Roasted Barley

Unmalted, roasted, and the soul of dry stout.

What it tastes like

Roasted barley is unmalted barley kilned to deep dark brown — and it's what makes Guinness taste like Guinness. Distinct from chocolate malt, it brings sharper coffee bitterness, drier finish, and that classic 'dry stout' character. Used at 5-15% in stouts and porters.

coffeebitter chocolateburnt toastespresso

Best in these styles

dry Irish stout imperial stout porter schwarzbier

Tasting Tip

Guinness Draught is roasted barley plus pale malt and very little else. The bitter coffee finish is roasted barley.

For brewers — technical profile

Color (Lovibond)

300–500 °L

Color (EBC)

600–1000

Max Use

10% of grain bill

Diastatic Power

None

Where to source

Maltsters that produce or distribute this grain:

Briess Malt & Ingredients

USA · Chilton, Wisconsin

Crisp Malt

United Kingdom · Great Ryburgh, Norfolk

Weyermann Specialty Malts

Germany · Bamberg

History

Unmalted roasted barley was originally a cost-cutting alternative to malted dark grains. Guinness adopted it in the 1930s and the dry stout style became defined by it.