Glossary
Base malt
Gently-kilned malt that makes up the bulk of a grist and supplies both the fermentable extract and the enzymes to convert it.
Pale ale malt, pilsner malt, Maris Otter, Vienna and Munich are all base malts, differing in kilning intensity and therefore in colour and flavour. All retain enough diastatic power to convert themselves and some additional starch.
A beer can be made from base malt alone. It cannot be made from speciality malt alone, because those have no enzymes left.
Related
- Diastatic power — What base malt supplies.
- Speciality malt — The malts it must convert alongside itself.
- Maris Otter — The classic British base malt.
More vocabulary
Adjunct · Aroma hop · Bittering hop · Black malt · Brettanomyces · Candi sugar · Chocolate malt · Crystal malt · Dextrin · Dual-purpose hop
See every term on the glossary index.
Last reviewed 2026-08-16.