Colour of Crystal Malt

[Ged]

Guys

CChurch boys just did a big order from Brewers Coop.Big Ups to James P. I ordered 4 KG of Med Crystal and 1 KG of Dark Crystal...When I opened the bags and poured into the plastic containers I was surprised to see the med is a hell of a lot more caramalised colour than the dark - to a very distinguishable degree. Even the good lady noticed it when I asked for an opinion on which one was ' darker'

Is this normal ? Has he sent me the wrong stuff and does it really matter in the long run?

Cheers

Ged

[denimglen]

Sometimes that medium crystal is just as dark as the dark crystal

Medium crystal is about 80SRM (160EBC) and dark crystal is about 120SRM (240EBC).

If the bag of medium crystal is definately darker it's possible the bags are labelled wrong. Have a chew up of each and see.

[MrC]

Have a taste and see what you think? The lighter crystal should be a lighter caramel taste.
Also you could try a small steep in a glass of water to compare the colours.

[Stu McKinlay]

I can't tell much of a difference from chewing them. The only way to really see, short of lab analysis, tell is to crush them and then check the colour... you'll be surprised.

I've always thought the three Baird crystal malts we stock (90, 150 and 250) are virtually indistinguishable on the outside. The only reason I trusted them was because they came in maltings sealed bags with the EBC printed on them (and with certs of analysis).

I just did some crushed malt orders earlier this week and found the difference between them when crushed is startling. Do 100g of each and you will see what I mean.