What is a good substitute for carahell? I have C20 already but I’m not sure that will be of an equal exchange. I’m brewing a czech premium lager with a SRM of 4.6 using 91% pils and 9% carahell. I plugged in the C20 to recipe formulation to see what it does but I’m concerned that, again, it’s not an apple to apple exchange.
Thoughts?
These malts are not identical. Since Carahell is at about 10 Lovibond, you can get similar but not identical results by using half as much Crystal 20 (which is twice as dark). Then add more base malt to make up the difference for original gravity if necessary.
C10, Carastan (Light), Caramalt brand names from various maltsters are what I would comfortably consider a suitable substitute for the brand name Carahell. If those are out of reach and all that is available is C20 then I’d use what I have vs cxl brewday.
Half as much C20 might look about the same, but in my experience won’t taste the same. I agree with BrewBama’s suggestions.
Ditto. There are better options out there than C20, but take whatever you can get.
With C20 you might not get the beer you want, but at least you will get beer. I agree that cancelling a brewday is an extreme last resort.
Funny how opinions about that differ. I’ve canceled many brew days when I didn’t have the ingredients. Or changed to brew what I did have the ingredients for. Not always, of course, but that’s my preferred approach.
Very true and I like the fact that there are different opinions. In this instance though, I had everything to make this recipe except the carahell. Being a “frugal” minded person and a bit lazy too, I looked at what I had on hand that might work without changing my recipe and ordering grain. So, C20 is out of contention BUT, after looking further tonight after work, I found some Goldswaen red caramel @ 15L.
Gentlemen, what is your opinion on using the goldswaen??
I pretty much ensure I have what I need before I brew. …but if it came to using C20 as a sub for C10 and not brewing, I’d use the C20.
Personally I add kitchen sinky random ingredients to almost every brew I make. I always have a few ounces of this & that to use up. I’ll sub anything for anything. Usually it turns out fine, sometimes even better than fine. Heh… on my recent brown ale, it was entirely a kitchen sink beer, like 10 different random malts that I put together into a reasonable recipe… and it won a gold medal. I was tickled to death – got to use up many scraps of old malts, which in proper percentages of total grist turned out well. I no longer heed comments from people who’ve never tried such a recipe who so often like to say “too many malts will lead to a muddled malt flavor”. Baloney. It works out fine. Now on the other hand, I also taste all my malts before I use them, and if they taste weird or oxidized, they are properly disposed of in the garbage can or compost heap.
I realize this is a little different like in the OP’s case where there’s only one specialty malt or whatever which you’d like to see shine through. That’s different.
But, if you’re going to blend 3 or 4 or 5 malts anyway… heck… why not 8 or 10 or 12 kinds then! Try it and see. Have fun! 
I totally agree with that. I want to brew this Sunday! Always on a Sunday. Nothing better in my opinion. Again, being lazy and cheap, I don’t want to buy any malt just use what is on hand.
What is you opinion on using Goldswaen Red Caramel 15L?
Does it compare better than C20?
Same rule applies in my world. If for whatever reason the ingredients were out of reach, I’d use the 15*L and brew on without looking back. Granted, it won’t be the same recipe but oh well.
Well, I guess it depends on how much you brew. If you do it every week or several times a week, then cancelling isn’t a big deal. If you only do it every month or so, and have people scheduled to assist, then it is a big problem to cancel. On the other hand, if you brew infrequently there is less excuse for not having all the proper ingredients on hand.
You could always just go with a SMASH beer…