{"id":375185,"date":"2025-08-08T09:06:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T13:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/byostg.wpenginepowered.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=375185"},"modified":"2025-10-08T12:23:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T16:23:02","slug":"fade-to-black","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/","title":{"rendered":"Fade to Black"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"leaky_paywall_message_wrap\"><div id=\"leaky_paywall_message\"><div class=\"leaky-paywall-nag\">\r\n\t<h2 class=\"leaky-paywall-nag__heading\">Continue Reading<\/h2>\r\n\t<div class=\"leaky-paywall-nag__inner\">\r\n\t\t<div class=\"leaky-paywall-nag__register\">\r\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"leaky-paywall-nag__subheading\">Create a Free Account<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t<p>Create your free account and receive 2 free articles every month.<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"leaky-paywall-nag__register-form\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div id=\"leaky-paywall-quick-register\" class=\"\">\n\t\t\t<form id=\"leaky-paywall-quick-register-form\" method=\"POST\" action=\"\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<p class=\"form-field email-field\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<label for=\"email\">Email<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"email\" type=\"email\" name=\"email\" placeholder=\"Enter your email address\" value=\"\" required>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"form-field password-field\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<label for=\"password\">Password<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"password\" type=\"password\" name=\"password\" placeholder=\"Create a password\" value=\"\" required>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<input name=\"website\" type=\"text\" value=\"\" \/>\n\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"level_id\" value=\"5\">\n\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Register for free\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/form>\n\n\t\t\t<div id=\"leaky-paywall-quick-register-errors\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<div class=\"leaky-paywall-nag__sign-in\">\r\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"leaky-paywall-nag__subheading\">Already a Member?<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t<button class=\"leaky-paywall-nag__sign-in-visibility-button\" id=\"leaky-paywall-nag__sign-in-visibility-button\">Sign In<\/button>\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"leaky-paywall-nag__sign-in-form hidden\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<script>\n\t\t\t(function($) {\n\n\t\t\t\t$(window).on('load', function() {\n\n\t\t\t\t\tconst nag_loc = document.cookie\n\t\t\t\t\t\t.split(\"; \")\n\t\t\t\t\t\t.find((row) => row.startsWith(\"lp_nag_loc=\"))\n\t\t\t\t\t\t?.split(\"=\")[1];\n\n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log('nag loc: ' + nag_loc);\n\n\t\t\t\t\tif (nag_loc) {\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\tvar data = {\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\taction: \"leaky_paywall_update_login_redirect_to\",\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnag_loc: nag_loc,\n\t\t\t\t\t\t};\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t$.post(leaky_paywall_script_ajax.ajaxurl, data, function(resp) {\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (resp.status == \"success\") {\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t$('#leaky-paywall-login-form input[name=\"redirect_to\"]').val(resp.permalink);\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t\t\t});\n\t\t\t\t\t};\n\n\t\t\t\t});\n\n\t\t\t})(jQuery);\n\t\t<\/script>\n\n<div id=\"leaky-paywall-login-form\"><form name=\"loginform\" id=\"loginform\" action=\"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-login.php?wpe-login=true\" method=\"post\"><p class=\"login-username\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_login\">Username or Email Address<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" autocomplete=\"username\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p><div class=\"addrop-wrap\" data-id=\"377831\"><p style=\"text-align: center;\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.morebeer.com\/products\/flash-brewing-starter-kit-includes-equipment-2-gallon-beer-recipe.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\r\n<picture> \r\n<source srcset=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/MoreBeer-Flash-Brewing-COMBO728x90.png\" media=\"(min-width:768px)\" \/>\r\n<source srcset=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/MoreBeer-Flash-Brewing-Combo300x600.png\" media=\"(min-width:465px)\" \/>\r\n<img src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/MoreBeer-Flash-Brewing-Combo300x600.png\" alt=\"MoreBeer Flash\" \/>\r\n<\/picture> \r\n<\/a><\/p><\/div><p class=\"login-password\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" autocomplete=\"current-password\" spellcheck=\"false\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p><p class=\"login-remember\"><label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label><\/p><p class=\"login-submit\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button button-primary\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"https:\/\/byo.com\/subscription-details\/\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p><a id=\"leaky-paywall-lost-password-link\" href=\"https:\/\/byo.com\/my-account\/lost-password\/\">Lost Password?<\/a><\/form><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"leaky-paywall-nag__subheading\">Become a Member<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t<p>Purchase a BYO+ membership for unlimited access to all of our homebrewing articles, recipes, videos, and much more!<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t<p><a href=\"\/subscribe\">Join Today<\/a><\/p><div class=\"addrop-wrap\" data-id=\"382270\"><p style=\"text-align: center;\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/wyeastlab.com\/activator-smack-pack-system\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\r\n<picture> \r\n<source srcset=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wyeast-BYO-728x90-banner-2026.png\" media=\"(min-width:768px)\" \/>\r\n<source srcset=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wyeast-BYO-300x600-banner-2026.png\" media=\"(min-width:465px)\" \/>\r\n<img src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wyeast-BYO-300x600-banner-2026.png\" alt=\"Wyeast\" \/>\r\n<\/picture> \r\n<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>\r\n\tdocument.querySelector('#leaky-paywall-nag__sign-in-visibility-button').addEventListener('click', function () {\r\n\r\n\t\tdocument.querySelector('.leaky-paywall-nag__sign-in-form').setAttribute('aria-hidden', 'false');\r\n\t\tdocument.querySelector('.leaky-paywall-nag__sign-in-form').classList.remove('hidden');\r\n\t\tdocument.querySelector('#leaky-paywall-nag__sign-in-visibility-button').remove();\r\n\t});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div><\/p><div class=\"addrop-wrap\" data-id=\"382280\"><p style=\"text-align: center;\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.stillspirits.com\/pages\/create-distilling-systems\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\r\n<picture> \r\n<source srcset=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/RahrBSG-SS-Create-BYO-Banner-Ads_728x90.png\" media=\"(min-width:768px)\" \/>\r\n<source srcset=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/RahrBSG-SS-Create-BYO-Banner-Ads_300x600.png\" media=\"(min-width:465px)\" \/>\r\n<img src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/RahrBSG-SS-Create-BYO-Banner-Ads_300x600.png\" alt=\"RahrBSG Create+\" \/>\r\n<\/picture> \r\n<\/a><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dark specialty malts are the heart of some styles and play pivotal supporting roles in many others. From flavor and aroma contributions to helping mouthfeel, head retention, and balancing sweetness, dark malts bring a lot to the glass. Learn more about these specialty malts and their uses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":375188,"template":"","beer-style":[],"issue_date":[4509],"topic":[2409,2394],"writer":[2827],"class_list":["post-375185","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","date-september-october-2025","topic-grains","topic-malt","writer-aaron-hyde"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fade to Black - Brew Your Own<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dark specialty malts are the heart of some styles and play pivotal supporting roles in many others. We&#039;ll show you how to use them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fade to Black - Brew Your Own\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dark specialty malts are the heart of some styles and play pivotal supporting roles in many others. We&#039;ll show you how to use them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brew Your Own\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BrewYourOwn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-08T16:23:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Opening-Dark-Malts-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BrewYourOwn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/\",\"name\":\"Fade to Black - Brew Your Own\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Opening-Dark-Malts-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-08T13:06:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-08T16:23:02+00:00\",\"description\":\"Dark specialty malts are the heart of some styles and play pivotal supporting roles in many others. We'll show you how to use them.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Opening-Dark-Malts-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Opening-Dark-Malts-1.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":706,\"caption\":\"Glass of dark beer next to cups of dark malts.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/article\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Fade to Black\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/\",\"name\":\"Brew Your Own\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Brew Your Own\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Special_Issue_Brew_Your_Own_logo1-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Special_Issue_Brew_Your_Own_logo1-2.png\",\"width\":450,\"height\":152,\"caption\":\"Brew Your Own\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/byo.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BrewYourOwn\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/BrewYourOwn\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fade to Black - Brew Your Own","description":"Dark specialty malts are the heart of some styles and play pivotal supporting roles in many others. We'll show you how to use them.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fade to Black - Brew Your Own","og_description":"Dark specialty malts are the heart of some styles and play pivotal supporting roles in many others. We'll show you how to use them.","og_url":"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/","og_site_name":"Brew Your Own","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BrewYourOwn\/","article_modified_time":"2025-10-08T16:23:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":706,"url":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Opening-Dark-Malts-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@BrewYourOwn","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/","url":"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/","name":"Fade to Black - Brew Your Own","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/byo.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Opening-Dark-Malts-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-08T13:06:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-08T16:23:02+00:00","description":"Dark specialty malts are the heart of some styles and play pivotal supporting roles in many others. We'll show you how to use them.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Opening-Dark-Malts-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Opening-Dark-Malts-1.jpg","width":720,"height":706,"caption":"Glass of dark beer next to cups of dark malts."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/byo.com\/articles\/fade-to-black\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/byo.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/byo.com\/article\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Fade to Black"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/byo.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/byo.com\/","name":"Brew Your Own","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/byo.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/byo.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/byo.com\/#organization","name":"Brew Your Own","url":"https:\/\/byo.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/byo.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Special_Issue_Brew_Your_Own_logo1-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Special_Issue_Brew_Your_Own_logo1-2.png","width":450,"height":152,"caption":"Brew Your Own"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/byo.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BrewYourOwn\/","https:\/\/x.com\/BrewYourOwn"]}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-01-14 11:22:57","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"beer-style","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/375185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"beer-style","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beer-style?post=375185"},{"taxonomy":"date","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_date?post=375185"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=375185"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/byo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/writer?post=375185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}