Can I Steep Chateau Crystal?

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AdrianTrace
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Can I Steep Chateau Crystal?

Post by AdrianTrace » Wed Apr 13, 2016 8:47 pm

For the grain part of my last bulk order from HBC I went down their list of caramel malts picking out things that looked good (I'll worry about recipes later :D) and some Chateau Crystal (http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/cha ... -2496.html) ended up in the order. Now that I'm looking at how to best use it I'm a little concerned about the "stronger diastatic power" description, and I notice (now :roll:) that it doesn't have "Cara" in the name; Crystal looks like it might be a name rather than a type :?

Can I steep this for my extract brewing, or does it have to be mashed to avoid starch problems?
Ready to go: Malt extract, grain, yeast and a freezer full of hops.
Fermenting: Nowt.
Conditioning: Nelson's Revenge.
Drinking: Stop Wining, Firsty Gold, DarkMun, Yankee, Porter, ApAht, Cider, Mead, Tripel, Elderflower beer, Gluten Free, beer, wine, port, gin,beer, wine, port, gin...

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Hanglow
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Re: Can I Steep Chateau Crystal?

Post by Hanglow » Wed Apr 13, 2016 9:21 pm

Not sure how any 150EBC grain has any diastatic power left. I'd steep it no problem, but you may want some input form someone who has actually used it first :)

AdrianTrace
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Re: Can I Steep Chateau Crystal?

Post by AdrianTrace » Wed Apr 13, 2016 10:02 pm

Cheers Hanglow. If no-one has tried, I can just chuck it into a brew and see what happens. Onward & upward :D
Ready to go: Malt extract, grain, yeast and a freezer full of hops.
Fermenting: Nowt.
Conditioning: Nelson's Revenge.
Drinking: Stop Wining, Firsty Gold, DarkMun, Yankee, Porter, ApAht, Cider, Mead, Tripel, Elderflower beer, Gluten Free, beer, wine, port, gin,beer, wine, port, gin...

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IPA
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Re: Can I Steep Chateau Crystal?

Post by IPA » Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:16 am

Here you are. Everything you need to know about Chateau malt. Also sold under the name of Castle Malt in English speaking countries.
http://www.castlemalting.com/CastleMalt ... ge=English#

They also produce some special malts for Dingeman such as Special B
Click on the "malt in a few words " for a brief description of each one.
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AdrianTrace
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Re: Can I Steep Chateau Crystal?

Post by AdrianTrace » Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:45 am

IPA wrote:Here you are. Everything you need to know about Chateau malt. Also sold under the name of Castle Malt in English speaking countries.
http://www.castlemalting.com/CastleMalt ... ge=English#
Thanks IPA. That's a site I had seen, and is more detailed than the info on HBC's site (they use the malts in a few words description), but unfortunately it doesn't give information about usage (whether mashing is necessary or if steeping is OK).

The "cara" grains all have the "glassy endosperm" description, which is why I'm thinking there may be confusion around "Crystal" in the name (both by me and HBC): normally this indicates a crystal/caramel malt suitable for extract brewing, but may just be the name (like Biscuit, Cafe, Arome etc).
Ready to go: Malt extract, grain, yeast and a freezer full of hops.
Fermenting: Nowt.
Conditioning: Nelson's Revenge.
Drinking: Stop Wining, Firsty Gold, DarkMun, Yankee, Porter, ApAht, Cider, Mead, Tripel, Elderflower beer, Gluten Free, beer, wine, port, gin,beer, wine, port, gin...

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PhilB
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Re: Can I Steep Chateau Crystal?

Post by PhilB » Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:40 am

Hi Adrian

There's a "Contact Us" button on that website that IPA pointed at ... you're a customer of their products looking for clarification on how to use them (and get the best out of them), so I can't imagine any reason why they wouldn't get back in touch, if you were to ask them your "mash vs steep" question :?

Cheers, PhilB

AdrianTrace
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Re: Can I Steep Chateau Crystal?

Post by AdrianTrace » Thu Apr 14, 2016 1:33 pm

#-o That's a good idea - done now, thanks.
Ready to go: Malt extract, grain, yeast and a freezer full of hops.
Fermenting: Nowt.
Conditioning: Nelson's Revenge.
Drinking: Stop Wining, Firsty Gold, DarkMun, Yankee, Porter, ApAht, Cider, Mead, Tripel, Elderflower beer, Gluten Free, beer, wine, port, gin,beer, wine, port, gin...

AdrianTrace
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Location: Botley, Hampshire

Re: Can I Steep Chateau Crystal?

Post by AdrianTrace » Sat Apr 16, 2016 12:15 pm

Well, I've had a reply:

"Thank you for your message. We really appreciate your interest towards our products.
After discussing with our specialists, in order to have a better quality of the extract from the Chateau Crystal Malt, we recommend to mix it with the Malt Chateau Diastatic (add 15% of this malt to the mix)."

:? I'll take that as a "probably" and move on.
Ready to go: Malt extract, grain, yeast and a freezer full of hops.
Fermenting: Nowt.
Conditioning: Nelson's Revenge.
Drinking: Stop Wining, Firsty Gold, DarkMun, Yankee, Porter, ApAht, Cider, Mead, Tripel, Elderflower beer, Gluten Free, beer, wine, port, gin,beer, wine, port, gin...

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