Special Roast Malt is a…well you guessed it…specially processed malt from the American Maltster, Briess. It is kilned using 6 row barley and it appears to be Victory Malt turned up a notch. Here is the malt profile on Special Roast Malt:
Flavor: Toasty, Strong Biscuit, Sour Dough, Tangy
Color: 50 °L – Most sources claimed it added a dark orange/red color to beers. Briess claimed the color contribution range was from “deep golden to brown hues.”
Body: Adding this malt to your grist would add body to your beer.
Use: I think any non-straw colored beer where roasty, toasty flavors are acceptable is a good candidate for this malt. Porters and Nut Brown Ales could take a good helping of this malt, and smaller amounts (less than 8 ounces) would work in Viennas, Märzens, and Alt beers.
Check out some other malt profiles:
Owd Müller
Can this malt be steeped like Victory? It might also be good in small doses for a red ale.
John
It can be steeped just like Victory. Brew On!
Nate
I made a pretty solid red ale with this malt. I used 13 oz (high sounding, i know) of it, with 3 ounces of crystal 60 also. Then Columbus hops and 7 lbs of pale.
It came out smooth, but a little light on the alcohol. It was a bit sweet with a hint of caramel. I am trying again but swapped some of the special for british pale.
David
Do you think that this would be a good sub for Special B?
John
Hi David,
I wouldn’t say it would be a good substitute for Special B. To me, Special B imparts more dark caramel sweetness…like raisin or dried plum. Special roast would be a sub for biscuit or victory malt if you really wanted to turn up those roasty, toasty flavors.