Aleman wrote:I like the idea of using Vienna malt, I will confess to using Munich as some of the base malt in my IPA's (Replacing some 10-15% of the Pale in the recipe) I find that this gives a subtle colour change (Wort caramelisation) and sweetness that is not in the league of Crystal . . . Crystal is useful but it is very easy to overdo it, and end up with a red or overly sweet beer . . . the new lighter colour crystal sold by H&G (other LHBS are available . . .
for now 
) is a vast improvement on the normal crystal for paleish beers.
I've done the same with around 20% Munich II in APA's before and it worked well, both colour wise and flavourwise.Added some depth without cloying sweetness.
When it comes to crystal malts I pretty much use Weyermann Caramunich II exclusively at no more than 5% in bitters and such.It has a more subtle ,less cloying character that suits my tastes.
I first toyed with using Munich II as a 100% base in an IPA for a bigger malt kick and to mimic that darker hue from boiling in copper kettles from days of old.A few more experienced brewers suggested that Vienna may be a little less OTT and a better choice instead...Glad I listened to them now.
In an effort to simplify another style and experiment with maltier base grains ,I ended up using the 100% Munich II base to do a bastard ALT.
100g Tetnanger spread throughout, 43 IBU and fermented cool(16/17c) with Nottingham for clean neutral finish.
I'ts only been bottled a week,and I plan to let it mature in a cool corner of the shed for 4/6 weeks before sampling.
which I found surprising because today I picked one up on Amazon for 6 quid 
