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Chocolate Malt

A dark roasted malt giving chocolate and coffee flavours and deep brown colour, smoother than black malt.

What Chocolate Malt is

Chocolate malt is barley malt roasted to a deep brown, developing rich chocolate and coffee flavours. It is roasted less harshly than black malt, so it gives dark colour and roast flavour with a smoother, rounder edge.

It is central to porters, brown ales and many stouts, where it provides the chocolate and coffee notes without the sharp astringency of the darkest malts. A small amount also deepens the colour and flavour of amber and dark ales.

Colour and flavour

Colour: 350 to 450 degrees Lovibond. Malt colour is measured in degrees Lovibond, or the metric EBC, and is a rough guide to flavour intensity as well as to the shade the malt lends the beer.

Flavour and character: Chocolate, coffee and light roast, deep brown to black, without the sharp bitterness of black malt..

How much to use

Typical proportion of the grist: Typically 2 to 10% of the grist. Adjust to taste and to the style you are brewing; the figures here are a starting point, not a rule.

Chocolate Malt is a roasted malt. It is added to the mash or steeped for colour and roast flavour; a little goes a long way, so it is weighed carefully. It is central to styles such as Porter, Brown Ale, Sweet Stout and Imperial Stout, where it does much to define the flavour and colour, and it can be used in smaller amounts in many other beers. As with any grain, the right amount depends on the beer you are building, so treat the proportions here as a tested starting point rather than a fixed rule.

Related

Sources: BJCP Beer Style Guidelines · How to Brew (John Palmer), malt reference