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One amber ale, eleven specialty malts
For the 2025 experiment, the Brewtubers turned their attention to malt. Eleven club members brewed the same amber ale recipe, and each one swapped in a different specialty malt — from familiar names like melanoidin and Red X to curveballs like Opal 44 toffee malt, Carolina Biscuit, and a gluten-free millet malt called Griffin.
Reviewed side by side, the series becomes a practical flavor library — a chance to actually taste what each malt on a homebrew shop's specialty shelf does to a finished beer, rather than just guessing from the spec sheet. Watch the individual reviews for the tasting notes on each one.
#01 · The Underground Brewery · December 13, 2025
The brew day that kicks off the 2025 malt experiment: two full pounds of Griffin gluten-free millet malt auditioning in an amber ale. It brings raisin and dark fruit nobody expected — maybe a gluten-free barley wine in our future?
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#02 · Kurt @ Fermentation Adventures · December 17, 2025
Two ounces of Sinamar, a liquid coloring extract that adds color while barely touching flavor. How much of the base beer's malt character shows through when the color comes from somewhere else entirely?
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#03 · Billy @ GamnDood Brewing · December 20, 2025
Melanoidin, the malt famous for faking a decoction mash, dropped into the shared amber ale. It accents the Munich malt with a honey note the review sums up as putting honey on bread.
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#04 · Dan @ Rigger Brew · December 21, 2025
Carared, a caramel malt built for red and amber beers, put through its paces by two Brewtubers who'd never brewed with it before. The aroma evolves in the glass — quiet at first, then blooming into sweet rolls and honey biscuit.
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#05 · Brewmaster Jerry · December 24, 2025
Eight ounces of Briess Special Roast — a biscuity, sourdough-toasty malt landing right in the middle of the experiment's color spectrum. It balances the amber's sweetness well enough to earn a spot in a future bitter ale.
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#06 · Matt @ Wrecked Brewery · December 25, 2025
Carolina Malt House biscuit malt, whose spec sheet promises the flavor of “the bottom underside of a cookie.” Remarkably, that's exactly what both reviewers taste, independently, on camera.
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#07 · Sean @ Brookside Brewing Co. · December 28, 2025
Western New York honey malt, dosed into a 3.7% ABV session amber that gets certified on the spot as a lawnmower beer. Is the honey character as gentle as the malt's reputation suggests?
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#08 · Lance @ Hund Hütte Brewing · December 28, 2025
Opal 44, a toffee malt neither Brewtuber had ever tried, delivers a chocolate-almond character unlike anything else in the eleven-beer lineup. The only question left: what style should it actually live in?
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#09 · Nick @ Exit 12 Homebrew · December 30, 2025
Red X, a malt built to produce red beers as a near-single malt, reviewed after the Underground Brewery gets converted into a full hazmat clean room — in honor of Nick from Exit 12's legendary reputation for cleanliness.
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#10 · Adam @ Hatty Brews · December 31, 2025
Briess Ashburne Mild, dosed heavier than most entries at 12 ounces to make sure the malt made its point. It does — this is the most malt-forward beer of the entire experiment.
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#11 · Matt @ Irondale Brewing · January 1, 2026
The finale: Simpsons Amber Malt, an on-style pick that delivers the good parts of crystal malt without the odd tang crystal can bring. Eleven brewers, eleven malts, eleven beers — and not a bad one in the batch.
Read the write-up →Official homebrew supply shop of the Brewtubers
Sponsor and official homebrew supply shop of the Brewtubers — the club behind the experiments on this channel. A family-owned homebrew supply store in Danvers, Massachusetts since 1972, with one of the biggest yeast selections around — order any malt they carry in any quantity, and orders placed before 11 a.m. ship the same day. Visit beer-wine.com and tell them the Brewtubers sent you in the order comment box.
