malt
n. C / Un. grain, usually barley, that has been soaked in water and dried to prepare it for making beer or whiskey. You might also find it in some sweets or milkshakes for a sweet, toasted flavor.
n. grain, typically barley, that has been germinated by soaking in water and then dried to halt further growth. This process develops the enzymes required to turn starches into fermentable sugars.
The brewer added extra malt to give the beer a richer flavor.
The distillery uses locally grown barley to produce the high-quality malt essential for their signature single-malt scotch.
The complex profile of the stout is achieved through a blend of chocolate and crystal malts, which impart deep notes of coffee and caramel during the mashing process.
From Middle English malt, from Old English mealt, from Proto-West Germanic malt, from Proto-Germanic maltą (“malt”), from maltaz (“soft; nesh; weak; squashy; melting”), from Proto-Indo-European meld-, *mled- (“to crush; grind; make weak”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Moalt (“malt”), Dutch mout (“malt”), German Malz (“malt”), Swedish malt (“malt”), Old Church Slavonic младъ (mladŭ, “tender; young”), Russian молодой (molodoj, “young; fresh; new”). The Proto-Germanic noun was borrowed into Proto-Slavic as *malta; compare Ukrainian мо́лот (mólot), Czech mláto. More at melt.
Uncountable when referring to the substance in general; countable when referring to specific varieties or types of malt used in brewing.