Malt
Munich malt
The malt behind bock, dunkel and Märzen: deep bread-crust and toast flavour with enough enzyme power to convert itself.
What it does
Kilned speciality malt. Base-style malt kilned harder for colour and toasty, bready or biscuity flavour, usually with reduced enzyme activity.
Kilned considerably harder than base malt, with a stewing rest that develops melanoidins. Retains just enough enzyme activity to convert itself, which is why it can be used as the entire grist.
Specification
| Colour | 6–20°L |
|---|---|
| Grain | barley |
| Enzyme activity | self converting |
| Fermentability | moderate |
| Typical share of grist | 5–100% |
| Flavour | bread crust, toast, malt sweetness, light caramel |
Commercial examples
Weyermann Munich Type I, Weyermann Munich Type II, Best Malz Munich.
Listed as examples rather than equivalents. Colour, kilning regime and flavour differ measurably between maltsters, and two products sold under the same name can be several degrees apart.
Substitutes
- Vienna malt — A paler, gentler version of the same idea.
- Melanoidin malt — A more intense concentrate of the same malty depth.
Used in
- Munich Helles
Bavaria’s everyday pale lager: soft, bready and malt-forward, with just enough hop to balance and nothing to distract.
- Dortmunder Export
A pale lager sitting between Helles and Pils: fuller and firmer than the first, softer and less bitter than the second.
- Festbier
The golden, stronger lager actually served at modern Oktoberfest — malt-forward and smooth, but pale rather than amber.
- Kellerbier
Unfiltered, gently carbonated lager served young from the cellar, with a soft yeasty fullness filtration removes.
- Vienna lager
An amber lager built on gently kilned Vienna malt: toasty and lightly sweet, but finishing clean and dry.
- Märzen
A rich amber lager brewed in March for autumn drinking, with deep toasty malt and a clean, firm finish.
- Munich Dunkel
Deep brown Bavarian lager led by rich Munich malt — bready and gently chocolatey, without real roast bitterness.
- Schwarzbier
Nearly black but remarkably light on the palate: smooth roast, clean lager finish and none of the heaviness the colour suggests.
- Czech amber lager
A Bohemian amber lager balancing caramel malt against Saaz hop character, sitting between the pale and dark Czech beers.
- Czech dark lager
A dark Bohemian lager richer and sweeter than its German counterparts, with caramel and light roast over a soft body.
- Bock
A strong, dark, malt-dominated lager with deep bread-crust and toasty character and only enough hop to keep it from being sweet.
- Helles Bock
A pale, strong lager with the body of a bock but a brighter, more hop-balanced character — traditionally a spring beer.