Averagely Perfect ESB - Poll #7 - Crystal Malt Runoff

First one in

 

I voted for 55 and 80, but if it had to be just one, 55.

 

Why not both?

 

I feel more like 55 for this type of beer. Perhaps a smidgen of 80, but not a lot.

 

I think 2 crystals are in order. I really want the medium crystal (55). Then we can do a runoff of light vs dark (45 and 80).

 

It can be both, but first we decide which one must be in. In my own recipe forumulating, I'd consider about 0.5 lbs 55L and 0.125- 025 lbs 80L. Any more than that and I'm dialing 911 for the Crystal Police.

 

Nobody expects the Crystal Police!

 

Any more than that would be like buying a one-way ticket to Crystal City.

 

I think something like 80 and 45 would be better than something like 55 and 45, so vote for 80 and then vote accordingly on the next poll.

Voting for 55 here is setting us up for just 55 because no one will want 55 and 45 and most are going to be afraid of the crystal police and are going to shy away from 80 and 55 together.

Vote 80 here

 

I voted 55 here and will vote for 80 on the next poll. Since I can't get 45 I'd be using 55 anyway.

 

Why does 55+80 invoke fear of the dreaded Crystal Police? And what doesn't 80+50 have the same effect? And if it is going to be just one, why isn't 55 the best one?

 

I don't know why people think the way they do, but I'm willing to bet if this poll goes with 55, then none of the others will get picked. I think that would be a mistake. A couple other people have said that they would like to use a couple different crystal malts in a beer like this, I agree.

55 might be the best if just using one crystal malt, but to be clear, I don't want just one crystal malt. I think the best beer would have a couple different crystal malts.

Maybe this ends up being a place for a buyer's remorse poll after we see all the other polls.

 

I don't think anyone has said they prefer just 1 crystal. And Monty Python aside, I'm not afraid of the crystal crew.

 

Exactly. Nobody is going to vote both 45 and 55, (can you really taste a difference?). I like the idea of two crystal malts though. So that means 80L is in, then we decide between 45 and 55.

 

I'm not the most experienced guy in this, but I don't think it's possible to
get the appropriate balance between kilned malt bitterness and contribution to FG with just one crystal. And if one tried to do it with one kilned/crystal malt and a syrup, it seems like the malt would need to be 80, which is my vote.

 

I don't believe I have ever heard of kilned malt bitterness. I'm not saying it isn't a thing. Probably the same as I mean when I say I think a touch of C80 adds some complexity to C55. But we'll be using all Maris otter, and we'll be voting on invert sugar. I think this beer will have a good chance at being quite delicious even if we have just C55.

 

If you want to go 1 crystal only, 80 is the one to do. Since invert has no color, we would have to use a lot of 55 crystal just to get within color range.

I prefer 2 crystals (55 and 80) for color and flavor and because I doubt I'm going to want to make a batch of invert sugar anyway.

 

Like Vikeman posted, invert sugar definitely has color, how much color depends on how long you cook it. And it definitely adds some flavor as well.