Vienna
Riverbend Vienna is a lightly kilned specialty base malt made from regionally grown 2-row barley. It runs the same kiln schedule as their Light Munich but cures cooler, which develops biscuit and honey character while holding color to 4 to 6 SRM.
Riverbend markets this one as a base malt rather than a specialty addition, and the numbers support that. Minimum diastatic power of 80 is enough to self-convert. It gives a fuller, more complex malt backbone than a standard pale.
Using Vienna
- Riverbend publishes 10 to 60% of the grist, wider than most specialty malts because it can carry a beer.
- Use it as the base of an Oktoberfest or Vienna lager, or at 10 to 25% to add malt depth to a pale beer.
- Self-converting at DP 80, so it does not need a high-enzyme base alongside it.
- Also used in American single malt whiskey.
Styles: Helles, Oktoberfest, Marzen, Vienna lager, classic German lagers, American single malt whiskey
Specifications
| Grain | 2-row barley, proprietary blend |
|---|---|
| Color | 4 to 6 SRM |
| Max usage rate | 10 to 60% of grist |
| Extract (FG, dry basis) | 80% |
| Protein | 11.2% |
| S/T ratio | 40 to 45 |
| Min diastatic power | 80 |
| Min alpha amylase | 35 |
| Bag size | 50 lb |
About Riverbend Malt House
Brent Manning and Brian Simpson founded Riverbend in Asheville in 2010, the first craft malt house east of the Mississippi. It is now the first Certified Regenified malt house in the world. Grain comes from family-owned farms inside roughly a 500-mile radius of Asheville, across North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and Florida. They still hand-rake grain on a traditional malting floor alongside modern germination-kiln vessels, and in 2025 they supplied more than 300 breweries and distilleries.