It's an unmalted grain and about 2/3 the color of Weyermann roasted barley. Chocolate Rye is malted. http://www.weyermann.de/eng/produkte.asp?idkat=22&umenue=yes&idmenue=0&sprache=2 And like the barley, it has a typical roasty aroma. Very descriptive!
Just to add to the confusion, Weyermann also refers to the Chocolate Rye Malt as a "Roasted Malt," which it is of course.
I get the sense that grains, similar to coffee beans, become less dependent on where the come from and what type they are the longer they are roasted as compounds that makes rye flavor different than say wheat are lost in the heat & chemical reactions that are occurring. Maybe not true...but just a thought...
There is likely some truth to this. At some point if you apply heat, it all becomes charcoal, but I don't believe this tells the entire story. The pathways to becoming charcoal will differ slightly. The presence of a husk is one key difference that survives the roasting process - e.g., Carafa vs, Carafa Special. Because wheat and rye are huskless, that may make make roasted varieties different from unroasted. Also, I think there must still be some difference between black malt and black roasted barley. Otherwise, why bother malting it if it is just going to get roasted anyway? (Plus, we all know that this distinction between malted and unmalted roasted malts distinguishes porters from stouts ) If malting and husks influence the roasting process, perhaps the compounds that make rye distinct from barley and wheat also result in subtle but noticeable impacts on the roasted product. But I think it might be fair to say that the difference between lightly kilned rye vs. barley is greater than the difference between roasted rye vs. barley.
i like that explanation peter, thanks for posting...yes husks and malting the grain will play a big role in the end product, even if heavily roasted. Would be interested to try say a schwarzbier with midnight wheat vs. a blackprinz vs roasted rye...could do it as a split boil by steeping the grains post mash.
