Malt
Caramel red malt
A pale caramel malt used chiefly to produce a red hue in the glass.
Colour in beer is not one-dimensional: SRM measures depth of absorbance and not hue, so two beers at the same figure can look quite different. Caramel red malts exist to move the hue rather than the number.
Common in Irish red ale and in amber lagers where the colour is part of the identity.
What it does
Crystal / caramel malt. Stewed while wet so starch converts to sugars inside the husk, then kilned. Produces caramel and dried-fruit flavour and unfermentable sugars that add body and sweetness.
Stewed and kilned at a temperature chosen for colour development in the red range.
Specification
| Colour | 20–30 EBC |
|---|---|
| Grain | barley |
| Enzyme activity | none — needs a base malt to convert it. |
| Fermentability | low |
| Flavour | light caramel, red colour |