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Crystal (Caramel) Malt

A stewed malt in which the sugars are crystallised, adding caramel, toffee and residual sweetness plus colour.

What Crystal (Caramel) Malt is

Crystal or caramel malt is made by stewing wet malt so that its starches convert to sugars inside the husk, then kilning it so those sugars crystallise. Much of this sugar is unfermentable, so it survives into the finished beer as sweetness, body and colour.

It comes in a wide range of colours, from light caramel through deep raisin and burnt-sugar tones. A small addition gives an ale its caramel backbone and fuller body; too much makes a beer cloyingly sweet, so it is used with restraint.

Colour and flavour

Colour: 10 to 120 degrees Lovibond (wide range). Malt colour is measured in degrees Lovibond, or the metric EBC, and is a rough guide to flavour intensity as well as to the shade the malt lends the beer.

Flavour and character: Caramel, toffee and raisin depending on colour, with unfermentable sweetness and body..

How much to use

Typical proportion of the grist: Typically 3 to 15% of the grist. Adjust to taste and to the style you are brewing; the figures here are a starting point, not a rule.

Crystal (Caramel) Malt is a crystal (caramel) malt. Its sugars are already converted, so it can be steeped or added to the mash for colour, caramel flavour and unfermentable sweetness. It is central to styles such as English Bitter, Amber Ale, Brown Ale, Barleywine and Scottish Ale, where it does much to define the flavour and colour, and it can be used in smaller amounts in many other beers. As with any grain, the right amount depends on the beer you are building, so treat the proportions here as a tested starting point rather than a fixed rule.

Related

Sources: BJCP Beer Style Guidelines · How to Brew (John Palmer), malt reference