Meet Root Shoot’s Vienna malt: gold medal winner in the 2023 Craft Malt Cup and Root Shoot malthouse rebel. Our Vienna is a malt that pushes the boundaries of flavor and color, a malt that turns up the heat where others might hesitate, a malt that is so spectacular at what it does, it fills brewhouses with aromatics that leave an impression for days. With flavors of warm, toasted bread and grains that burst with nuttiness, Vienna is anything but bland and boring. Even the hop steep from it stands out: its bright orange color and fresh pretzel aroma make brewers instantly long for Oktoberfest.
The secret to our Vienna’s success lies in high kiln temps that toast it to perfection. We finish it at 220 degrees - higher than our Munich 10, even - and the application of dry heat is where the magic takes place.
But magic doesn’t come easily. One of the most labor-intensive malts we produce, Vienna always finishes in the late, dark hours of the night. More than once, we’ve stumbled out of bed at ungodly hours to drive to the malthouse and check on a batch. We’re rewarded by the warm-grain scents when we open the drum door, and the pleasure of watching raw grain turn into something exceptional.
And Vienna truly is exceptional. Extremely functional as a base it can serve as a go-to malt, but when used in layers it creates amazing complexity in finished products.
Want to taste what we’re talking about? We have suggestions. Stodgy’s Vienna Lager is a shining example, of what Vienna can do. Best West Quest IPA at Tightknit Brewing in Greeley is another Vienna beer, and one on our personal list for one of the best beers of the year so far. Cellar West’s Wingra Pale Ale is both damn tasty and demonstrates the awesome color that Vienna produces.
Go on, give these beers (and Vienna malt) a try. After years of work and refinement in our production, we’re proud of where it has landed.
And we’re confident that you will be proud of what you and Vienna create.
