# Caramalt And Amber Malt



## Yeasty (30/8/07)

Hi ive got a bit of grain here and was wondering what to use em for...

I know amber malt has a signiture biscuity flavour/aroma but was wondering what beer(s) to use it in?

Same with the caramalt...

thanks.


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## Adamt (30/8/07)

Peruse the BJCP styles for ideas on what grains to use in what "styles".

Just as a couple of examples:

Amber malt is good for amber ales (wow really?), brown ales, bitters, milds, and many others I'm sure.

Amber and caramalt sounds like an amber ale to me though.

Edit: added link


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## rwh (30/8/07)

Cara is roughly equivalent to light crystal. At least, it's the same thing in the JW range.


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## Stuster (30/8/07)

Amber malt is good in dark beers, browns and porters. It's also good in bitters and American ambers. I've yet to use caramalt, but I've got some that I'll probably just use it as a light crystal as rwh says.


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## Yeasty (30/8/07)

cool thanks.

Ive done some digging and found the cara to be in the 40-60 EBC range...

edit/

got the info from here for more accuracy

http://www.joewhitemaltings.com.au/products.html


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## rwh (30/8/07)

So according to that, Caramalt (30-60 EBC) is a different colour to Caramel (60-120 EBC) but the same as Amber (30-60 EBC). Is the Amber different to the Caramalt in some other way?


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## wessmith (30/8/07)

The JW Caramalt is a dextrinous crystal malt designed to build body and colour into the lower alcohol beers for mainstream breweries. Amber is high colour "pale" malt toasted to give a biscuity aroma/flavour. I would not use the Caramalt in an ale.

Wes


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## Stuster (30/8/07)

Amber malt is not a crystal malt. It's usually pale ale malt that's been kilned, while caramalt is produced in a similar manner to crystal malt where the germinated barley is firstly stewed then roasted. There's heaps of info on the net about this, one clear explanation is here.

Amber malt you can easily make at home BTW, just by whacking it in the oven.

Edit: Beaten to the post by the master.  

What would you recommend using the caramalt for, Wes?


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## jayse (30/8/07)

rwh said:


> So according to that, Caramalt (30-60 EBC) is a different colour to Caramel (60-120 EBC) but the same as Amber (30-60 EBC). Is the Amber different to the Caramalt in some other way?



Amber malt is not a crystal malt like caramalt is, its toasted pale malt.

The JWM amber is quite a bit lower in colour than the UK ambers, I used the JWM amber in a wee heavy once upon a time and it didn't quite have the richer toasted biscuit character as the TF one, But saying that is was very old at the time, i found it in a bag stuck in a corner of a brew shop and was told it had been there for about five years. Why I even bothered using it I don't know but the beer was awesome.

For the TF amber my fave use is in porters but a little can work in bitters, browns and ambers you have to be quite carefull not to overdo it though but porter can take 10% no probs. The others I'd stick with 5%.

JWM caramalt I used once and threw the rest of it out in disgust, maybe it wasn't the malts fault why that beer didn't cut the mustard but the fact that the crystal was quite cloying and not as nice as others didn't do much for me.

Maybe with that single use of it some years back with not so good result I shouldn't comment too much as it seems many brewers do use it. How good the beers are I have no idea.


B,B & BB.
Jayse

EDIT: Beaten to the post twice.


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## jayse (30/8/07)

wessmith said:


> The JW Caramalt is a dextrinous crystal malt designed to build body and colour into the lower alcohol beers for mainstream breweries. Amber is high colour "pale" malt toasted to give a biscuity aroma/flavour. I would not use the Caramalt in an ale.
> 
> Wes



With this I would say my original thoughts on the caramalt must be accurate.
Cheers Wes.





Jayse


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## Stuster (30/8/07)

Well, after actually reading Wes' post :blink:  I see what he means.


Damn. And now what do I do with 1kg of Caramalt. :angry: Any ISB K'n'Kers want some caramalt? :lol:


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## T.D. (30/8/07)

jayse said:


> JWM caramalt I used once and threw the rest of it out in disgust, maybe it wasn't the malts fault why that beer didn't cut the mustard but the fact that the crystal was quite cloying and not as nice as others didn't do much for me.



Jayse I couldn't agree with you more. I've tried JW Caramalt a few times and really don't like it. In a really weird way it even feels as if when used in the same proportion as darker crystals, caramalt seems to give a more over the top sweetness. I would much rather use a darker crystal malt than caramalt.


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## Yeasty (30/8/07)

Stuster said:


> What would you recommend using the caramalt for, Wes?



+1 What would i use it for then? I see that it is used in lagers, but what could i make (give us an example etc)


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## Amber Fluid (12/3/12)

I found this in a search for Caramalt as a crystal. However, I am curious as to why so many negative posts using Caramalt. I personally find it great as a staple in most Ales so why so much negativity?


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## RdeVjun (12/3/12)

Amber Fluid said:


> I found this in a search for Caramalt as a crystal. However, I am curious as to why so many negative posts using Caramalt. I personally find it great as a staple in most Ales so why so much negativity?


Hear hear, not one bit out of place in my ales where it is used with gay abandon and I've never even considered using it in a lager. Mind you I haven't used spec malt in any lager for yonks except perhaps for the odd Schwartzbier or Dunkel so maybe that's not the best guide. :blink: Maybe they're making it differently now though? :unsure: 
Oh, and way to go for thread dredge- like your style AF, but in all fairness it did warrant resuscitation with the question! :icon_cheers:


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