Malt Madness
I’m always amazed by the fact that nature provided us with such a perfect ingredient to brew beer with. In their raw form, brewing grains are like a small safe needing just the right combination for access to all the wonderful things they bring to the brewing table. Once in the hands of a capable locksmith — aka the maltster — the door to enzymatic power and starch is unlocked. When the newly malted grains hit the kilning phase, that is when the resulting flavor is forever determined based on the methods and temperatures used to dry them.
So what is the purpose for bringing all of this up? You’re familiar with the term liquid bread right? It sure as heck didn’t come from a funkadelic Flanders red or a triple IPA, I can tell you that much! I am of course referring to malt-forward beers and the variety of delicious aromas and flavors they have brought to human kind for ages. Let’s get right down to it and see what makes these beers tick.
What “Malty” Means
First and foremost, I think we should spend a little time on what the term malty actually means. I know that from a consumer’s standpoint the common misconception is that when your local pint slinger says the beer you just pointed to is malty, that means get ready for a thick, chew your way through, incredibly sweet beer. Now that can be true with a handful of styles if they are brewed a certain way, but it is more the exception than the rule. Sweetness can increase the perception of malt flavor, but they are not one in the same. There are many styles that can give you all the malt flavor you can handle and still remain fairly balanced, so let’s just bury that rumor right now.
A malty beer should be just that, a celebration of the malts that you have selected as the basis for why you are brewing this beer in the first place. It should accentuate every bit of the grainy, bready, nutty, biscuity, fruity, toasty and any other flavor/aroma descriptors you can use to identify with your favorite malts. The major rule of thumb here is to not add anything to the beer that takes away from these characteristics. You should only add ingredients that help shine the spotlight on them even brighter. It can also come down to what you don’t add to the brew day ingredient list that will help you taste the results of what malted goodness is all about.
The Grains
Let’s now dive into the heart of the matter, the malted grains themselves. We know there’s a huge variety available these days, but the question at hand is which of them are best used in this type of beer? The answer could easily be style driven based on traditional ingredients, so consulting existing recipes may help point you in the right direction. There are varying degrees of “malt flavor” in the malts themselves, so let’s just assume you are making a non-traditional beer of your own design and go over the major players that are accessible to most homebrewers.
Let’s begin with your options in the base malt category. On the cleaner tasting, lighter end of the spectrum you’ve got your pale 2-row, 6-row, Golden Promise, wheat and rye malts. These have been kilned at a low temperature and for a short amount of time (1 to 3 °L), so that they can provide optimal enzyme to starch ratios and primarily act as a blank canvas, if you will. That is part of the reason they are rarely used alone and are usually combined with specialty malts or unique yeast strains. When you are looking to step up the malt flavor a bit, you can look to some of the more traditional malts from Europe. Vienna, Maris Otter, pale ale and Pilsner malts (1.6 to 4 °L) all have a more distinctive taste and with the exception of the Pilsner malt are kilned a touch longer to bring out a fuller flavor. The most intensely flavored base malts are going to be both light and dark Munich malts (8 to 15 °L). These are kilned about as far as you can go to bring out the most flavor while preserving just enough enzymes for total conversion when used as 100% of the grain bill. Munich malts provide a sweet, toasted and sometimes fruity flavor to the brew. It is often combined with other base malts especially in the case where specialty malts with zero diastatic power are part of the recipe.
As for the specialty malts, there are a handful that will allow you to stay on the course of maltiness without getting into the roasted and caramel-like flavors that are more process derived. Don’t get me wrong, a touch of roasted barley in your strong Scotch ale or crystal malt in your English southern brown is just fine and dandy. The focus here is how to emphasize the inherent flavor of the malted grain itself. If you truly want to embrace this theme, any significant addition of specialty malts should be within the color range of 19 to 28 °L.
Four malts that I personally love to use for this very purposed are Victory®, aromatic, biscuit and melanoidin. These can be used in varying degrees from 1 to 20% of the total grain bill depending on which one or combination you plan to use. Each one of them significantly bump up your malt factor by bringing their own uniquely intense bready and/or biscuity flavors/aromas to your beer.
For extract brewers, the choices are going to be fairly limited in comparison to the all-grain brewers when it comes to the variety of extracts you can use. The light, wheat and Pilsner extracts (2 to 6 °L) can add a mild, clean malt flavor for the lighter styles. If you are looking to brew something a bit more intense like a Märzen or a Doppelbock, amber or Munich malt extracts (8 to 10 °L) are widely available these days and will add flavors similar to the heavier base malts described earlier. If you have the proper equipment (grain bag), steeping some Munich or one of the other aforementioned specialty malts will also add more depth of flavor to your malty brew.
Hops for Malty Beers
The next ingredient we need to discuss is hops. With all the crazy hopped-up beers running around these days, it can be hard to pull back the reins a bit when deciding what to add to a malt-focused beer. I’m not going to tell you that you should only add a pinch of hops at the beginning of your boil and walk away. That would only yield a fairly undrinkable beer that would be better suited over your grandma’s famous pound cake than in your pint glass. What I will say is this: try to avoid any heavy doses of hops beyond 15 minutes from the end of the boil. If you do, it should be no more than a 0.5 oz. (14 g) per 5-gallon (19-L) batch and not be of a variety that is very pungent like Simcoe® or Nelson Sauvin. Do not — I repeat, do not — even think about dry hopping a malt-focused beer. That will defeat the purpose of what you are trying to achieve faster than over bittering.
Since we are on the subject, let’s talk about where you should aim when it comes to bitterness. This is also an area that is style dependent, should you choose to replicate one in particular. There are styles that are malty and sweet like a strong Scotch ale, and there are styles that are malty and somewhat dry like a Munich helles. This all comes down to the BU:GU ratio (bitterness units/gravity points) which helps us estimate the balance of the finished beer prior to brew day. For a malty beer to truly keep its flavor from being derailed by excessive amounts of iso-alpha acids, while also not become too cloying and sweet, I am firm believer that you need to fall within 0.25 to 0.55. The high end of that number is really reserved for styles like an English barleywine that are typically aged for months, sometimes years which leads to the degradation of hop compounds, and this is why you want to overshoot your targeted IBUs.
Our next stop is to determine what exactly should be steaming up in your hot liquor pot. Other than the obvious H2O molecules that should be dancing around inside, there will likely be a variety of other compounds hanging out as well. Making a malty beer doesn’t require a whole heck of a lot of other considerations in addition to what you normally need to keep an eye on: No chlorine, make sure your mash pH isn’t too high from over alkaline water, no excess amounts of heavy metals, etc. The one thing you may want to consider measuring is the amount of sulfate you’ve got in there. High amounts (150 ppm to 350 ppm) are fine for hoppy beers, but malty beers . . . not so much. They can end up having a very sharp bitter taste if sulfate levels get too high. Calcium chloride can be added to combat this if you have no other options, up to 100 ppm. If you are starting with reverse osmosis or distilled water, and are accustomed to adding salts to your mash, I would add the appropriate amounts for the proper pH in relation to beer color, strength, and water to grist ratio as you normally do. My only recommendation would be to stay closer to an even ratio of gypsum and calcium chloride than you would with hoppy brews.
Yeast
The plot thickens a bit as we begin to discuss possible yeast strains. I really hadn’t thought about the major difference between lager and ale yeasts when specifically applying it to malty beers until writing this article, and the conclusion is quite clear now. Lager strains allow for a more malt-focused beer. It’s actually quite simple. During normal fermentation temperatures, lager strains do not produce as many flavor compounds as ale strains. Since there are less compounds for your nose and taste buds to take in, the malt derived compounds represent a larger portion of what is perceived overall. I thought back to a Spaten Optimator I had a couple months ago and found myself asking the question, “If that were an ale, would I be tasting all this malt right now?” My answer was no.
Since I know that most of us are brewing ales almost entirely because of the reduced time and less temperature control it demands for most of the year, I will say that we can all make a perfectly great malty brew that way too. To keep the focus where it should be, I would avoid any strains that produce excessive amounts of esters and phenolic compounds. I would also ferment at a temperature at the lower end of the range that is acceptable for that strain to keep the finished beer a bit cleaner tasting. There are strains that are promoted as producing a maltier beer, but they are really just adsorbing more alpha acids and impacting the finished BU:GU ratio which will increase the sweetness a little. An example would be some of the English strains, but they also tend to be a little fruiter too. I would go with whatever is style appropriate and just keep the temperature down.
Adjuncts and Extras
As far as adjuncts and spices go, I am sure that you can read between the lines, as a general rule my advice would be to just avoid them. Exceptions to this are flaked barley, or oats that add body to the beer and wouldn’t really take away any of the flavor you are trying to achieve. Sugars can be used as a wort extender if you really need the extra gravity points, but don’t go overboard. The yeast will start to do some crazy stuff, and an excessively thin-bodied beer won’t do your hand selected malts any justice.
Malty Brewing Methods
Now we can turn our attention to the brewing process and how that can impact this type of beer. Once you’ve determined the ingredients you are going to use, there really is no way to directly add additional unadulterated malt flavor to the beer. That doesn’t mean there are indirect ways to influence it. As mentioned before, we know sweetness can increase the perception of malt. In addition, so can a full body and often those two go hand in hand. As with most of these variables, the style can help guide the way.
If we were to try and create a massive-sticky strong Scotch ale, the likes that would cause the British Parliament to grant William Wallace’s dream of a free Scotland, you’d probably want to mash at a high temp of 156–158 °F (69–70 °C) and go for a fairly thin mash. If instead we really had our heart set on doing a Munich Helles that would make the Kaiser himself rise from the grave to yell “Prost!,” you’d likely shoot for 148–150 °F (64–66 °C) with a thicker mash to achieve the low final gravity that style requires.
Prior to the beginning of the boil, especially when brewing the high gravity styles of beer, you can cut off the runoff of the wort a bit short to keep from diluting it with the final runnings. Doing this can yield a more concentrated wort, which in turn concentrates malt flavor. It is a great way to get a higher gravity reading if your mash tun is undersized. The obvious downside being less beer to share with your friends, but you weren’t going to do that anyway right!?
Traditionally some of the maltier styles can benefit from alterations to your normal boiling regimen. Extended times in the kettle will also get you a more concentrated wort and also adds a bit of caramelization via the Maillard reaction. Those flavors complement a malt-forward beer quite nicely and are appropriate in a few of the high ABV styles. You can go all the way up to three hours where appropriate, just know that your finished beer may end up a little darker than planned.
We’ve pretty much covered fermentation already, but I would like to reiterate that a lower temperature, preferably in the mid 64–67 °F (18–19 °C) range for ales will result in a beer that doesn’t display too many yeast characteristics and will let the malt shine.
Once you’re ready to package the beer, you should carbonate to a level that is recommended for the style nearest to your creation. Typically the lagers will have the highest amount, followed by the lower ABV ales and finally the stronger ales 7%+ with the lowest levels. Aging can be quite beneficial with the stronger styles as mild oxidative flavors can impart a dessert wine-like elegance to a malty beer over the course of a year, five years, perhaps even 20 years if cellared properly.
To find the finest examples of malt forward beers, it is best to look to the places where these beers were first created. Long before US brewers put their spin on these classic styles, Europe (specifically Germany and the U.K.) had a long-standing tradition of producing beers that accentuate the ingredient at the heart and soul of our favorite beverage. To save you from redundancy, you can assume that the preferable level of hop flavor and aroma is very low to none for all the styles listed. These are all about the malt.
Ales
English Barleywine
O.G. 1.080–1.120 F.G. 1.018–1.030SRM 8–22 ABV 8–12% IBU 35–70
This strong, full-bodied and complex style has a long history as the beer that signals the coming of the holiday season in England. A rather simple grain bill consisting of pale ale malt and a small amount of caramel malt (Under 10%) is all you need to produce a fine English barleywine. Caramelization is provided by extended boil times that typically range from 90 minutes up to three hours. The hopping rate may seem to be a bit on the high side for a malty beer, but that is necessary to offset the high gravity and to compensate for the fading of bitterness over time as barleywines are typically aged for a minimum of four months to a few years before serving. The flavors/aromas commonly associated with the style are biscuity, toasty, fruity, toffee-like and also Sherry notes in aged versions.
Southern English Brown
O.G. 1.033–1.042 F.G. 1.011–1.014SRM 19–35 ABV 2.8–4.1% IBU 10–20
This was created as a middle ground between the more common milds and porters of the early 1900s. Despite its relatively low alcohol content, it is designed to pack a fair amount of flavor with the addition of both of roasted and dark caramel malts to a mostly pale ale malt grain bill. The resulting beer should be less roasty than a porter, but darker and more full flavored than a mild. Dark fruit, caramel, and toffee are aromas/flavors commonly associated with the style. The balance should lean a little toward the sweet side.
Strong Scotch Ale
O.G. 1.070–1.130 F.G. 1.018–1.056 SRM 17–35 ABV 6.5–10.0% IBU 14–25
Given that Scotland is well known for producing some of the world’s finest malted barley, it should come as no surprise that this style is considered by many to be the pinnacle of maltiness. The signature sweetness of a Scotch ale usually comes from a heavy dose of pale ale malt, moderately attenuating yeast, a high mash temperature and a very low hopping rate. The caramel notes commonly associated with the style can be produced by a long boil and/or a small crystal malt addition which may also be used for color adjustment. Slightly roasted and smoky flavors are also acceptable and can be achieved by adding a touch of highly roasted or peat smoked malt, but each of those should never exceed more than 3% of the total grist.
Lagers
Doppelbock
O.G. 1.072–1.112 F.G. 1.016–1.024 SRM 6–25 ABV 7–10% IBU 16–26
As the precursor to the biggest and maltiest lager of the land known as the Eisbock, the Doppelbock is in its own right the king of the hill for those of us that don’t feel like going the extra mile to freeze distill our beer. For the Bavarians, this beer is usually reserved for special occasions due to its extended lagering times and obvious potency. Given the style’s wide range of color, a multitude of combinations using Pilsner, Vienna, Munich and even roasted malts (in small quantities) is acceptable. This style can also display varying degrees of sweetness as the level of bitterness tends to be a bit higher in the lighter versions of the style and lower in darker ones. Flavor and aromas can range from intensely bready, slightly fruity, to a hint of chocolate, but never burnt. Rich maltiness should shine through no matter what version is brewed.
Munich Helles
O.G. 1.045–1.051 F.G. 1.008–1.012 SRM 3–5 ABV 4.7–5.4% IBU 16–22
This style is living proof that a malty beer can also be light in color, not too heavy and fairly balanced. Think of it as a Pilsner with the reins pulled back on the bitterness, hop flavor and aroma. Munich Helles is a single malt beer, so all you’ll need is some good ole Pilsner malt and a touch of German noble hops to brew this one. Well attenuating, clean lager yeast should be used to produce a nice dry finish.
Vienna Lager
O.G. 1.046–1.052 F.G. 1.010–1.014 SRM 10–16 ABV 4.5–5.5% IBU 18–30
In contradiction to its namesake, this style is rarely brewed in its area of origin these days as it emigrated along with the people who brought it to Mexico in the late 1800s. Traditional versions are reddish-gold to amber color, which is typically derived from using a combination of Vienna and Munich malts. This is where the lightly toasted flavor/aromas also come from. Use just enough German noble hops to result in a beer that lands right in between bitter and sweet.
Bob’s Your Uncle
(Southern English Brown Ale)
(5 gallons/19L, all-grain)
OG = 1.044 FG = 1.013
IBU = 14 SRM = 23 ABV = 4.1%
Ingredients
8.0 lbs. (3.6 kg) Maris Otter pale ale malt
0.75 lbs. (0.34 kg) crystal malt (120 °L)
0.4 lbs. (0.18 kg) Carafa® II
3.75 AAU Kent Goldings hops (0.75 oz./21 g of 5.0% alpha acids) (60 min.)
1 tsp Irish moss or 1 Whirfloc tablet (15 min)
White Labs WLP 013 (London Ale Yeast) or Wyeast 1028 (London Ale) yeast
0.75 cup (150 g) priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Mill the grains. Dough in using 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of water with a target mash holding temperature of 155 °F (68 °C). Hold the mash temperature for approximately 60 minutes or until the conversion is complete. Raise the temperature of the mash to 168 °F (76 °C) and begin sparging with 170 °F (77 °C) water until you collect 6.0 (22.7 L) gallons of wort in the kettle.
Total boiling time for this recipe is 60 minutes. Add the Kent Goldings hops at the start of the boil. Add the Irish moss or Whirfloc tablets when 15 minutes remain in the boil. After the boil is finished, chill the wort to 70 °F (21 °C), transfer to your fermentation vessel and aerate the
wort adequately.
Add yeast to the chilled wort. Ferment around 70 °F (21 °C) until the final gravity is reached, which should be in five to seven days. Rack to a secondary vessel and allow the beer to mature for another five to seven days around the same temperature (70 °F/21 °C). Your beer is now ready to rack into a keg, or bottles along with the priming sugar.
Bob’s Your Uncle
(SouthernEnglish Brown Ale)
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.044 FG = 1.013
IBU = 14 SRM = 23 ABV = 4.1%
Ingredients
5.4 lbs. (2.4 kg) Muntons Maris Otter light unhopped liquid malt extract
0.75 lbs. (0.34 kg) American crystal malt (120 °L)
0.4 lbs. (0.18 kg) Carafa® II
1 tsp. Irish moss or 1 Whirfloc tablet (15 min.)
3.75 AAU Kent Goldings Hops (0.75 oz./21.2g of 5.0% alpha acids) (60 min.)
White Labs WLP 013 (London Ale Yeast) or Wyeast 1028 (London Ale) yeast
0.75 cup (150g) priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Mill the specialty grains. Place the milled grains in a grain bag. Steep them in 2 gallons (7.6 L) of 156 °F (69 °C) water for 30 minutes. Rinse the grain bag with about 2 quarts (1.9 L) of water and allow it to drip into the kettle for about 15 minutes, but be sure not to squeeze the bag to prevent extracting harsh tannins from the grain husks. Add enough water for a pre-boil volume of 6.0 gallons (22.7 L). Stir in the malt extract with heat off to avoid scorching, then begin the boil.
Total boiling time for this recipe is 60 minutes. Add the Kent Goldings hops at the start of the boil. Add the Irish moss or Whirfloc tablets when 15 minutes remain in the boil. After the boil is finished, chill the wort to 70 °F (21 °C), transfer to your fermentation vessel and aerate the
wort adequately.
Add yeast to the chilled wort. Ferment around 70 °F (21 °C) until the final gravity is reached, which should be in five to seven days. Rack to a secondary vessel and allow the beer to mature for another five to seven days around the same temperature (70 °F/21 °C). Your beer is now ready to rack into a keg, or bottles along with the priming sugar.
Tips for Success:
One of the keys to brewing both of the malty beer recipes here (the recipe on this page, as well as Great Scot on the facing page) is making sure you pitch enough healthy yeast. Pitching a single packet of yeast into a 5-gallon (19-L) batch does not always give your beer enough yeast cells to efficiently ferment the wort. Beers made from underpitched worts start slower, and this slow start can leave the wort open to the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria or wild yeast. Consider making a yeast starter a day ahead of your brew day to generate a healthy population of yeast before pitching. A general rule of thumb for pitching ale yeast is that you need one million (1.0 x 106) cells per milliliter of wort per degree Plato. Visit https://byo.com/yeaststarter for more information about making a yeast starter, as well as a table for recommended starter sizes for a variety of worts. Visit www.mrmalty.com for a useful pitching rate calculator (as well as more malty brewing tips).
Great Scot!
(Strong Scotch Ale)
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.077 FG = 1.021
IBU = 25 SRM = 29 ABV = 7.2%
Ingredients
13.5 lbs. (6.1 kg) Golden Promise malt
1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) Briess Victory® malt 28 °L
10 oz. (0.27 kg) British caramel malt (70/80 °L)
3 oz. (85 g) roasted barley (550 °L)
3 oz. (85 g) peated malt
6.9 AAU Willamette hops (1.25 oz./35 g of 5.5% alpha acids) (60 min.)
1 tsp. Irish moss or 1 Whirfloc tablet (15 min.)
White Labs WLP028 (Edinburgh Scottish Ale Yeast) or Wyeast 1728 (Scottish Ale Yeast) yeast
0.75 cup (150 g) priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Mill the grains. Dough in using 5 gallons (19 L) of water with a target mash holding temperature of 156 °F (69 °C). Hold the mash temperature for approximately 60 minutes or until the conversion is complete. Raise the temperature of the mash to 168 °F (76 °C) and begin sparging with 170 °F (77 °C) water until you collect 6.0 gallons (22.7 L) gallons of wort in the kettle.
Total boiling time for this recipe is 60 minutes. Add the Willamette hop addition at the start of the boil (60 min.). Add the Irish moss or Whirfloc tablets when 15 minutes remain in the boil. After the boil is finished, cool the wort to 70 °F (21 °C), transfer to your fermentation vessel and aerate the wort adequately. Add yeast to the chilled wort. Ferment around 70 °F (21 °C) until the final gravity is reached, which should be in five to seven days. Rack to a secondary vessel and allow the beer to mature another five to seven days around the same temperature. Your beer is now ready to rack into a keg or bottles along with the priming sugar.
Great Scot!
(Strong Scotch Ale)
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.077 FG = 1.021
IBU = 25 SRM = 29 ABV = 7.2%
Ingredients
9.1 lbs. (4.1 kg) light liquid malt extract
1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) Briess Victory® malt 28 °L
10 oz. (0.27 kg) British caramel malt (70/80 °L)
3 oz. (85 g) roasted barley (550 °L)
3 oz. (85 g) peated malt
6.9 AAU Willamette hops (1.25 oz./35 g of 5.5% alpha acids) (60 min.)
1 tsp Irish moss or 1 Whirfloc Tablet (15 min.)
White Labs WLP 028 (Edinburgh Scottish Ale Yeast) or Wyeast 1728 (Scottish Ale) yeast
0.75 cup (150 g) priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
Mill the specialty grains. Place the milled grains in a grain bag. Steep them in 2 gallons (7.5 L) of 156 °F (69 °C) water for 30 minutes. Rinse the grain bag with about 2 quarts (1.9 L) of water and allow it to drip into the kettle for about 15 minutes, but be sure not to squeeze the bag. Add enough water for a pre-boil volume of 6.0 gallons (22.7 L). Stir in the malt extract off heat to avoid scorching, then begin the boil.
Total boiling time for this recipe is 60 minutes. Add the Willamette hop addition at the start of the boil (60 min.). Add the Irish moss or Whirfloc tablets when 15 minutes remain in the boil. After the boil is finished, cool the wort to 70 °F (21 °C), transfer to your fermentation vessel and aerate the wort adequately. Add yeast to the chilled wort. Ferment around 70 °F (21 °C) until the final gravity is reached, which should be in five to seven days. Rack to a secondary vessel and allow the beer to mature another five to seven days around the same temperature. Your beer is now ready to rack into a keg, or bottles along with the priming sugar.
Tips for Success:
Traditional Scottish breweries originally drew water from underground sources. Although some no longer have private wells, soft water remains the ideal base for a malty Scotch ale. If you want to brew maltier styles like Scotch ale, and you haven’t done so already, request a water report from your town or city (if you are using a municipal water source) or have your home water supply tested to find out what is in your water. (Read more about the basics of water reports in “Beginner’s Block” in the July-August 2012 issue of BYO.)
If you feel that your water needs adjusting, download Greg Noonan’s “water witch” water chemistry spreadsheet from the Web at http://www.byo.com/resources/brewwater. For more tips about brewing water, visit https://byo.com/watertips for more information. If you like this recipe and style, be sure to read Greg’s book Scotch Ale, from the Classic Beer Style Series (Brewers Publications) for more advice about Scotch ales.
