|
| The Double Luck Brewing Process: |
| Malting |
|
URL: http://www.doubleluck.com/things/brewery/process/malting.php
Last modified: Wed, 27 May 2009 13:22:58 -0600
Copyright © 1999-2010 Larry Bristol - All rights reserved.
|
|
|
The first step in the brewing process is, of course, for a farmer to grow the
grains and hops used to make beer.
Since homebrewing is a hobby, and farming is extremely hard work, very few homebrewers perform this step
themselves, leaving it to be performed by the experts.
There are a fair number of homebrewers who actually do grow their own hops, but the processing required to
prepare them for use is beyond the scope of this material.
One very interesting project I know of is a group of homebrewers who are working to make beer from
dirt by growning their own grains and hops, performing all of the steps required to make
beer themselves.
|
|
Raw grains are seldom used in brewing.
Instead, they are first converted into malt, a step that few home brewers
attempt.
Barley is the most common grain used for brewing purposes.
To make malt, the raw grain is soaked in water under carefully controlled
conditions.
The grain kernels, tricked by these conditions into thinking it is the growing season, begin to sprout.
Enzymes in the grains begin to process the material within their husk,
converting the starchy substance into
sugar that the plant uses as food.
Sugar conversion is at its peak just as the zygote (young plant) grows enough to break through the grain husk.
At this moment, they are placed into a kiln and roasted.
This kills the plant, of course, but leaves the converted sugar, enzymes, and remaining starch intact.
Most malt is roasted only as much as is necessary to make it stable.
This malt, called pale malt, makes up the bulk of the material used for making beer.
Specialty malts are made by additional roasting, resulting in more caramelization of the sugars within
the grain.
Caramelized sugar is darker in color, so the more the malt is roasted, the darker it becomes.
It should not be surprising that as more dark malt is used in making beer, the darker the beer will become.
And since caramelized sugar is not fermentable, it will remain intact in the finished beer, giving it more body
and sweetness.
A wide range of specialty malts is available, providing the brewer with a great amount of flexibility in the
formulation of recipes to meet specific flavor and color requirements.
Friendly Brewing ProcessSubmenu
