Briess | Special Roast Malt | per lb

Briess Special Roast Malt is a distinctive biscuit-style specialty malt that adds intense toast, biscuit, bran cereal, and sourdough-like character to beer. More deeply roasted than Briess Victory® Malt, Special Roast is an excellent choice when you want a bold toasted grain character with a unique tangy edge.

At approximately 40° Lovibond, Special Roast contributes deep golden-to-brown color along with an assertive combination of toasted bread, biscuit, bran flakes, and sourdough. Its distinctive tangy character sets it apart from more traditional biscuit and toasted malts.

Special Roast works particularly well in IPA, ESB, Amber Ale, Nut Brown Ale, Porter, and other darker beer styles. In hop-forward beers, a modest addition can provide a firm toasted malt backbone beneath the hops. In Brown Ales and Porters, its bread, biscuit, and bran-like flavors can add another layer of complexity alongside caramel, chocolate, and roasted malts.

Compared with Briess Victory® Malt, Special Roast is darker and more intense. Victory emphasizes clean biscuit, baking bread, and mild nuttiness, while Special Roast pushes further toward deeper toast, bran cereal, sourdough, and a distinctive tangy character.

Briess recommends using Special Roast at approximately 5–10% of the grain bill. Because of its distinctive flavor, smaller additions are a good place to start when you're looking for subtle toasted complexity, while moving toward the upper end makes its sourdough and bran-like character considerably more noticeable.

Why Brew With Briess Special Roast Malt?

• Drum-roasted biscuit-style specialty malt
• Approximately 40°L
• Intense toasted and biscuit character
• Distinctive sourdough-like tang
• Adds bran flake and toasted cereal notes
• Deeper and more assertive than Victory® Malt
• Adds deep golden-to-brown color
• Provides toasted complexity without traditional caramel-malt sweetness
• Excellent for layering with caramel, chocolate, and roasted malts
• Recommended at approximately 5–10% of the grain bill
• Excellent for IPA, ESB, Amber Ale, Nut Brown Ale, Porter, Stout, and other malt-forward or dark beer styles

For brewers looking for something beyond a traditional biscuit malt, Briess Special Roast Malt delivers a distinctive combination of toast, biscuit, bran cereal, and sourdough-like tang. Use it to add subtle toasted complexity or make it a more prominent part of the recipe when you want a bold, rustic bread-and-grain character.