Malts 101
All About Grains 101
revision 1, July 1994
Jim Busch, busch@daacdev1.stx.com
[ American Malts | German Malts | British Malts | Belgian Malts | Common Maltsters ]
We would like to personally thank Jim Busch for allowing me to post this information on my Homebrew pages. This Grain information is posted with his permission.
-Thanks Jim!
American Malts
- Pale Malt (2 Row, Klages)
- The basic malt for brewing all grain beers from scratch. Being American grown, high in diastatic power, well modified and fairly neutral, Klages makes an excellent base malt. Best for both American Lager and Ale styles, Klages lends itself well to all beer styles.
- Wheat Malt (Malted Wheat)
- Use to make wheat and weizen beers. Also, small amounts (3-6 %) aid in head retention to any beer without altering final flavor. Use 5 to 70 % in the mash, 40 to 70 % being the norm for wheat beers, combined with a high enzyme malt such as Klages.
- Vienna Malt (Lightly kilned) 4L
- Vienna malt is kiln dried at a higher temperature than pale malt yet still retains sufficient enzyme power for use as 60 to 100% of total mash grist. Vienna is a rich, aromatic malt that will lend a deep color and full flavor to your finest Vienna or Marzen beers.
- Munich Malt (Domestic) 10 L
- A little darker than our German Munich malt, use our Domestic Munich to add a deeper color and fuller malt profile. An excellent choice for Dark and amber lagers, blend Munich with German Pils or Klages at the rate of 10 to 60% of the total grist.
- Carapils (Dextrin Malt)
- Dextrins lend body, mouthfeel and palate fullness to beers, as well as foam stability. Carapils must be mashed with pale malt, due to its lack of enzymes. Use 5 to 20% for these properties without adding color or having to mash at higher temperatures.
- Light Crystal (Caramel Malt) 10 L
- 5 to 20% will lend body and mouthfeel with a minimum of color, much like Carapils, but with a light crystal sweetness.
- Pale Crystal (Caramel Malt) 40 L
- As with all Crystal malts, the character of this malt is contributed by unfermentable crystallized sugars produced by a special process Called "stewing". 5 to 20 % Pale Crystal will lend a balance of light caramel color, flavor, and body to Ales and Lagers.
- Medium Crystal (Caramel Malt) 60 L
- This Crystal malt is well suited to all beer recipes calling for crystal malt and is a good choice if you're not sure which variety to use. 5 to 15% of 60 L Crystal malt will lend a well rounded caramel flavor, color and sweetness to your finest Ales.
- Dark Crystal (Caramel Malt) 120 L
- 5 to 15% will lend a complex bitter/sweet caramel flavor and aroma to beers. Used in smaller quantities this malt will add color and slight sweetness to beers, while heavier concentrations are well suited to strong beers such as Barley Wines and Old Ales.
- Victory Malt (Aroma & flavor malt) 25 L
- A unique, lightly roasted malt that provides a warm "biscuity " character to Ales and Lagers. Use 5 to 15 % to add a fuller flavor and aroma to Ales, Porters and full flavored, dark Lagers where a bigger malt character is desired without crystal malt sweetness.
- Special Roast (Aroma & flavor malt) 50L
- Pale roasted to lend an unmistakable, toasted malt flavor and aroma and amber, red-orange color to beer. At the rate of 3 to 10% Special Roast is an excellent addition to your Vienna, Marzen and Alt beers or in recipes calling for Amber malt.
- Chocolate Malt (Roasted, black malt)
- Being the least roasted of the black malts, Chocolate malt will add a dark color and pleasant roast flavor. Small quantities lend a nutty flavor and deep, ruby red color while higher amounts lend a black color and smooth, roasted flavor. Use 3 to 12%.
- Roast Barley (Black, Unmalted Barley)
- Use 10 to 12% to impart a distinct, roasted flavor to Stouts. Other dark beers also benefit from smaller quantities (2 - 6%).
- Black Patent (H ighly roasted black malt)
- The darkest of all malts, use sparingly to add deep color and roast-charcoal flavor. Use no more than 1 to 3%.
German Grain Malts
- German Pale Malt (2 Row, Pilsner Malt) 1.8 L
- A quality German two row malt. Produces a smooth, grainy flavor. Use in your finest German Lagers and Alt Beers.
- Weizen - (Wheat Malt) ~ L
- German Wheat malt is the perfect ingredient for Weiss, Weizen and Berl iner Weiss beers. Blended in proportions of 20 to 70% with pale malts, weizen malt is the perfect companion for German wheat strains for a full flavored, classic wheat beer.
- Wiener - (Vienna Malt) 3 L
- German Vienna is high in diastatic power, meaning you can use it as 100% of the total grist for a fuller, deeper malt flavor and aroma.
- Munchener (Munich Malt) 6 L
- A true Munich variety that has undergone higher kilning than the pale malt. German Munich still retains sufficient enzymes for 100% of the grist, or it can be used at the rate of 20 to 75 % of the total malt content in Lagers for its full, malty flavor and aroma.
- Crystal - (Med. Caramel) 50 L
- Use 3 to 20% of German Caramel malt to add color, sweetness and body to European lagers Viennas and Marzen/Oktoberfest lagers.
British Grain Malts
- English Pale Malt (British, 2 Row)
- Fully modified British malt, easily converted by a single temperature mash. Preferred by many brewers for full flavored ales. Pale Ale malt has undergone higher kilning than Klages and is lower in diastatic power so keep adjuncts to 15 % or less.
- English Crystal (Caramel Malt) 37 L
- Also known as CaraStan, use 5 to 20% of our English Crystal to add color and a full, toffee/sweet flavor to Bitters, Pale Ales and Porters.
- Scottish Crystal - (Caramel Malt) 90 L
- Will lend a deep amber to red color and a full bodied, toasted/caramel like flavor to the finest Scottish and European ales.
- Chocolate Malt - ( Brown malt) 400 L
- British Chocolate malt is ideal for British Porters and Brown or Mild Ales and even Stouts. It's a little darker than domestic Chocolate malt yet it has a slightly smoother character in the roast flavor and aroma profiles. Highly recommended.
Belgian Grain Malts
- Belgian Pils (European 2-Row) 1.8 L
- This is an excellent base malt for many styles, including full flavored Lagers, Belgian Ales and European Wheat beers.
- Aromatic (Mildly Kilned) 26 L
- Used at rates of up to 10%, Aromatic malt will lend a distinct, almost exaggerated malt aroma and flavor to the finished Ales and Lagers. Aromatic malt also has a rich color and is high in diastatic power for aid in starch conversion.
- Biscuit Malt - (Pale Roast) 23 L
- Biscuit is a unique malt thats lightly roasted, lending the subtle properties of black and chocolate malts. Used at the rate of 3 to 15 %, it is designed to improve the bread & biscuits , or toasted flavor and aroma characteristics to Lagers and Ales.
- CaraVienne - (Lt. Caramel) 22 L
- As with normal Crystal malts CaraVienne is non-enzymatic. It does, however, impart a rich, caramel-sweet aroma to the wort and promotes a fuller flavored beer at rates of 5 to 20 % of grist total.
- CaraMunich - (Med. Caramel) 72 L
- Use CaraMunich for a deeper color in Ales and Lagers, and in small amounts in Lagers. 5 to 15% will also lend a fuller flavor, contribute to foam stability, add unfermentable, caramelized sugars and contribute a rich malt aroma.
- Bamburg Rauchbier malt:
- Green(?) malt is "kilned"/dryed over a beechwood fire. Some US brewers use malt smoked over Adler. Depending on the amount of smoking, the malt can be used in 100% of the mash, as some Bamberg brewers do, or used as a flavoring malt in the 10-30% range. Imparts a distinct smoked character to the beer. Rauchbiers should be based on a Maerzen recipe and adjusted using Rauchbier malt, which shifts the color from amber to dark amber/light porter.
- Peated Malt:
- sold by Hugh Baird. Adds Peated flavors, good in small amounts for Scottish ales.
- Raw Wheat:
- used in Wit biers at 45% of grist and in Lambics at 30%. Contributes a permenant starch haze to the beer.
Common Maltsters:
- Briess Malting Co: 29 S. Columbia St, Chilton WI, 53014
- Canada Malting Co: 21 Four Seasons Pl, Suite 325, Toronto, Ontario
- DeWolf-Cosyns (distributed by Shreirer)
- Froedtert Malt Corp: PO Box 712, Milwaukee, WI, 53201
- Gambrinus malting Corp: 1101 Industrial Dr, RR#3,C-86,Palisades, Armstrong, B.C., VOE 1B0
- Great Western Malting: PO Box 1529, Vancouver, WA, 98668
- Hugh Baird (distributed by Great Western)
- Munton & Fison (imported by Crosby and Baker ==$$$)
- Schreier Malting Co: PO Box 59, Sheboygan, WI, 53082