Munich Malt

[crescent city Mike]

There are a lot of "Munich" malts produced by various malters worldwide. Weyermann produces Munich I which clocks in around 5 degrees L with a DP of at least 75. Briess makes a Munich 20 with a DP of about 20. Most, if not all Munich 10 malts are sufficiently able to convert themselves.

Here's an article on Diastatic Power. Has It Got The Power?

 

[An Ankoù]

There are a lot of "Munich" malts produced by various malters worldwide. Weyermann produces Munich I which clocks in around 5 degrees L with a DP of at least 75. Briess makes a Munich 20 with a DP of about 20. Most, if not all Munich 10 malts are sufficiently able to convert themselves.

Here's an article on Diastatic Power. Has It Got The Power?

That's an interesting anecdote CCM, but I used darker malts than that at 100%: Bestmalz Red-X is 39 ebc and Simpson's Imperial is 45 ebc. Both convert fine at 100 of grist.
I suppose it depends on the maltster.

 

[crescent city Mike]

That's an interesting anecdote CCM, but I used darker malts than that at 100%: Bestmalz Red-X is 39 ebc and Simpson's Imperial is 45 ebc. Both convert fine at 100 of grist.
I suppose it depends on the maltster.

The numbers I use in reference to malt color are SRM. You quote EBC. They are not the same.
Lovibond and SRM can be considered equal for our purposes as home brewers.

SRM = EBC X 0.508
EBC = SRM X 1.97

From the two formulae you can readily see that EBC is nearly double that of SRM

39 EBC = 19.8 SRM
45 EBC = 22.8 SRM

Of course, we're looking at the color of the malt; not the Diastatic Power. You correctly pointed out that it depends on the maltster.

 

[An Ankoù]

That's pretty dark for a Munich. I guess you've got to be wary of the name, too. For example Crisp's do a similar malt and they call it dark Munich, while Simpson's offering is called aromatic. Belgian aromatic is much darker- around 150 ebc going by memory. Then we have Crisp's cara gold at 15 ebc to compare with Château cara gold at 112 ebc. What joy! Substitution can be a minefield. And then we have Gladfield malts, who use names nobody else in the world has heard of and you can only attempt a substitution by going to the full spec for each malt.

 

[Weizenberg]

It might help to look at Munich Dunkel recipes. Saaz would be a rather classic choice there.

(All colours in EBC)

One often encounters 100% of muma@15-22 EBC and a bit of roast malt.

70% muma15 and 30%muma25 + 1% roast are also cited.

Modern Dunkel uses a lot more pilsner malt than one might suspect.

So it really depends on your tastes and the outcome you want.

I am a huge fan of generous doses of munich malt in wheat beers too.

Although it will convert, your attenuation will be lower than with bright malts. You can counter this with a decoction (where the beta amylase in the waiting main mash can now breakdown the newly formed starches further) and/or with the use of pilsner malt.

 

[crescent city Mike]

Briess Munich 20 is nearly the same as Belgian Aromatic at 19 L. Biscuit malt is about the same color at 23 L but is a world away from the aroma/flavor of the other two.

Experiment with your brewing BUT keep good notes. Without the notes of what goes right and what goes wrong, you will repeat the bad things and forget the good. When you formulate, the "what if?" syndrome can be a powerful tool. It can be looked upon as "insight" or a "brain fart." Either way, you can extract much value from such experimentation.

As WEIZENBERG stated, I too, am a fan of Munich malt in wheat beers. I use Biscuit malt to get that "bready" aroma and flavor which is usually missing from all but the best.

 

[Lesinge]

It needs a minimum DP of 30 to convert and Munich has a DP between 35-40 so it should be ok but I'm more than happy to listen to advice, I'm here to learn.

A few years ago I did an experiment, brewing five smash beers with five different malts:

Maris Otter
Munich
Vienna
Lager
Belgium Pale Ale Malt
The hops were all the same (can't remember what now) and the yeast was US05. In this picture you can see the dark one and that is the Munich malt.

For what it is worth there wasn't a massive amount of difference between the five in terms of ABV as I remember. My preference was:

Maris Otter was top
Vienna was bottom - didn't like it on its own.
Belgium wasn't massively different from MO so when I brew Belgium beers I don't bother buying Belgium malt specially as the big flavours normally mask any difference.
The standard Lager was interesting with a more cracker taste.
The Munich was slightly sweeter and malty as I remember it and wasn't bad, although I can find it cloying in German beers.

 

[Tombo]

A few years ago I did an experiment, brewing five smash beers with five different malts:

Maris Otter
Munich
Vienna
Lager
Belgium Pale Ale Malt
The hops were all the same (can't remember what now) and the yeast was US05. In this picture you can see the dark one and that is the Munich malt.

For what it is worth there wasn't a massive amount of difference between the five in terms of ABV as I remember. My preference was:

Maris Otter was top
Vienna was bottom - didn't like it on its own.
Belgium wasn't massively different from MO so when I brew Belgium beers I don't bother buying Belgium malt specially as the big flavours normally mask any difference.
The standard Lager was interesting with a more cracker taste.
The Munich was slightly sweeter and malty as I remember it and wasn't bad, although I can find it cloying in German beers.

That's interesting, I have used Vienna malt as a base malt and I actually preferred it to M/O in my bitters. I now just buy my base malt as whichever is cheapest at the time that I am buying, I am currently using golden promise and don't find it that much different to any other I've tried. Still not got round to using Munich yet, the possible sweetness is holding me back.

 

[Lesinge]

That's interesting, I have used Vienna malt as a base malt and I actually preferred it to M/O in my bitters. I now just buy my base malt as whichever is cheapest at the time that I am buying, I am currently using golden promise and don't find it that much different to any other I've tried. Still not got round to using Munich yet, the possible sweetness is holding me back.

I like both GP and MO as they are both heritage malts and give more flavour in my opinion in beers that need that maltiness - I have also tried Chevalier but did find that a bit stronger in flavour and less convertible but maybe shouldn't have used it at 100% of the base. I think Munich is good for adding to a base malt in beers like Golden Ales as it adds colour and some layers of flavour in those "lighter" styles. Don't know why I don't like Vienna - I have noticed as I have got older I have certain tastes that I really don't like anymore such as Coriander and Southern Comfort to name but two - Vienna malt is the same for me!

 

[Lesinge]

A few years ago I did an experiment, brewing five smash beers with five different malts:

Maris Otter
Munich
Vienna
Lager
Belgium Pale Ale Malt
The hops were all the same (can't remember what now) and the yeast was US05. In this picture you can see the dark one and that is the Munich malt.

For what it is worth there wasn't a massive amount of difference between the five in terms of ABV as I remember. My preference was:

Maris Otter was top
Vienna was bottom - didn't like it on its own.
Belgium wasn't massively different from MO so when I brew Belgium beers I don't bother buying Belgium malt specially as the big flavours normally mask any difference.
The standard Lager was interesting with a more cracker taste.
The Munich was slightly sweeter and malty as I remember it and wasn't bad, although I can find it cloying in German beers.

Anyone like to guess which beers are made with which malt just from the picture? Your starter for ten is that Munich is the yellow crown cap...

 

[peebee]

Briess Munich 20 is nearly the same as Belgian Aromatic at 19 L. Biscuit malt is about the same color at 23 L but is a world away from the aroma/flavor of the other two. ...

Maltsters muck about with more than just temperature. I understand "Munich" is kilned when initially somewhat damper than our UK malts (and "Biscuit malt"?). The results are different malts, not better malts. Even colour will be influenced by more than just heat. Who knows what else they mess with; Simpson's "Imperial" will self-convert yet has an EBC of 45.

For example. Brown malt in the UK was kilned from very damp and was a very different malt to today's offerings.