Hi,
I'm looking at brewing from some US recipes. I have a question around the naming of American grains e.g. what is:
Crystal 10L (Crystal malt I guess - what does the 10L signify).
2-row pale malt (is this just base malt e.g. Marris Otter?)
Cheers!
Grant.
US Grain translation
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Re: US Grain translation
Hi Grant,
10L stands for 10 degrees Lovibond, a measurement of color which indirectly indicates how caramelized it is. 10 is very low. This is sometimes sold as "Light Crystal Malt." It's darker than Vienna (typically 4L) and about the same as Munich, which might be a decent substitution. It is much lighter even than "English Pale Crystal Malt" which I think is typically around 40L.
You're right about 2-row pale. There is simply an old agricultural distinction between barley varieties with two rows of kernels (considered superior for brewing by most of the world's brewers) versus six-row barley varieties (better suited to growing in North America, so it found its way into many American beers, but is mainly used as animal feed.) Farmers further delineate barley varieties by growing season, but I digress.
Yes, pretty much any pale malt you can buy is automatically a two-row variety: Maris Otter, Optic, Halcyon, Golden Promise, Tipple, Pipkin, Alexis, Pilsener...you name it. Basically, I bet anything called Pale Malt that doesn't specifically begin with "Six-Row" will be interchangeable for you. This was simply the American author's short-hand way of saying, "insist on the good stuff, true 2-row brewer's barley malt, not the cheaper 6-row American stuff..."
That said, I quite like some 6-row malt mixed in with my recipes. The higher enzyme content helps convert unmalted grains, and it adds some body back in when using adjuct sugars (which would normally thin it out too much.) Reading Ron Pattinson's historical English recipes, I've been pleasantly surprised by how many of your historic breweries imported it, probably for the same reasons.
10L stands for 10 degrees Lovibond, a measurement of color which indirectly indicates how caramelized it is. 10 is very low. This is sometimes sold as "Light Crystal Malt." It's darker than Vienna (typically 4L) and about the same as Munich, which might be a decent substitution. It is much lighter even than "English Pale Crystal Malt" which I think is typically around 40L.
You're right about 2-row pale. There is simply an old agricultural distinction between barley varieties with two rows of kernels (considered superior for brewing by most of the world's brewers) versus six-row barley varieties (better suited to growing in North America, so it found its way into many American beers, but is mainly used as animal feed.) Farmers further delineate barley varieties by growing season, but I digress.
Yes, pretty much any pale malt you can buy is automatically a two-row variety: Maris Otter, Optic, Halcyon, Golden Promise, Tipple, Pipkin, Alexis, Pilsener...you name it. Basically, I bet anything called Pale Malt that doesn't specifically begin with "Six-Row" will be interchangeable for you. This was simply the American author's short-hand way of saying, "insist on the good stuff, true 2-row brewer's barley malt, not the cheaper 6-row American stuff..."
That said, I quite like some 6-row malt mixed in with my recipes. The higher enzyme content helps convert unmalted grains, and it adds some body back in when using adjuct sugars (which would normally thin it out too much.) Reading Ron Pattinson's historical English recipes, I've been pleasantly surprised by how many of your historic breweries imported it, probably for the same reasons.
Re: US Grain translation
Thanks for the comprehensive reply! After a bit of Google research, I've learned that SRM and Lovibond are pretty interchangeable and so the formula for EBC (which are the units in which my grains are described in terms of colour) to SRM is:
EBC = 2.65 * SRM - 1.2
So there you go, something new learned tonight. Now time to order some grains .....
EBC = 2.65 * SRM - 1.2
So there you go, something new learned tonight. Now time to order some grains .....
Re: US Grain translation
Lager malt is a good sub for 2 row, or a 50/50 MO to Lager malt mix - so I have read! I have used lager malt in SNPA clone too
Re: US Grain translation
Yes I was looking at a pilsner recipe (http://beerrecipes.org/showrecipe.php?recipeid=1137) which called for Crystal 10L which got me thinking about colour. In the end I've ordered caramalt which is in the same ballpark (and a larger base malt).