Gluten Free Home Brewing Blog
The Complete Gluten-Free Beer Malt Chart
Selecting the right malt is one of the most important decisions a brewer makes when designing a recipe. Malt contributes fermentable sugars, color, body, mouthfeel, head retention, and many of the flavors that define a finished beer. While barley brewers have long relied on established malt charts and style guidelines, equivalent resources for gluten-free brewing have been far more limited.
Today, gluten-free brewers have access to an expanding range of specialty malts made from millet, rice, buckwheat, corn, and other gluten-free grains. These malts can be used to create everything from crisp lagers and hop-forward IPAs to rich stouts and complex Belgian ales. Understanding how each malt contributes flavor, color, and fermentability is essential to building balanced and repeatable recipes.
The chart below summarizes the flavor profiles, color contributions, and brewing characteristics of the gluten-free malts currently available through Gluten Free Home Brewing. Following the chart, we discuss points per pound per gallon (PPG) and explain how our PPG classifications can help brewers formulate more accurate and consistent gluten-free recipes.
| BUCKWHEAT MALT | DESCRIPTION | PPG | USE | LOVIBOND RANGE | SRM RANGE |
| Caramel Buckwheat Malt | This is a fantastic option to increase body and head retention and also offers sweet bread, caramel, nutty flavors. |
311 | <30% | --- | 3.0-6.0 |
| Pale Buckwheat Malt | This is a fantastic option to increase body and head retention and also offers warm, nutty flavors. |
311 | 5-30% | --- | 1.5-3.0 |
| Roasted Buckwheat Malt | Roasted buckwheat has strong notes of walnuts, maple and toast. | 251 | 5-20% | --- | 30-50 |
| CORN MALT | DESCRIPTION | PPG | USE | LOVIBOND RANGE | SRM RANGE |
| Yellow Corn Malt | Neutral flavor, increases body without residual sweetness. | 271 | 5-30% | --- | --- |
| MILLET MALT | DESCRIPTION | PPG | USE | LOVIBOND RANGE | SRM RANGE |
| Cara Millet Malt | Sweet malty aroma is perfect for your Amber, Bock, Dark Lagers, or Octoberfest. Sweet caramel flavors, increased residual sugars. |
341 | 5-50% | --- | 1.5-3.0 |
| Caramel Millet Malt | Sweet biscuit and caramel flavor with increased residual sugars. | 341 | 3-20% | --- | 4.0-6.0 |
| Caramel 50L Millet Malt | Caramel, light toffee, sweet bread, honey, mild toasted grain with medium body. | 251 | 3-15% | 60-80 | |
| Caramel 90L Millet Malt | Honey, caramel, brown sugar, stone fruit, sweet bread with medium body. |
251 | 3-15% | --- | 115-130 |
| Caramel 120L Millet Malt | Toffee, caramel, plum, light chocolate, maple sugar, with medium body. |
251 | 3-15% | --- | 150-180 |
| Caramel 240L Millet Malt | Sweet chocolate, dark toffee, molasses, low in coffee and strong roast characteristics for it's color, complex, well rounded malt with medium body. |
251 | 3-15% | --- | 310-340 |
| Chocolate Roasted Vienna Millet Malt | Chocolate, toffee, caramelized brown sugar, and toasted cracker flavor. |
251 | 5-15% | --- | 125-155 |
| Dark Munich Millet Malt | Light amber to light brown color with aromas of strong biscuit and toast, graham cracker, nutty, toffee. |
321 | 5-25% | --- | 9 |
| Dark Roasted Vienna Millet Malt | Dark chocolate, nutty, roasted toffee, and slight woody character. | 251 | <10% | --- | 300-350 |
| Dutch Roasted Millet Malt | Slight toasted, light nut- almond and cashew aroma and flavor. Compliments a variety of styles from Pale Ale to Nut Brown Ale to Stout. |
251 | 5-15% | --- | 25-30 |
| Griffin Millet Malt | Plum, toffee, caramelized sugar, and chocolate flavors. | 301 | 5-20% | --- | 80-90 |
| Light Roasted Millet Malt | The pleasant soft toasted, slight biscuit, malty flavor and aroma makes this product ideal for use in a broad array of beer styles. |
251 | 5-15% | --- | 15-20 |
| Goldfinch Millet Malt | Maple and bran flavors coupled with slight toasty cereal, honey and caramel tones. Perfect addition to Pale and IPA grain bills. |
341 | 5-50% | --- | 7.0-9.0 |
| Medium Roasted Millet Malt | This malt offers caramel, biscuit, and slight hints of roasted coffee that can help you achieve just that. |
251 | 5-12% | --- | 30-65 |
| Munich Millet Malt | Sweet bready nose; and biscuit, light toastiness, and toffee flavors perfect for German beer styles. |
341 | 10-75% | --- | 1.0-3.0 |
| Pale Millet Malt | Perfect base malt for a variety of beer styles. Sweet in taste and light in color. |
351 | 5-95% | --- | 1.0-2.5 |
| Red Wing Amber Millet Malt | Caramel, toffee, raisin, plum, and sweet breakfast cereal finishing with medium body and sweetness. Ruby Amber color. |
341 | 1-20% | --- | 30-40 |
| Roasted Cara Millet Malt | With a rich amber color and an aroma of freshly baked sweet pastries, complimented by hints of raisins and dried fruits. |
251 | 5-20% | --- | 20-40 |
| Roasted Goldfinch Millet Malt | Roasted brown sugar and caramel. | 251 | 5-20% | --- | 85-105 |
| Vienna Millet Malt | Sweet, bready aroma with a flavorful finish. Subtle toffee notes. | 341 | 10-75% | --- | 1.5-4.5 |
| OAT MALT | DESCRIPTION | PPG | USE | LOVIBOND RANGE | SRM RANGE |
| Pale Oat Malt | Creamy grain, light sweetness, soft bread, oatmeal, subtle honey with full body. | 241 | 5-20% | --- | 1.5-3.0 |
| RICE MALT | DESCRIPTION | PPG | USE | LOVIBOND RANGE | SRM RANGE |
| Amber Rice Malt | Dried and roasted to develop amber color and flavors. | 20-302 | 1-20% | Approx. 15 | --- |
| Biscuit Rice Malt | This lightly toasted malt contributes toasted malt flavors and aromas. |
20-302 | 5-20% | 4.8 | --- |
| Biscuit 4L Rice Malt | Clean and even, malty, bready flavor and aroma. Ideal foolproof base malt. Compliments other malt flavors perfectly. |
20-302 | 5-80% | 4.0-4.5 | --- |
| Biscuit 15L Rice Malt | Rich malty biscuit and brown bready crust flavor without the sweetness of caramel. |
20-302 | 2-10% | 15-16 | --- |
| Biscuit 18L Rice Malt | Strong malty roasted biscuit character and a complex dark bready flavor without the sweetness of caramel. |
20-302 | 2-10% | 18 | --- |
| Crystal Rice Malt | Contributes a rich sweetness, caramel flavor with notes of prune/fig and a light reddish hue. |
20-302 | 3-15% | 16 | --- |
| Dark Rice Malt | This dark malt contributes chocolate/coffee aroma and flavor. | 20-302 | 1-5% | 250-300 | --- |
| Gas Hog Rice Malt | Rich chocolate/coffee flavors and aromas. Good for developing porter and stout recipes. |
20-302 | 1-5% | 350-400 | --- |
| James’ Brown Rice Malt | This darker roasted malt contributes spicy chocolate flavor and dark crystal hue to beers. |
20-302 | 1-5% | 22 | --- |
| Pale Rice Malt | Replaces pale barley malt for gluten free beer. | 20-302 | 100% | 1.4 | --- |
| Pitch Rice Malt | Dried and roasted to develop very dark color. Good for developing porter and stout recipes. Rich chocolate/coffee flavors and aromas. |
20-302 | 1-5% | 400+ | --- |
| ADJUNCT | DESCRIPTION | PPG | USE | LOVIBOND RANGE | SRM RANGE |
| Quinoa - Flaked | High in protein, quinoa adds a dimension of nutty and sweet. Adds head retention. |
32-353 | 5-10% | 3.0-5.0 | --- |
1www.grousemalthouse.com/optimization-of-extract-and-fermentability-of-grouse-malt/
Excerpt: With the help of Hartwick College Center for Craft Food & Beverage, we have conducted a multitude of lab scale mashing and forced fermentation experiments. While our end goal for this project was to formally define the typical extract potential and gain insight on fermentability across our malt brands, the path shed light on several variables in the brewing process. Read the full blog from Grouse Malt House.
2www.glutenfreehomebrewing.com/BLOG/130/Introduction-To-Ondea-Pro-Liquid-Enzyme-Complex.php
Excerpt: In this blog entry, we're going to give an overview of how Ondea Pro works, report on the results of some of our trials, and provide an outline of some mash protocols to use with Ondea Pro. There is not yet a consensus on what the optimal time, temperature, pH, and dosage are, as there's still a lot of room for experimentation, but the initial results are so promising that it's well worth the trials! Read the full blog from Mutantis Brewery & Bottle Shop and Bierly Brewing Company.
3www.glutenfreehomebrewing.com/BLOG/127/Assessment-of-Flaked-Quinoa-PPG-Lovibond.php
Excerpt: Aaron conducted a series of mini-mash experiments using various brewing enzymes, mash techniques, and gluten free grain and malt. One of the questions Aaron set out to answer in his experiments was to determine the PPG and Lovibond of Flaked Quinoa. Read the full blog from OtherWise Brewing.
Chart updated June 2026