I recently brewed a recipe that called for Carastan malt. My LHBS didn't carry it, so I just used 40 L Crystal. In the finished beer, I'm missing the toffee and toastiness found in the original. Does anyone know of a better substitute? If there aren't really any good substitutes, where is a good place that I can find it online?
Topic substitution specialty-malt malt ingredients beer homebrew
Category Mac
In the UK you can buy Carastan in homebrew shops. The main supplier seems to be Baird's malt :
http://www.bairds-malt.co.uk/Roasted.html
I haven't seen it for sale online though (I will keep looking since I am also after some).
Crystal 15L would have been a closer sub I think, even though the carastan is around 30-35L. I don't think there is a real good substitute for it. There aren't a lot of malts like it, and I don't see too many people use it. I put it in an Ordinary Bitter last year and it does have a nice toffee aroma to it.
A combo of C15 and some special roast might get you in the ball park. C40L is more caramel than toffee to me.
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