Chocolate Malt

A roasted malt that delivers chocolate, espresso and dark-cocoa flavour. The defining colour and flavour grain of porters and brown ales.

SKUHW-G-CHOC
Price£3.45 / 500 g
In stockYes
OriginUK
typeroasted specialty malt
colour lovibond350
ebc800
potential yield ppg28
diastatic power0

Chocolate malt is base malt taken to roughly 200 °C in the kiln until the husk is dark and the kernel is uniformly brown. Used in 3-8% of the grist, it produces deep brown colour and a smooth, coffee-like flavour. Above 10%, the roastiness becomes ashy.

When to use

  • Brown ales, porters, stouts as the primary colour grain (often paired with smaller amounts of roast barley for sharpness)
  • A pinch in milds and dark bitters for colour adjustment

Roast pairings

For a Northern English porter we’d use 5% chocolate malt and skip roast barley entirely; the result is smooth and chocolatey without the espresso bite. For an Irish stout, chocolate malt drops to 3% and roast barley does the heavy lifting at 8-10%.

Used in these recipes

Suits these styles

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