MALT VAULT; ROASTED AND CHOCOLATE MALTS

It’s time for another edition in our series of posts looking at the building block of beer; malt. Following the last post on Vienna and Munich malts, in this latest instalment we shine a light towards the darker end of the spectrum, and the rich, welcoming baseline provided by Roasted and Chocolate malts.

Talk of the Tun

When you let a handful of Roasted malt run through your fingers, it’s immediately noticeable why they are so-called. They look dark and dry, as if they have been baked in an oven. This is pretty much exactly the case; maltsters roast these grains at high temperatures giving them a deeper colour. As you can imagine, one influences the other – turning up the dial will give you a darker result (the very darkest, Black malt, is roasted at truly desiccating temperatures over 200°C).

So why are these grains ‘cooked’ like this? It’s all to do with flavour. The persistent high-heat completely deactivates all enzymes produced during the malting process, leaving you with a component for beermaking that will give you little or no residual sweetness, but lots of bitterness. They are perfect for dark beers, from brown ales to imperial stouts. We love our dark beers at BrewDog, so Roasted malts are always in high demand here!

A little Roasted malt can go a long way, though – their levels of astringency can be so high that any mash with them involved will also need a supportive base malt, to round out the flavour. With the lengthy roasting process having halted the work of the enzymes, you’ll also need those other malts to provide that all-important sugar source to begin the brewing process. Roasted malts willingly release their depth of flavour, so need to be balanced carefully.

Take Chocolate malt, for instance. These deeply roasted grains are more single-origin, high percentage cacao than Dairy Milk. Their name comes just as much from the chocolatey colour of the grain at the conclusion of the roasting process as the flavours they impart. As well as hints of bittersweet chocolate, they also yield a dark, roasted coffee element. One of our best showcases for Chocolate malt is our unflinching Tokyo*, for instance!

We asked Bowman what he had to say about Roasted and Chocolate malts…

In terms of malt profile there are no bigger hitters that Roasted malts. Most brewers tend to tread very light around them, typically using smaller amounts of around 1 – 10% in their grist bill.  However, our brewers are not afraid to be more outrageous.  Cocoa Psycho has a massive 23% roasted malts, which gives the beer an unsurpassed roasted colour, flavour and aroma that is immediately apparent. 

One word of warning though.  If you are milling your own malt, make sure your grains are crushed much more coarsely than normal.  Roasted malts tend to be more brittle due to the lower moisture content, and turn into flour if not crushed carefully.  This will turn your malt bed into dough, and make for an incredibly frustrating brew day.  We love Cocoa Psycho, but it is hands down the most difficult beer to brew!

As for Chocolate malt, it tends to be a lighter side of the roasted malt spectrum.  This means it has a slighter lighter colour,  giving beer a deep brown or mahogany colour.  The flavours from Chocolate malt therefore tend to be much more tempered, displaying mostly cocoa, nutty and lightly roasted coffee flavours.  In the right combination with Caramalt some chocolate malts can make your beer smell and taste just like a bar of dark chocolate, perfect for more well-rounded and less aggressive stouts!

When you homebrew, how dark do you dare go? Are you a Chocolate malt fan? Let us know in the comments!