Peated Malt's primary market is Scotch whisky distilling, not brewing — Islay and other peat-smoke-forward Scotch traditions kiln their malt over burning peat specifically for the medicinal, iodine-like, faintly maritime smoke character that defines those whiskies. Brewers occasionally borrow the same malt for genuinely experimental beers, but it's a niche ingredient in brewing in a way it isn't in distilling.
That smoke character is the key distinction from Smoked Malt (Beechwood): where beechwood smoke reads clean and bacon-like, peat smoke reads sharper, more medicinal, and distinctly different in register — the two aren't interchangeable substitutes for each other despite both technically being "smoked malt." At 2-5 °Lovibond, Peated Malt's colour contribution is modest, same as beechwood-smoked malt, with the character entirely carried in aroma and flavour rather than appearance. It can technically function as a full base malt given adequate diastatic power, though most brewers experimenting with it use a smaller percentage — often well under what a traditional Rauchbier would use of beechwood-smoked malt — since peat's intensity reads as more aggressive to most palates raised on beer rather than whisky. Scotch ale occasionally sees a small peated malt addition as a nod to its Scottish origins, though this remains a modern experimental choice rather than a genuinely historical brewing tradition tied back to the style's original 18th- or 19th-century recipes and records.