Summertime brings ideas of brewing with rye.  When I conducted some research into the subject, I found lots of information about rye malt.  We all know rye bread and I have had a few rye beers in my time, but I have never brewed with it.  I put this post together to share information about this brewing ingredient.

I was suprised to see that the rye is actually malted.  I guess I thought it would be used like a steeping grain.  I was wrong.  It’s fully modified and converts well in a single infusion mash. 

Flavor: Spicy, smoked.  All the characteristics you get from rye bread.  It lends a crisp, dry taste to a beer.

Color: I found that most sources had the Lovibond rating falling in the 3 -4.5°L range.

Use:  Rye beers (Roggenbier), smoked beers,  and wheat beers.  Suggestions ranged from 5% to 20% of the grist for the desired flavor.  A few sources said that a stuck or slow sparging might occur with large amounts (over 20% of the grist) because of the high glucan levels in the rye malt.  Rice hulls may be needed to keep the flow a-going after the mash.

For a dominant rye flavor, 50% of the grist was suggested.

For more malt profiles, check out the malt profiles category. 

Acidulated Malt is an ingredient that I wanted to learn more about, so I did some research around the topic and consolidated it into this post.  Acidulated malt appears to be the brand name by the Weyermann Company.  Other maltsters may call this malt “acid malt.  It is produced using lactic acid.  From the Weyerman site, lactic acid is not added to the grain; it’s produced using the naturally occuring lactic bacteria on the malt.    

Most sources explained that this malt can be used to change the pH of the mash or wort.  Having a more acidic pH assists in enzymes breaking down more starch for fermentation.  The Weyermann site gave a simple equation to lower the pH:

1% of the grain bill to reduce the pG by 0.1.

Flavor: Sour Character

Color: 1.7° - 1.8° lovibond

Use:  If your water is high in alkalinity, using this special malt may help you make better beer.  I think a good understanding of your water and getting very familiar with all grain brewing are prerequisites before using this malt for this purpose (you may not need to adjust the pH of your mash/wort).

Outside of adjusting your pH, you could use this malt in making the sour beer style of the Berliner Weisse.   The Weyermann site suggested using 8% of your grain bill of acidulated malt to produce the intended result.   I have the idea that this beer could be used to make other sour beer styles too.

I have wanted to write up a profile for this malt for a while. The name always caught my eye. My brain perceives it as “Maudlin” or “Melancholy” malt…such a sad malt…but it means something completely different. I present to you: Melanoidin Malt!

Melanoidin Malt is a type of malt produced by the Weyermann Malting Company. Melanoidins are desirable flavor compounds that are present in malts (especially German malts like Munich and Vienna). This specialty variety has been described as “turbo Munich”.

From what I have read, I formed this theory: Melanoidin Malt was developed to give homebrewers a way to get these big malty flavor compounds into beer without having to mash German malts. Historically to get melanoidins extracted into your wort, brewers would need to follow a decoction mash schedule…which is time consuming. I think this malt is kilned in a special way to give homebrewers the ability to get the flavors without the hassle.

Flavor: Intense malty flavor. Very aromatic.

Color: 23° - 31°L Promotes a deep red color in your beer

Body: Gives beer fuller body.

Use: Any Amber Lager or Ale, Any Dark Lager (maybe a dopplebock?), Red Ales for sure, and maybe Scottish Ales

I got a William’s Brewing catalog in the mail today and I was looking at the ingredients and the prices. I did come across a malt that I wanted to profile. From what I have read, Brown malt is a historical malt that was used in England two centuries ago. It appears that only a few maltster make true Brown malt today.

The catalog had a nice description about the malt. Back in the day, porters were brewed with brown malt exclusively. As time went on, Porters evolved. Because brown malt was being roasted to get its flavor and color profile, the roasting also reduced the amount of fermentable extract the malt could produce so brewers needed to use more and more of it. Porter were then made with black patent, chocolate, and pale malts since it was more economical to do so.

Flavor: Because it kilned over a hardwood fire, Brown malt imparts a smoky flavor. Biscuit and nutty were also mentioned.

Color: Ranges from 38 to 70 °L from site to site. William’s Brewing has it at 53 °L

Body: It adds some body because of the non-fermentables it brings to the party.

Use: Brown ales and porters…makes sense, eh? You can roast your own malt at home to make something similar to Brown malt. I may give it a try.

Here’s my profile for Honey Malt. This malt is made by the Gambrinus Malting Corporation and it’s their name for a unique, highly kilned German malt called brumalt. Some non-North American versions of this malt (Gambrinus Malting is based in Armstrong, British Columbia, Canada) are Weissheimer Bruhmalz and Weyermann Melanoidin.

It looks a lot like caramel malt but it’s processed in a way so that there is no roasty/astringency (that is sometimes associated with caramel malt’s flavor profile). The process involves restricting the oxygen flow during the sprouting process and this develops sugars and rich malt flavors that makes the malt taste the way it does.

Flavor: Intense malt sweetness with hint of a honey like flavor. Lacks caramel malt’s sharp bite.

Color: 20-30 °L

Body: It gives your beer a smooth, honey-like texture.

Use: Most sources said “specialty beers” which to me means “pushing the envelope” beers. More typical suggested styles included: Brown ales, summer-style pale ales, and belgians.

Victory malt has always intrigued me. Maybe it’s the name. I guess I feel like I would be “winning” if I used this malt in my brews. I did a little research and thought I would combine all the information into some kind comprehensive overview.

This malt’s creation is American in origin. I believe that refers to the process to make Victory malt was developed here in the USA.

The processing is different than the processing a maltster would use to create, for example, a caramel malt. It’s this special processing that gives the malt it’s flavor.

Flavor: Imparts a “toasty” character to beers.

• Nutty taste
• Biscuity
• Baking Bread

Color: 25 - 28 Lovibond. Colors described from sources I discovered ranged from slight red to amber to orange highlights. I guess it depends on how much you use.

Body: Improves body and head retention.

Use: The malt has no diastatic power so you can use it as a steeping grain. Because of the flavor it imparts, Nut brown ales are a good candidate for this malt. I think it would be a good addition to dark beers, especially a porter. If you wanted to make an American Brown Ale and stay on theme, Victory Malt would be a good addition. Probably no more than 20% of your grain bill.

Continuing our examination of malts and hops, here’s our profile of Special B malt. It is a Belgian malt that is roasted to 150L color. Here are some of the particulars that we pulled together from different sources:

Flavor: Imparts a heavy caramel taste.

• Raisin-like flavors in Belgian Abbey Ales
• Plum-like flavors in Dubbels
• Roasty/Toast flavor
• Hint of nut flavor

Color: Produces a dark black-brown color.

Body: Fuller body is noted due to the non-fermentables.

Use: Suggested use is 2 to 10% of the grain bill. Makes sense to use in in Belgian ales such as a dubbel since it is a Belgian malt, but looks like it can be used in moderation in Brown Ales, Porters, and Doppelbocks as “character builders” in those beers.