This video is from our full-length Northern Brewer University online course on malt, where
we look at what malt is; how it and malt extract is made; and how homebrewers use it to make
delicious beer.
See full class link in the video's description.
As I mentioned in an earlier segment, every malt falls into one of four families.
Within each family, malts will share general characteristics which can be clues to help
brewers identify why they’re in a recipe, what kind of flavors they might, and what
they could use instead if necessary.
The first family can be referred to as “Standard Process Malts”.
Most of these are also called “Base Malts”.
These malts must be used in a mash as part of an all-grain grist or a partial mash grist.
They aren’t used in extract brewing, but they are the ingredients that go into making
malt extract.
Malts in this family form the bulk of the grist in any all-grain beer.
Within the family there is variation in color and flavor.
Higher kilning temperatures in processing result in darker color and richer flavors.
The flavor change is similar to toasting bread.
As you increase the time on the dial, the toast gets darker and darker and the flavors
change as the color of the toast darkens.
One note though, the grain itself doesn’t actually look that different.
Pilsner Malt is the lightest in color of the family, usually 1-2 degrees Lovibond.
It is commonly used in lagers and tends to have grainy, bready or even grassy flavors.
Pale malt, or 2-Row is the next step up, at 2-3 degrees Lovibond.
Pale, 2-Row, and 2-Row Pale all refer to the same thing.
It is confusing, especially since all of these are made from 2-Row barley.
This is an all-purpose base malt that shares many flavor characteristics with Pilsner malt.
In literature you may see it written as either pale malt or 2-Row, but here I’ll refer
to it as 2-Row for clarity.
Pale Ale malt adds to the confusion!
Despite the nearly identical name, Pale Ale malt is distinct from, and one step darker
than 2-Row, usually 3-4 Lovibond.
It has a somewhat richer and toastier flavor than 2-Row and is well suited to classic English-style
ales.
Vienna malt is also around 4 Lovibond, but subtle differences in production result in
a malt that has similar toasty flavors to Pale Ale malt, but often includes slightly
nutty characteristics.
It also contributes rich orange color to beer.
Vienna lagers and Marzens often use lots of Vienna malt.
Munich malt is among the darkest of what are usually considered base malts.
They have a wider color range than most, but 10 Lovibond or so is common.
Munich malt adds rich and full toast and bread crust flavors to beer, and a deep amber color.
Marzen, Bock and Dunkel often feature Munich malt, and many brewers add it to their pale
ales or IPAs to enrich the malt profile.
The final standard process malt is Melanoidin malt, which is often around 25 Lovibond.
Higher kilning temperatures during processing eventually reduce the malt’s diastatic power
-- or the ability to convert starch into sugars.
This means it can’t really be used on its own as a base malt.
Melanoidin is a standard process malt, but it’s distinct in that it generally isn’t
used as the bulk of the grist.
It adds honey-like sweetness to beer.
Other names for this type of malt are Honey Malt or Brumalt.
In malting, it’s sometimes called Super Munich, but that’s not a name that home
brewers are likely to encounter.
Caramel or Crystal malts are a relatively modern invention.
Their production differs from standard process malts in that after germination, the wet malt
is loaded into roasting drums and brought to mash temperatures, which converts starch
to sugar inside the grain itself.
This temperature is then increased to roast them to the desired color and flavor.
They can be used in the mash or steeped for color and flavor in extract brewing.
They range in color from “special glassy malts” like Carapils which are almost colorless,
through a wide range of colors ranging from light, which tend to contribute flavors like
candy sweetness, to dark, which range more toward dark dried fruits and burnt sugar.
Each product is a bit different though, so be sure to read the description when deciding
which one to use.
Beyond the standard range there are hybrid malts like Special B -- with a Lovibond of
about 145 -- which bridge the gap between this family and the next family, roasted malts.
Special B and the similar Double Roasted Crystal add rich caramel, raisin and dried plum and
burnt sugar flavors, and are only used in small quantities.
The names caramel or crystal can be a bit confusing.
There are subtle production differences that matter to the maltster, but for brewing purposes
they are interchangeable.
If you have a recipe that calls for a 60 Lovibond crystal malt and all you can find is a 60
Lovibond caramel malt, that caramel malt would be a great substitution.
In contrast to crystal malts, roasted malts do not undergo a starch conversion step.
Pale malt is loaded into a roaster and roasted to the desired level, like toasting bread
until it gets to how you like it.
Successful roasting requires a great deal of skill from the maltster.
For the brewer, the darker end of the range can be steeped, but for best use the lighter
examples like biscuit or amber malt should be mashed.
Usually, they’ll make up no more than 5%-10% of a grist.
They range from Biscuit Malt at the light end, to Amber, Brown, Chocolate and Black
Malts.
Flavors provided by roasted malts range from toast and biscuit to chocolate and coffee…
to an almost burned or ashy flavor depending on the degree of roast.
Compared to crystal malts of a similar color, the flavors contributed by roasted malts are
usually drier and more astringent or bitter.
Roasted barley is usually included here also, though that’s typically actually made from
unmalted barley rather than malt.
Earlier I mentioned that every malt falls into one of four families.
The reason that works without exception is because this last family -- Special Process
Malts -- is specifically a grab bag full of unusual things that don’t really fit anywhere
else.
The most common special process malts you’ll find are smoked malt and acidulated malt.
Smoked malt is, as you might expect, malt that is flavored with smoke.
This can be done during the kilning process, or it can be smoked later.
Much like smoking meat, different fuel sources impart very different flavors.
The subtle beechwood smoke used in German Rauchmalt is pretty pleasant and can be used
in large amounts in a grist.
On the other hand, peat smoke is intense, and would only ever be used in tiny quantities
in beer.
Acidulated malt is a trick that German maltsters developed to get around the requirements of
Reinheitsgebot, the German “beer purity” law.
In the US, UK, or even elsewhere in Europe, it’s common to add phosphoric or lactic
acid to the mash to correct any potential mash pH problems.
In Germany acid additions like that are not permitted, since beer can only contain malt,
water, hops and yeast (with some exceptions).
To get around that limitation, maltsters can inoculate wet malt with lactic acid bacteria
in order to acidify that malt itself!
Since that’s a malt addition, brewers in Germany can use that in small quantities to
correct their mash pH.
Remember that any grain can be malted, and any of those other grains can be found in
these families!
There are a variety of interesting malts from a lot of different maltsters, from crystal
rye to smoked wheat malt.
Unmalted grain adjuncts are also common ingredients in beer.
Most often for homebrewers these take the form of flaked grains.
These are basically the same thing as oatmeal, but rye, wheat, corn and rice are all available
in addition to oats.
In general, flaked grains have a big effect on body and mouthfeel.
In the case of wheat, rye or oats that’s usually contributing a fuller body, but rice
and corn can lighten it.
Again, that’s pretty broad.
Each has its own unique characteristics.
Again, this lesson is part of our Northern Brewer University Ingredient Series course
on malt.
For more information on this course and all of our NBU courses, visit northernbrewer.com/university
or see the link in our video description.