Is a malt kilned, roasted, or both? Sometimes it’s difficult to know. That’s why we created this handy “From barley to beer” infographic that illustrates categories of malt, Briess malts in each category and color contributions of each category. As the illustration shows, Briess caramel malts are roasted (not kilned). That’s important. Why? Bob Hansen explained it last year in his blog, “Is it Crystal or Caramel Malt?“. Check it out.
And what are Specially Processed Malts? These are malts that have been both kilned and roasted, following proprietary recipes that vary the degree of kilning and roasting, and occasionally adjust moisture at certain phases of the process. These proprietary recipes develop very unique flavors and color, and make it possible for craft and homebrewers to create some exciting and often signature flavors in their beers.
Click on the image above for the low res image, or visit the Briess Products page for links to a high res pdf as well as the Briess “2015 Typical Malt Analysis Chart”. This two-page, b&w chart includes typical analysis data and flavor descriptions for all standard Briess malts.