I have a bit of Dark Munich left, and have been putting bits of it in my beers for a little extra boost. So I figured, why not a quick blurb on this Swaens Dark and other Munich Malts in general.

As the name implies, Munich malt was once much more regional specific to European areas like Germany and surrounding areas,, but not because the grain its self is special or different somehow, but rather the way it is processed.

It’s usually a 2row but there are 6row versions. But what makes Munich different from your normal Pilsner or regular 2 row base malts is Munich keeps a much higher moisture content before the kilning process begins, Kinda sorta like a crystal malt,, but not as extreme.

By keeping more moisture in the grain at kilning, Munich gets very different flavor, and color traits than other base malts. 

While most 2 row malts are in the 3-4 SRM range, Munich is generally in the 5-7-10 range. Now 20,, even 30 SRM versions are becoming available. And each one of these variations brings subtle changes to that bready, grainy malty flavors and aromas that are the trademark of Munich 

And those changes generally get more intense the darker you go.

For example, this Swaens Dark is labeled as only 8 but it really has somewhat of a coco flavor to it that not present in the 5.

Lighter versions have no problem being used as 100% of a grain bill because they still retain enough diastatic power to fully convert their starches into the sugars we need.

However, the darker versions have much lower power and can struggle to fully convert, so they are more often used with a lighter base malt for conversion. 

And thats what I recently found out about this Dark Munich. This Swaen Dark is labeled as only 8 Lovibond,, but apparently it is a bit lower in power because I have been doing smash beers with it and not getting quite the numbers I should. So from now on though, I’m gonna add some regular two row with it when I use it as the main grain.

I could not find any actual numbers anywhere,, but every single site that I looked at mentions the lower power. 

A little goes a long way with these darker Munichs, so they are usually used to secondarily add depths or layers of flavor to your grain bills. Not “usually” the main grain, but German style beers such as Oktoberfests, Bocks, Marzens and the like are famous for their heavy Munich use, but those are far before the newer 20 and 30 varieties arrived. But then again, nearly every style of beer out there can use it to some degree for a bit of its malty goodness. 

And now today with nearly every Maltster out there making a version of Munich malt,, the varieties and variations are endless.

I don’t exactly know what I’m gonna brew next with it, or what the proportion will be,, but for now,,, Here is a quick and easy Munich Smash recipe to get a feel for the general characteristics of the Munich malt.

And if you go to brewing with Briess.com in the recipe section, you will find a recipe that uses the Dark Munich Dark Munich Amber

Stay tuned and keep brewing