Malt confusion -

[Braufather]

i regularly seem to be scratching my head when looking at recipes trying to work out the exact malt needed( eg when they just specify Crystal for example)

latest query i have is for the brewdog 5am Saint clone. it asks for Crystal 150, (which is a step up from just specifying crystal, so credit there) but is this 150 lovibond or EBC.

either way when i plug the recipe into brewers friend i don't get anywhere near the target EBC of 60- anyone tried this recipe?

is crystal 150 common? i cant seem to find it. i am guessing it would be medium crystal but not sure?

 

[johnnyboy1965]

150 is the EBC of the Crystal Malt. You wont get a 150 EBC beer as you are diluting it with a base malt of 5 ish EBC

 

[Lesinge]

i regularly seem to be scratching my head when looking at recipes trying to work out the exact malt needed( eg when they just specify Crystal for example)

latest query i have is for the brewdog 5am Stout clone. it asks for Crystal 150, (which is a step up from just specifying crystal, so credit there) but is this 150 lovibond or EBC.

either way when i plug the recipe into brewers friend i don't get anywhere near the target EBC of 60- anyone tried this recipe?

is crystal 150 common? i cant seem to find it. i am guessing it would be medium crystal but not sure?

I think this is a specific type of malt as Muntons mention it as such, according to this site it has an EBC of between 130-170. There is also a Belgium Cyrstal called Cheauteau Crystal 150.

http://www.muntons-inc.com/craft-brewery-products/

 

[Braufather]

ok cheers for that, i was thinking medium crystal more likely.

also Target EBC is 60, full grain bill as below.

a couple more queries - can i use carahell in place of caramalt as that can be bought by the gram. Also i seemed to be faced with a choice of either dark Munich or light Munich rather than regular Munich, thinking going dark.


extra Pale 2.56kg
caramalt 880g
Munich 630g
crystal 150 380g
Dark crystal 130g

cant get this to come in at 60 EBC on brewersfriend though.

Also regarding hops - although loads of flavour hop additions at the end and in the FV , only 5g of bittering hops at the beginning ? seems remarkably low? anyone Have thoughts on that?

 

[johnnyboy1965]

STOP..way to much specialist malt there...undrinkable

 

[johnnyboy1965]

Please do not proceed with this recipe

 

[johnnyboy1965]

What style/type of beer do you want to brew?

 

[terrym]

Thread on Crystal Malt here......
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=68736
I agree with johnnyboy1965, way too much Crystal type malts.

 

[Lesinge]

I agree too, that will be one sweet beer!

 

[geetee]

Reading up on crystal malts the suggestion is that one is more than enough, your crystal, dark and caramalt are all doing the same thing. If it were me I would choose Munich plus one of them depending on how dark you want your beer

See the link here for tips
http://beersmith.com/blog/2014/06/26/caramel-and-crystal-malt-in-beer-brewing/

 

[Zephyr259]

STOP..way to much specialist malt there...undrinkable

Any malt in particular that makes you say this? It's a similar ratio of speciality malts as their jet black heart stout which I've brewed and it's really tasty, but a different style.

 

[Braufather]

It's on the brew dog website and also on brewers friend. I am drinking a glass now and it is quite sweet but also very hoppy. It's an American red ale.

Was going to order tomorrow but now have doubts. Maybe go for a cascade pale ale instead. Give the crystal a swerve for now!

 

[Blinky]

I was going to make this tomorrow! But I too was wondering about the amount of crystal malts in it. Is the DIY Dog recipe wrong then?

 

[IainM]

I was going to make this tomorrow! But I too was wondering about the amount of crystal malts in it. Is the DIY Dog recipe wrong then?

I don't think so. If you look at this thread, Mush and MrRock both did it to good effect. Also, if you look at the recipe there is a lot of sweet malt, but this is balanced by loads of hops. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Blinky]

Well just finished brewing it, pretty much to the recipe, maybe a touch less crystal and a bit more hops (I feel they always get more hop utilisation than we meere home brewers do)..... Will keep you all posted

 

[JapanBrew]

If it was me, I would up it to 3 kg of pale malt,
Keep the Munich
No more than 300 g of cara
Then no more than 300 g of some kind of crystal. If you need color, throw in some chocomalt, but like 10 g at a time. That'll give you color real fast.
However, the problem is pale malt has a lower conversion power, something like 80%. You really should have a kg of a base malt. Pilsner or 2 row. Those have very high conversation power that will allow you to go above 10% of specialty malts.

 

[TheQuokka]

80% of what? Pale malts usually have a high diastatic power, 125 or more.

He's obviously already made it and can tell us how it turned out soon enough - maybe throw a cup of bleach in a bottle or two and do a swap with Johnnyboy?

I agree with Zephyr that the ratio looks more like a porter or stout, though they are usually balancing the bitterness of highly roasted grains. To each his own.

 

[BlackIsland]

i regularly seem to be scratching my head when looking at recipes trying to work out the exact malt needed( eg when they just specify Crystal for example)

latest query i have is for the brewdog 5am Saint clone. it asks for Crystal 150, (which is a step up from just specifying crystal, so credit there) but is this 150 lovibond or EBC.

150 is the EBC of the Crystal Malt. You wont get a 150 EBC beer as you are diluting it with a base malt of 5 ish EBC

I just wanted to comment on the points asked and stated here. Crystal 150 is a Lovibond measurement. Lovibond is a measure of malt color. EBC and SRM are both a measure of WORT color. Lovibond can be used to predict SRM and EBC colors, but as johnnyboy1965 said, it will not be equal due to dilution.

 

[Zephyr259]

I originally thought the same regarding their numbered crystal malts but I'm now thinking that instead of lovibond they are quoting the EBC rating. A 150 EBC crystal is roughly 60L and that makes sense in the case of the recipe it was in. Also I think they want a crystal 350 in one beer which is a bit high of a number for lovibond. I may well be wrong though.

 

[Pawlo7671]

EBC is about half of the lovibond rating, so crystal 40 gives about 20L