Malt is the key ingredients in beer that provides the starch and enzymes necessary to produce the fermentable sugars which yeast then turn into alcohol. Malt also provides the color and flavor compounds which contributes the final character of beer.
Malting is the precursor to brewing in priming the grain. It is the biological process that turns barley into malt. It removes internal cell wall barriers, stimulates the production of diastatic enzymes (responsible for converting starch into malt extract), promotes flavor and color development.
A basic rule is that, for malt to be made, the barley must be capable of germination, so maltsters source barley with a minimum germination of 98%. There are five stages in the process of converting barley into malt:
■ barley grading and cleaning
■ steeping (24 hours)
■ germination (96 hours)
■ kilning (24 hours)
■ malt cleaning and grading
The processing cycle is completed in approximately nine days.
Malting serves the purpose of converting insoluble starch to soluble starch, simplifying proteins, generating nutrients for yeast and the development of enzymes. In other words, malting is the process of modifying (force germinating) the grain in order to make the sugars trapped inside the kernel available for mashing.
Processing of barley malt
