Crystal Malt really necessary?

[Retire2016]

Well, I've got about two dozen brews under my belt now, and with what little experience I've had with Crystal Malts (the capitalized versions...heh) they don't really seem to impart much complexity or flavor for me. Maybe it's my palate, but I'd much rather use other malts for flavor and yet again, other malts for color (or just not worry about color). Why do I see every other recipe (exaggeration?) include some form of crystal malt? It almost feels like cheating to use it to get color, and a waste to use it to get flavor.

Not trollin', just want to hear what other's opinions are on the use of crystal in recipes. Ever try to brew a recipe twice, once with crystal and another without (or with a substitute)?

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Crystal malt is really easy to overdo, but a pinch in certain styles can be appropriate. I did an ESB that was a bit heavy on Crystal, and I think I would definitely tone it down and look for alternative grains to fill that role if I were to brew that again.

It really depends on what you're brewing and where you want it to go. Nothing is ever really required if you don't want it and there are probably other ways to get color and body in your beers. If you do all grain you might be able to do without it entirely, but for extract and PM brewers having Crystal available for steeping is a help. Like two people may have two very different recipes for lasagna using completely different recipes and ingredients, both migh achieve a tasty product.

 

[LexusChris]

Well, if you don't like their flavor, you can certainly make beer without them. To each their own..

However, I taste differences between Crystal 20, 80 and 120.. so it may just be a difference in palates. Some styles really need the caramel sweetness that they provide. Others, you would want to avoid too much of it.

Aside from caramel flavors, they also provide non-fermentable dextrins, which give a heavier mouthfeel. Mouthfeel took a while for me to get used to noticing... but it does make a subtle difference in the brew.

Also, darker malts do impact mash pH which is important for all-grain brewers...

Happy brewing!
--LexusChris

 

[Robin0782]

They are fine in some styles. For me they definitely don't belong in IPA at all. I notice most IPA recipes usually have some for some reason. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Retire2016]

I tried adding some to one of my IPAs for the color, and it looked beautifully red in the fermentor, but came out almost blonde in the glass. That's when I about gave up on crystal.

I think I'll have to try a bunch of 1 gallon test batches of SMaSH+crystal of different L's.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[kingwood-kid]

I use crystal in very few recipes because I don't like the caramelly flavors it brings. I like toasted/roasted malts much better. You definitely don't need to use them if you don't care for them. They're pretty important for certain styles, but you're under no obligation to brew those styles, nor to brew them the usual way.

 

[grathan]

What's the most you ever used in a recipe? I wondered the same thing until I used 1.5# one time. Now I can spot crystal malt in all the beers I drink.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

A common rule of thumb is to keep Crystal less than 10% of your total grain bill. Some would say 5%. Many say 0%! It really can add a lot of malt sweetness that won't ferment or age away, so you need to be careful with it.

Again, if you are looking at maltier styles it may be completely appropriate, but it probably doesn't have a place in styles that tend toward crisp dryness and hops. If you need color for those styles you probably want to look at steeping grains other than Crystal.

 

[Yooper]

It depends on what you're making.

An American amber is really not an amber without crystal malt, and up to 15% is ok if the beer is hopped well.

For an IPA, often I don't use crystal malt. Also, cream ales and pilsners and many other styles don't typically have crystal malt in them.

It really depends on the style, and the goals of the brewer for flavor.

 

[ShootsNRoots]

You may wish to review the following threads regarding crystal malt fermentability and it's contribution of unfermentable sugars:

http://beertech.blogspot.com/2011/03/crystal-malt-experiment-attenuation.html
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/testing-fermentability-crystal-malt-208361/
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=9465.0

 

[BeerGrylls]

I thought that in addition to color, flavor, and mouthfeel, they were also responsible for better head retention. What would you use instead?

 

[JLem]

I thought that in addition to color, flavor, and mouthfeel, they were also responsible for better head retention. What would you use instead?

Any all-malt beer should have plenty of head. That said, wheat and flaked barley both contribute foam forming proteins. Also, isomerized alpha acids help promote/stabilize foam. So higher IBU beers should have more head retention. Alcohol, however, can impede foam formation, so bigger beers tend to have less head.

 

[Yooper]

I thought that in addition to color, flavor, and mouthfeel, they were also responsible for better head retention. What would you use instead?

It depends on the beer. I do use crystal malt in my stout, but I get much of that "famous" head on it from flaked barley.

A well made beer will have good head retention without crystal malt, as a rule. As Jlem said, hoppy beers will have great foam and head even with no crystal malt at all.

I think of crystal malt as just one more tool in a brewer's arsenal of ingredients. Just like with cooking, you don't put garlic in everything (but often it's perfect!), crystal malt doesn't go in everything either.

 

[gbarron]

There is an article in the most recent edition of Zymurgy wherein the author makes crystal malt "teas" and compares each in terms of color, flavor, aroma, etc. It may be of interest to you. She looked at several different degrees of kilning.

 

[ShootsNRoots]

There is an article in the most recent edition of Zymurgy wherein the author makes crystal malt "teas" and compares each in terms of color, flavor, aroma, etc. It may be of interest to you. She looked at several different degrees of kilning.

Does she ferment them? The problem with most of these experiments is that the author only mashes and fails to ferment. You might say Crystal 10 is extremely sweet after mash... but what about in the final beer?

 

[Homercidal]

I use crystal in a lot of my beers. Like Yooper says, it's often not appropriate in a style of beer, and almost required in some. And there are some types that can be brewed with or without. I prefer my IPAs with a little bit of lower Lovibond crystal for flavor and sweetness. Ambers would use even more and a bit higher lovibond too.

It's just another ingredient, like wheat, oats, etc. Use if you wish, or not.

It's a known scientific fact that people taste things differently. Brewhatchlike!

 

[Jayhem]

Just like with cooking, you don't put garlic in everything (but often it's perfect!), crystal malt doesn't go in everything either.

I suppose that depends on who you are talking to! I put garlic in 95% of what I cook.


I use Crystal 60 in most of my recipes. In low quantities it adds just the right color to my pale ale and IPA recipes while keeping them dry. I guess it's one of those preference things because I dislike toasted/roasted malts but enjoy the caramel flavors in a highly hopped ale.

 

[Krovitz]

I make a pretty good Irish red my bmc friend loves with about 1.5 lbs of different crystal Malts. At competition, I was told there wasn't enough caramel/ toffee flavor and I should have entered my 6% red as a Scottish light. Ha. (he was right BTW, next competition I took second place in the category)

I have drifted away from crystal myself but I usually brew "lighter" styles. I think it was Yooper that suggested to someone to use biscuit, amber malt, or aromatic malt in an ipa. That advice has led to some great beers.

 

[Retire2016]

I'm trying honey malt, aromatic and biscuit in the brew I'm making right now; partial mash tonight. First time with honey and aromatic, but I love me some biscuit.

 

[Malticulous]

I use it in 95% or more of my recipes. I even started add 2% caramunich in my CAP. It doesn't have much of a flavor contribution but makes what would be a straw color beer a nice shade of gold. Most of the smash beer I've made I could not help but think as a drank them that they needed a little of some kind of crystal malt.

Crystal malts can differ widely and not just by color. The same malts by different maltsters taste different, even Great Western and Briess.