Experiences with Caravienna malt?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by JuliusPepperwood, Feb 2, 2021.

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  1. JuliusPepperwood

    JuliusPepperwood Initiate (0) Jul 21, 2013 North Carolina

    I like looking for malts to make my beers unique or just to make my life more difficult! I'm looking to make a pale session IPA and was planning to use Crystal 20 for sweetness and to keep the color around 5 SRM. I was looking at Caramel Vienna 20L/Dingmans Caravienna as an alternative to C20 for some added flavor.

    Does anyone have any experience using these malts in American style ales? I see that it is labeled as a crystal malt but I wasn't sure how interchangeable they were.
     
    #1 JuliusPepperwood, Feb 2, 2021
  2. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    I have used both types quite a bit, but not really in the same recipes, so no direct comparison.

    That said, I suspect that unless you use a lot of C20 or Caravienne in the beer, you might be surprised at how subtle the differences (from each other) are.

    I think sometimes people see the name "Caravienne" and think this means it's some sort of Vienna malt. Same with "Caramunich" and Munich malt. But, no. They're just names.
     
    #2 VikeMan, Feb 2, 2021
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  3. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    "Does anyone have any experience using these malts in American style ales?"

    The short answer is no here.

    But I do use Dingemans Caravienna a lot in brewing my Belgian style beers (e.g., Dubbel, etc.) to good effect. I never tried using either C20 or Caramel Vienna 20L in those beers so I have no comparison to provide here.

    Cheers!
     
    #3 JackHorzempa, Feb 2, 2021
  4. JuliusPepperwood

    JuliusPepperwood Initiate (0) Jul 21, 2013 North Carolina

    Cool, I only plan to use 7% of a small grain bill for C20/Caravienna so I doubt it will be much of a difference.

    I am annoyed at Northern Brewer who sent me C20 recently but it visually looked a little dark and the finished beer had a dark gold/pale amber color to it. I'm pretty sure some much darker crystal malt made it into the bag. Figure if I go with Caravienna it may ensure I get 20L crystal malt.
     
    #4 JuliusPepperwood, Feb 2, 2021
  5. Silver_Is_Money

    Silver_Is_Money Devotee (337) Jun 4, 2017 Ohio

    My favorite Bohemian Pilsner recipe from the early 90's used De Wolf-Cosyns Maltings Caravienne 20L malt. De Wolf-Cosyns Maltings is out of business. I'd presume that Dingemans CARA 50 MD might serve as a suitable replacement, but to me the real thing is a thing of the past.
     
    #5 Silver_Is_Money, Feb 4, 2021
  6. Silver_Is_Money

    Silver_Is_Money Devotee (337) Jun 4, 2017 Ohio

    A lot of people seem to believe that Dingemans purchased De Wolf-Cosyns, but AFAICT they did not. But apparently a number of former De Wolf-Cosyns employees did eventually find employment at Dingemans.
     
    #6 Silver_Is_Money, Feb 4, 2021
  7. deadwolfbones

    deadwolfbones Pundit (795) Jun 21, 2014 Oregon

    I've used some Franco-Belges Caramunich (40L) in a few pale ales and really liked the flavor contribution. Not hugely different from Briess 60L, but noticeable.
     
    #7 deadwolfbones, Feb 4, 2021
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