What Is Red X Malt?

Ingredients
1

I’ve searched for this answer for awhile and finally received a reply from Best Malz.

thank you for your friendly Email with the pleasing feedback to our BEST Red X®.

I would like to ask for your kind understanding that I am not allowed to reveal all the detailed secrets of this innovative craft malt. But you can be absolutely sure, that it is far more than a simple blend of 2-3 conventional malt types. We have developed this type during several months with our experts and by conducting also very intensive trials in partnership with several chummy brewers (using very different brewhouses, batch-sizes and technologies of brewing) to verify the results (of getting out excellent reddish beers with the utmost probability).

So the mentioned rumors are what they are: only rumors, maybe released by competitive maltsters in the market, who are not able to offer such products (and who may be a bit jealous about it?).

So thank you for your understanding and for using our products, don´t hesitate to ask for any further information.

All the BEST for your further brews and

Best regards
BESTMALZ AG

2

So we know that it is “far more than a simple blend of 2-3 conventional malt types” and that is it? Maybe I am misunderstanding.

3

Complex blend of 5-6 malts?

4

I as under the impression that it was a high kilned malt similar to Munich only more red. from what I’ve heard the flavor profile is that of a munich type malt. I suspect they have developed techniques/machinery to control the damp kilning portion of the process to develop a particular melanoiden profile for the color they were after.

It’s a base malt intended for use as 100% of the grist and I suspect if it was a blend of various malts the consistency would be hard to maintain given that specialty malts have different densities depending on how they were malted and kilned and would naturally separate a bit in shipping.

5

There doesn’t appear to be any more color variation between kernels than any other variety of malt I’ve seen, so I have a hard time believing that it was a blend. Plus, if it was a blend and there was any significant difference in size and/or density between any of the components then they’d tend to separate in the sack during shipping, and that could lead to inconsistency in the beer.

It converts itself just fine, and tastes in the ballpark of a light Munich malt. I’m guessing it’s something in the kilning process, but that’s just a WAG on my part.

6

What I got from that reply is that it is not a blend. Maybe its similar to the way they make Munich malts but they added something to the process to give it a reddish color. I think it does taste similar to a lighter Munich but I get a slight caramel flavor as well.

7

I just made a red x beer and got quite a bit of caramel, more than I wanted.

8

The beer I brewed with 100% Red X malt had what to me seemed like a slight cherry flavor (not in an unpleasant way though).

It was also more acidic than I expected.

9

Not sure its actually acid, because mash pH seems to stay in check, but it’s definitely sharper than munich. And not Best munich… to me its similar to Great Western light munich, but sharper. Acidic-ish sharper.

10

I meant that my mash pH was lower than expected as compared to batches I’ve brewed with 100% munich malt of a similar degree lovibond (and also less than as predicted by Bru’n Water).