Malting and Brewing


Malting is a controlled process of seed germination. During malting, the seed is soaked in water to raise the moisture content and promote germination. The seed is then allowed to germinate for 4 to 5 days, after which it is dried (kilned). Virtually any seed can be malted, (malted barley variety dictionary) but brewers discovered long ago that barley is the most commonly malted grain, in part because of its high diastatic power or enzyme content. It is also easy to malt and produces the best beer.

Also very important is the retention of the grain's husk, even after threshing, unlike the bare seeds of threshed wheat or rye. This protects the growing acrospire (developing plant embryo) from damage during malting, which can easily lead to mold growth. It also allows the mash of converted grain to create a filter bed during lautering. Malt is often divided into two categories by brewers: base malts and specialty malts. Base malts have enough diastatic power to convert their own starch and usually that of some amount of starch from unmalted grain, called adjuncts. Specialty malts have little diastatic power; they are used to provide flavor, color, or "body" to the finished beer. Specialty caramel or crystal malts have been subjected to heat treatment to convert their starches to sugars nonenzymatically. Within these categories is a variety of types distinguished largely by the kilning temperature. In addition, malts are distinguished by the two major species of barley used for malting, two-row and six-row.

Wheat and rye malts are sometimes used in the production of specialty beers. Today malted barley is also used in the production of ‘coolers’, alcoholic lemonades’ and other ‘flavored alcoholic beverages.

Knowing your Malting Varieties:

 

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

 

(% of AMBA Recommended Six-Row Malting Varieties)

Six-Row

         

Celebrations

*

3.0

*

5.7

4.4

Innovation

*

*

*

*

1.6

Lacey

23.4

34.4

27.7

27.3

33.5

Legacy

6.6

4.7

7.3

3.6

1.1

Quest

*

*

*

0.5

0.5

Robust

5.5

6.5

6.4

8.1

0.6

Stellar-ND

4.7

2.3

0.7

1.7

0.1

Tradition

59.8

49.1

57.9

53.1

58.2

 

(% of AMBA Recommended Two-Row Malting Varieties)

Two-Row

         

ABI Voyager

*

*

*

*

2.3

AC Metcalfe

25.8

33.7

33.0

27.6

26.0

CDC Copeland

*

2.1

1.9

2.5

5.4

CDC Meredith

*

*

*

*

0.9

Charles

1.0

1.2

1.0

0.7

0.8

Conlon

21.5

10.3

5.7

8.3

0.1

Conrad

14.6

16.9

16.8

16.7

18.8

Harrington

17.8

9.8

5.6

3.6

1.8

Hockett

*

4.7

6.1

10.6

6.7

Merit

7.7

7.0

3.9

3.6

.05

Merit 57

0.1

0.2

6.7

8.2

9.3

Moravian 37

3.5

0.7

1.0

0.5

0.0

Moravian 69

8.0

12.1

16.3

13.3

14.9

Moravian 115

*

*

*

*

8.4

Pinnacle

*

1.4

2.1

3.9

3.4

Scarlett

*

*

*

0.4

0.3

           

*Less than 0.1%

     

Source: USDA/NASS Barley Variety Surveys and Industry Data