristics. It just depends on what you are looking for.
Anything that's not a base malt is a specialty. They add color or flavor, usually both. It's like cooking with spices, you can do it without, but adding some depth to the flavor adds a lot to the finished product.
so it's more of an experimentation thing, find out what it does and try it? I'm developing at a Brown ale recipe and it has 3 types (chocolate, crystal,victory) of special but i then question do i really need that many when they may give the same color or one may drown another out in color and/or flavor, or should i simplify it and go with brown malt.
Well each of those types of specialty grain are completely different from each other and just using brown malt doesn't make a brown ale... The idea with using more specialty grains is it usually makes for a more complex beer. Complex in that you'll get different flavor aspects in the beer.
Have you actually tried to read up on what each one of these grains adds to the beer? Highly recommended. In addition you might check out the BJCP website and check out the style guidelines for brown ale.
As an aside, if you've never used brown malt be aware that it's actually quite bitter.
DT
I have a question about the reference to crystal malt above: Is that what "Crystal" refers to in the commercial Labatt's brand of that name?
I always thought it was just an image of pure, clear taste or something like that.
No crystal refers to a malt that receives a special malting process. Some of the sugars in the grain are converted and carmalized during the process. The number following a crystal grain refers to the color it will impart to the beer. If you were to make a brew with all 15L crystal the color would hit 15L. The higher the number the more color and more toasted, carmel flavor you will impart to the beer. At 120L you're getting some coffee, roasted flavors as well.
The best thing to do is pick up "Designing Great Beers" it will give you a style of beer and show you what types of specialty grains are commonly used and in what percentages. In most cases, you want to keep specialties under 20% of your total grain bill.
cmanley has some good advise. Designing Great Beers will definitely give you some insight to the use of specialty grains and what styles of beers most commonly use particular specialty grains. Even if you may never make your own recipes, the book has some good information that many experienced brewers can use.
You may also consider choosing one or two specialty grains and experimenting with them. If progress through several of the grains this way, you can find the types you like and how you like to use them.
i did read the guidelines, and, for the brown ale example, i read what the potential specialty ingredients would do . it just seemed that some of them were repetitive , but i understand that it may help make a more complex beer.
Each of these malts has a different flavor, though, so they really aren't too repetitive. The chocolate malt does give you a chocolate flavor. The crystal malt, which I assume is a relatively high L rating such as 80L or higher, gives a roasted flavor. And, the victory malt will give a biscuity/nutty flavor to the beer. The combination should give you complex flavor profile.
Pages: 1 2