Today, we dragged Danny away from the stainless and shoved his nose in his favourite thing - crystal malts! Why are they Danny’s favourite thing, we don’t hear you ask, but will answer anyway? Because of their complex depth in flavour and colour.
Think of it like a brewers candy; crystal malt gives beers a lovely golden, caramel colour and depending on the roast, a rich toffee, honey and pastry flavour profile.
Crystal malt gains its rich depth of character by undergoing a reaction called the Maillard Reaction. To put it simply, this chemical reaction discovered by French chemist Louis Maillard in 1912 explains the reason why, for example, darkened pretzels and brioche have their flavour and of course, why crystal malts give such rich and delicious flavours.
By taking the barley and keeping it wet, the barley starts to grow and produce sugar to feed on. You then cook the wet malt to crystallise the sugar and stunt the growth of the barley in a kiln. The malt is then roasted at high moisture to enable the Maillard Reaction. The higher the temp and the longer the roast - the more depth of colour and flavour profile you get.
