For brewers, the Lovibond degree is a unit used to measure the color of malted barley and beer. Darker grains have a higher Lovibond measure, and contribute more color to brewed beer. Darker crystal malts (such as 60L, 80L, 120L, etc.) will provide more sweet flavor and more color than similar amounts of lighter (20L, 40L) crystal malt.

Dave Miller's book (see Bibliography) provides a formula for very roughly predicting the color of finished beer in degrees L based on the grain that goes into making the beer.

---