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Vienna Malt

A lightly kilned base malt giving a soft, toasty, golden character, between pale and Munich malt.

What Vienna Malt is

Vienna malt sits between pale and Munich malt, kilned enough to give a soft, toasty, golden malt character while remaining usable as a base malt. It gives beers a warm, bready depth without going as dark or rich as Munich.

It is the signature malt of the Vienna lager and a useful way to add malt complexity and colour to ales and lagers alike, often used alongside pale and Munich malts.

Colour and flavour

Colour: 3 to 6 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: Soft, toasty, lightly bready and golden, gentler than Munich malt..

How much to use

Typical proportion of the grist: Up to 100% in amber styles. Adjust to taste and to the style you are brewing; the figures here are a starting point, not a rule.

Vienna Malt is a kilned malt. It still carries enough enzyme power to be mashed as part of the grain bill, and in malty styles it can make up a large share of it. It is central to styles such as Vienna Lager, Oktoberfest Marzen and Bock, 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