American equivalents

[Paul Roberts]

I have a homebrew book which is American. In a number of recipes they call for crystal 15 degree and crystal 40 degree.

I have searched various websites like TMM etc but it's not obvious what the UK equivalent would be.

Any ideas from the hive mind would be gratefully received

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

They are quoting degrees Lovibond, it’s a scale for how dark the crystal is.

To convert Lovibond to SRM multiply by roughly 1.3 so 15 degrees = 20 SRM

If you prefer EBC you need to double that (or multiply Lovibond by 2.6). 15 Lovibond = roughly 40 EBC

 

[Paul Roberts]

They are quoting degrees Lovibond, it’s a scale for how dark the crystal is.

To convert Lovibond to SRM multiply by roughly 1.3 so 15 degrees = 20 SRM

If you prefer EBC you need to double that (or multiply Lovibond by 2.6). 15 Lovibond = roughly 40 EBC

Amazing thank you

 

[Dorst]

The degrees in most US crystal/caramalts indicate a measure of colour. Crystal 15 is a caramalt of 15 SRM colour.

I normally convert it to a measure that is more widely available locally like EBC or Lovibond. Next I look for the available caramalts that are most close in colour and make a selection on what style I brew and what I deem most appropriate.

Step 1: Pick a malt: Crystal 15 for instance
Step 2: Convert it with a colour conversion tool

Step 3: I write down the EBC reading
Step 4: It's time to start looking for a caramalt with about the same colour. You can do this through the maltsters website or use the homebrew store. Themaltmiller has an EBC filter for instance
Step 5: I found through a quick search that Crisp Caramalt has exactly 29.5 EBC, and as an alternative I found BESTMALZ Red X at 30 EBC. Determine what works best on what kind of beer you want to make (I guess the Crisp Caramalt is complete like-for-like so that would be my preference).

 

[An Ankoù]

You can download a lookup table from the internet. Mine is from Weyermann. Conversion table (ebc-livibond).
I take it you're already aware of the US gallon?

 

[Dorst]

I see that there is some conflicting information about crystal indicator being in SRM or Lovibond, although at lower values they are not that dissimilar.

I saw that this table matches crystal to SRM and that's also how I remember this working.

 

[dmtaylor]

Malt is always specified in Lovibond. It is the finished beer that is measured in SRM. And EBC, that's the finished beer as well and is about double the SRM. Lovibond is different from the other two.

 

[Dorst]

Malt is always specified in Lovibond. It is the finished beer that is measured in SRM. And EBC, that's the finished beer as well and is about double the SRM. Lovibond is different from the other two.

While this is technically true, malts are always sold with EBC values on the packaging here (Netherlands but also the rest of mainland Europe). If you are lucky you can find the lovibond value on the spec sheet but this is not always the case.

Crystal malts numbers match the SRM value of said numbers. Of this I'm fairly certain.

 

[MickDundee]

Malt is always specified in Lovibond. It is the finished beer that is measured in SRM. And EBC, that's the finished beer as well and is about double the SRM. Lovibond is different from the other two.

All of the malts in both GEB and MaltMiller are specified in EBC.

 

[dmtaylor]

Hmm, maybe I'm wrong about EBC then. I'll admit, as a Yank, I am not that familiar with EBC, but only SRM and Lovibond. SRM is definitely the finished beer, Lovibond definitely malt. It looks like it is the Europeans who mix together both concepts with respect to EBC.

 

[MickDundee]

Hmm, maybe I'm wrong about EBC then. I'll admit, as a Yank, I am not that familiar with EBC, but only SRM and Lovibond. SRM is definitely the finished beer, Lovibond definitely malt. It looks like it is the Europeans who mix together both concepts with respect to EBC.

Yes, you use Lovibond because you are an American, which is exactly why the OP was asking how to translate his American recipe into a measurement that’s familiar to us Brits.

(Edit - I’ve just realised that comes across quite rude, so apologies. But I should add that I was dealing with an American in a Facebook group this morning who said “You Brits and Australians don’t understand freedom because you don’t have a Bill of Rights”, so you can kind of understand how I’ve jumped on the offensive).

 

[dmtaylor]

Yes, you use Lovibond because you are an American, which is exactly why the OP was asking how to translate his American recipe into a measurement that’s familiar to us Brits.

(Edit - I’ve just realised that comes across quite rude, so apologies. But I should add that I was dealing with an American in a Facebook group this morning who said “You Brits and Australians don’t understand freedom because you don’t have a Bill of Rights”, so you can kind of understand how I’ve jumped on the offensive).

No worries, mate.

 

[dmtaylor]

Digging around, I found this formula:

EBC = (Lovibond-0.46)/0.375

https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/conversion-of-lovibond-sp-to-ebc.8475/#post-101856

 

[An Ankoù]

Hmm, maybe I'm wrong about EBC then. I'll admit, as a Yank, I am not that familiar with EBC, but only SRM and Lovibond. SRM is definitely the finished beer, Lovibond definitely malt. It looks like it is the Europeans who mix together both concepts with respect to EBC.

Not surprising since EBC stands for EUROPEAN Brewery Convention.

 

[dmtaylor]

Not surprising since EBC stands for EUROPEAN Brewery Convention.

Oh, I thought it stood for the Eccentric Beer Color standard.

 

[MrRook]

(Edit - I’ve just realised that comes across quite rude, so apologies. But I should add that I was dealing with an American in a Facebook group this morning who said “You Brits and Australians don’t understand freedom because you don’t have a Bill of Rights”, so you can kind of understand how I’ve jumped on the offensive).

Feel free to ignore a$$holes that spew garbage like that.

 

[Big_Eight]

This older Beersmith blog seems to have a good explanation regarding EBC, SRM, and Lovibond.

Cheers!

 

[JockyBrewer]

Malt colour in the US is usually specified in lovibond which I find is best converted to EBC by multiplying by 2 to 2.5, then find something in that range.

There’s always a bit of a fudge as two maltsters rarely give the same EBC rating for supposedly the same malt, and in reality the number is more of an average for crystal malt as you’ll see lighter and darker grains in there.

 

[Paul Roberts]

Thanks all, its one of those obvious questions now I've seen the answer. Kind of like asking where the salt is whilst staring at the jar

 

[Sadfield]

Feel free to ignore a$$holes that spew garbage like that.

For the OP, the UK conversion is Ars£holes.