Specialty Grains: Carapils & Caramunich

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wardy

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Hi Everyone!!

I bought 500g of each of these specialty grains, carapils and caramunich, and want to know what beers they are suited towards. Should i use them in Lager/Ale or both. They both look very light in colour and i that is why i bought them. When i used crystal malt and realised how fabulous it can make a beer (mouth feel and body), i figured my pale beers must be missing out.

Both say they have no enzime content, so i assume they can be steeped instead of mashed.

Anyone ever added any amounts of these to any of their lagers or ales?
 
Wardy, both of these malts are crystal malts and can be steeped although Carapils is more intended to be mashed. The Carapils is VERY pale at 3 to 5 EBC and is mainly used to increase body, mouthfeel and head retention in lager beers and wheat beers. Use at 3 to 5% of the total grain bill.

Caramunich is a standard crystal malt and a trade name of Weyermann Malting. They produce this product in 3 colour ranges, so it may be helpful to get the colour from your supplier. Caramunich I is 80-100 EBC, Caramunich II is 110-130 EBC and Caramunich III is 140-160 EBC.

You can use up to 10% of the paler version in ales and other specialty beers but I would hold the darker version at a max of 5%. The flavour can be quite strong and will overpower lighter styles of beer. Not normally used in lagers.

Wes.
 
Hmmmm thought the cara- malts were designed for lagers?

Jovial Monk
 
JM, from a puristic point of view, there is no place for "standard" crystals in a lager. Carapils, Caramalt and Carahell, yes, in very small amounts - but not Caramunich or those equivalent crystal malts from other manufacturers. If the brewer wants a more malty flavour/aroma they typically use munich or melanoidin to add a bit of maltiness, but not high colour/high flavour crystal..

Wes.
 
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