I have been partial mash brewing for about 7 years and recently changed where I buy my supplies. In preparation to brew my own recipe porter I went to get some specialty grains at my supply store. In the past I had purchased crystal and caramel malts from another store and the subject never came up but this time I asked for the two grains and the owner said they were the same grains only called differently by the grain suppliers. Are they indeed the same?
raidr7
Yes, this is indeedy true, I believe those on the east side of the pond (UK) call it Crystal & we in the US call it Caramel. You are able to buy it by either name, but for all intent & purpose, they are the same thing.
Also, as a side note different companies (Briess, Simpson, etc) may call them by different names.
Kent
Is this the same as caramalt?
All malted barley that has been kilned at high temperatures caramalises the starch with some sugar conversion. The caramalised sugary starch appears glassy and has crystaline structure. Hence the two names, Crystal malt from the crystaline appearance and Caramal malt from the caramalising process. Other names are employed to better describe the crystal malt based on the level of kilning used (ie) time and temperature. Names like chocolate, black patent etc. Malt kilned at high temps destroys the active enzymes. Unmalted kilned grain is not called crystal or caramal malt. Steve W.
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