![Milled Malted Barley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Milled_Malted_Barley.JPG)
Mash ingredients, mash bill, mashbill, or grain bill are the materials that
brewers use to produce the
wort
Wort () is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars, the most important being maltose and maltotriose, that will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol. Wort ...
that they then
ferment
Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...
into alcohol.
Mashing
In brewing and distilling, mashing is the process of combining a mix of ground grains – typically malted barley with supplementary grains such as corn, sorghum, rye, or wheat – known as the "grain bill" with water and then heating the mixtu ...
is the act of creating and extracting
fermentable and non-fermentable
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
s and flavor components from
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
by steeping it in hot water, and then letting it rest at specific temperature ranges to activate naturally occurring enzymes in the grain that convert starches to sugars. The sugars separate from the mash ingredients, and then yeast in the brewing process converts them to alcohol and other fermentation products.
A typical primary mash ingredient is grain that has been
malted
Malting is the process of steeping, germinating and drying grain to convert it into malt. The malt is mainly used for brewing or whisky making, but can also be used to make malt vinegar or malt extract. Various grains are used for malting, mo ...
. Modern-day malt recipes generally consist of a large percentage of a light malt and, optionally, smaller percentages of more flavorful or highly colored types of malt. The former is called "base malt"; the latter is known as "specialty malts" .
The grain bill of a
beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
or
whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...
may vary widely in the number and proportion of ingredients. For example, in beer-making, a simple
pale ale
Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Diff ...
might contain a single malted grain, while a complex
porter
Porter may refer to:
Companies
* Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto
* Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets
* Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer
* H.K. Porter, Inc., ...
may contain a dozen or more ingredients. In whisky production,
Bourbon Bourbon may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash
* Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels
* Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit
* A beer produced by Bras ...
uses a mash made primarily from
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
(often mixed with
rye or
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
and a small amount of malted
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
), and
single malt Scotch
Single malt Scotch refers to single malt whisky made in Scotland. To qualify for this category, a whisky must have been distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process and made from a mash of malted barley. Therefore, ...
exclusively uses malted barley.
Variables
Each particular ingredient has its own flavor that contributes to the final character of the beverage. In addition, different ingredients carry other characteristics, not directly relating to the flavor, which may dictate some of the choices made in brewing: nitrogen content,
diastatic power, color, modification, and conversion.
Nitrogen content
The
nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
content of a grain relates to the mass fraction of the grain that is made up of
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
, and is usually expressed as a
percentage
In mathematics, a percentage (from la, per centum, "by a hundred") is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. It is often denoted using the percent sign, "%", although the abbreviations "pct.", "pct" and sometimes "pc" are also us ...
; this fraction is further refined by distinguishing what fraction of the protein is
water-soluble
In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a substance, the solute, to form a solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form such a solution.
The extent of the solub ...
, also usually expressed as a percentage; 40% is typical for most beermaking grains. Generally, brewers favor lower-nitrogen grains, while distillers favor high-nitrogen grains.
In most beermaking, an average nitrogen content in the grains of at most 10% is sought; higher protein content, especially the presence of high-mass proteins, causes "chill haze", a cloudy visual quality to the beer. However, this is mostly a cosmetic desire dating from the mass production of
glassware
upTypical drinkware
The list of glassware includes drinking vessels (drinkware) and tableware used to set a table for eating a meal, general glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry. It does not include laboratory glass ...
for presenting serving beverages; traditional styles such as
sahti
Sahti is a Finnish type of farmhouse ale made from malted and unmalted grains including barley and rye. Traditionally the beer is flavored with juniper in addition to, or instead of, hops; ,
saison
Saison ( French, "season," ) is a pale ale that is highly carbonated, fruity, spicy, and often bottle conditioned. It was historically brewed with low alcohol levels, but modern productions of the style have moderate to high levels of alcohol. ...
, and
bière de garde
Bière de Garde ("beer for keeping") is a strong pale ale or keeping beer traditionally brewed in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. These beers were originally brewed in farmhouses (they are known as Farmhouse ales) during the winter and s ...
, as well as several
Belgian styles, make no special effort to create a clear product. The quantity of high-mass proteins can be reduced during the mash by making use of a
protease
A protease (also called a peptidase, proteinase, or proteolytic enzyme) is an enzyme that catalyzes (increases reaction rate or "speeds up") proteolysis, breaking down proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids, and spurring the ...
rest.
In Britain, preferred brewers' grains are often obtained from winter harvests and grown in low-nitrogen soil; in central Europe, no special changes are made for the grain-growing conditions and multi-step decoction mashing is favored instead.
Distillers, by contrast, are not as constrained by the amount of protein in their mash as the non-volatile nature of proteins means that none is included in the final distilled product. Therefore, distillers seek out higher-nitrogen grains to ensure a more efficiently-made product. Higher-protein grains generally have more diastatic power.
Diastatic power
Diastatic power (DP), also called the "diastatic activity" or "enzymatic power", is a property of
malt
Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air.
Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...
s (grains that have begun to
germinate
Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...
) that refers to the malt's ability to break down starches into simpler fermentable sugars during the mashing process. Germination produces a number of
enzymes
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...
, such as
amylase
An amylase () is an enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of starch (Latin ') into sugars. Amylase is present in the saliva of humans and some other mammals, where it begins the chemical process of digestion. Foods that contain large amounts of ...
, that can convert the
starch
Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...
naturally present in barley and other grains into sugar. The mashing process activates these enzymes by soaking the grain in water at a controlled temperature.
In general, the hotter a grain is
kilned
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...
, the less its diastatic activity. As a consequence, only lightly colored grains can be used as base malts, with
Munich malt
Mash ingredients, mash bill, mashbill, or grain bill are the materials that brewers use to produce the wort that they then ferment into alcohol. Mashing is the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor ...
being the darkest base malt generally available.
Diastatic activity can also be provided by diastatic malt extract or by inclusion of separately-prepared brewing enzymes.
Diastatic power for a grain is measured in degrees Lintner (
°Lintner °Lintner or degrees Lintner (per pound of grain) is a unit used to measure the ability of a malt to reduce starch to sugar, that is, its mashing, diastatic power. While the measurement is applicable to any amylase, in general it refers to the combi ...
or °L, although the latter can conflict with the symbol °L for Lovibond color); or in Europe by
Windisch-Kolbach units (°WK). The two measures are related by
:
:
.
A malt with enough power to self-convert has a diastatic power near 35 °Lintner (94 °WK). Until recently, the most active, so-called "hottest", malts currently available were American six-row pale barley malts, which have a diastatic power of up to 160 °Lintner (544 °WK). Wheat malts have begun to appear on the market with diastatic power of up to 200 °Lintner. Although with the huskless wheat being somewhat difficult to work with, this is usually used in conjunction with barley, or as an addition to add high diastatic power to a mash.
Color
In brewing, the color of a grain or product is evaluated by the
Standard Reference Method (SRM),
Lovibond (°L),
American Society of Brewing Chemists
The American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) is a professional organization of scientists and technical professionals in the brewing, malting, and allied industries. It publishes an journal
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning ...
(ASBC) or
European Brewery Convention
The European Brewery Convention (EBC) is an organisation representing the technical and scientific interests of the brewing sector in Europe. The EBC defines itself as the scientific and technological arm of The Brewers of Europe. Among brewers, ...
(EBC) standards. While SRM and ASBC originate in North America and EBC in Europe, all three systems can be found in use throughout the world; degrees Lovibond has fallen out of industry use but has remained in use in
homebrewing
Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed dom ...
circles as the easiest to implement without a
spectrophotometer. The darkness of grains range from as light as less than 2 SRM/4 EBC for Pilsener malt to as dark as 700 SRM/1600 EBC for black malt and roasted barley.
Modification
The quality of starches in a grain is variable with the strain of grain used and its growing conditions. "Modification" refers specifically to the extent to which starch molecules in the grain consist of simple chains of starch molecules versus branched chains; a fully modified grain contains only simple-chain starch molecules. A grain that is not fully modified requires mashing in multiple steps rather than at simply one temperature as the starches must be de-branched before amylase can work on them. One indicator of the degree of modification of a grain is that grain's Nitrogen ratio; that is, the amount of soluble Nitrogen (or protein) in a grain vs. the total amount of Nitrogen (or protein). This number is also referred to as the "Kolbach Index" and a malt with a Kolbach index between 36% and 42% is considered a malt that is highly modified and suitable for single infusion mashing. Maltsters use the length of the acrospire vs. the length of the grain to determine when the appropriate degree of modification has been reached before drying or kilning.
Conversion
Conversion is the extent to which starches in the grain have been enzymatically broken down into sugars. A caramel or crystal malt is fully converted before it goes into the mash; most malted grains have little conversion; unmalted grains, meanwhile, have little or no conversion. Unconverted starch becomes sugar during the last steps of mashing, through the action of alpha and beta amylases.
Malts
The oldest and most predominant ingredient in brewing is
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
, which has been used in
beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
-making for
thousands of years. Modern brewing predominantly uses
malt
Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air.
Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...
ed barley for its enzymatic power, but ancient
Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...
n recipes indicate that, without the ability to malt grain in a controlled fashion, baked
bread
Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...
was simply soaked in water .
Malted barley dried at a sufficiently low temperature contains
enzymes
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...
such as
amylase
An amylase () is an enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of starch (Latin ') into sugars. Amylase is present in the saliva of humans and some other mammals, where it begins the chemical process of digestion. Foods that contain large amounts of ...
, which convert
starch
Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...
into sugar. Therefore, sugars can be extracted from the barley's own starches simply by soaking the grain in water at a controlled temperature; this is mashing.
Pilsner malt
Pilsner malt, the basis of
pale lager
Pale lager is a very pale-to-golden-colored lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness.
The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid-19th century, when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing ...
, is quite pale and strongly flavored. Invented in the 1840s, Pilsner malt is the lightest-colored generally available malt, and also carries a strong, sweet malt flavor. Usually a pale lager's grain bill consists entirely of this malt, which has enough enzymatic power to be used as a base malt. The commercial desirability of light-colored beers has also led to some British brewers adopting Pilsner malt (sometimes described simply as "lager malt" in Britain) in creating
golden ales. In Germany, Pilsner malt is also used in some interpretations of the
Kölsch style. ASBC 1-2/EBC 3–4, DP 60 °Lintner.
Pale malt
Pale malt is the basis of
pale ale
Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Diff ...
and
bitter
Bitter may refer to:
Common uses
* Resentment, negative emotion or attitude, similar to being jaded, cynical or otherwise negatively affected by experience
* Bitter (taste), one of the five basic tastes
Books
* '' Bitter (novel)'', a 2022 nove ...
, and the precursor in production of most other British beer malts. Dried at temperatures sufficiently low to preserve all the brewing enzymes in the grain, it is light in color and, today, the cheapest barley malt available due to mass production. It can be used as a ''base malt''—that is, as the malt constituting the majority of the
grist
Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also mean grain that has been ground at a gristmill. Its etymology derives from the verb ''grind.''
Grist can be ground into meal or flour, depending on ho ...
—in many styles of beer. Typically, English pale malts are kilned at 95–105 °C. Color
ASBC 2-3/
EBC 5–7. Diastatic power (DP) 45
°Lintner °Lintner or degrees Lintner (per pound of grain) is a unit used to measure the ability of a malt to reduce starch to sugar, that is, its mashing, diastatic power. While the measurement is applicable to any amylase, in general it refers to the combi ...
.
Mild malt
Mild malt is often used as the base malt for
mild ale
Mild ale is a type of ale. Modern milds are mostly dark-coloured, with an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 3% to 3.6%, although there are lighter-hued as well as stronger milds, reaching 6% abv and higher. Mild originated in Britain in the 17th century ...
, and is similar in color to pale malt. Mild malt is kilned at slightly higher temperatures than pale malt to provide a less neutral, rounder flavor generally described as "nutty". ASBC 3/EBC 6.
Amber malt
Amber malt is a more toasted form of pale malt, kilned at temperatures of 150–160 °C, and is used in brown
porter
Porter may refer to:
Companies
* Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto
* Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets
* Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer
* H.K. Porter, Inc., ...
; older formulations of brown porter use amber malt as a base malt
(though this was diastatic and produced in different conditions from a modern amber malt). Amber malt has a bitter flavor that mellows on aging, and can be quite intensely flavored. In addition to its use in porter, it also appears in a diverse range of British beer recipes. ASBC 50-70/EBC 100–140; amber malt has no diastatic power.
Stout malt
Stout malt is sometimes seen as a base malt for
stout
Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout.
The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...
beer; light in color, it is prepared so as to maximize diastatic power in order to better convert the large quantities of dark malts and unmalted grain used in stouts. In practice, however, most stout recipes make use of pale malt for its much greater availability. ASBC 2-3/EBC 4–6, DP 60–70 °Lintner.
Brown malt
Brown malt is a darker form of pale malt, and is used typically in
brown ale
Brown ale is a style of beer with a dark amber or brown colour. The term was first used by London brewers in the late 17th century to describe their products, such as mild ale, though the term has a rather different meaning today. 18th century br ...
as well as in porter and stout. Like amber malt, it can be prepared from pale malt at home by baking a thin layer of pale malt in an oven until the desired color is achieved. 50–70 °L, no enzymes.
Chocolate malt
Chocolate malt is similar to pale and amber malts but kilned at even higher temperatures. Producing complex chocolate and cocoa flavours, it is used in porters and sweet stouts as well as dark mild ales. It contains no enzymes. ASBC 450-500/EBC 1100–1300.
Black malt
Black malt, also called patent malt or black patent malt, is barley malt that has been kilned to the point of
carbonizing
Carbonization is the conversion of organic matters like plants and dead animal remains into carbon through destructive distillation.
Complexity in carbonization
Carbonization is a pyrolytic reaction, therefore, is considered a complex process ...
, around 200 °C. The term "patent malt" comes from its invention in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 1817, late enough that the inventor of the process for its manufacture, Daniel Wheeler, was awarded a
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
. Black malt provides the colour and some of the flavour in black porter, contributing an acrid, ashy undertone to the taste. In small quantities, black malt can also be used to darken beer to a desired color, sometimes as a substitute for
caramel colour
Caramel color or caramel coloring is a water-soluble food coloring. It is made by heat treatment of carbohydrates (sugars), in general in the presence of acids, alkalis, or salts, in a process called caramelization. It is more fully oxidized than ...
. Due to its high kilning temperature, it contains no enzymes. ASBC 500-600/EBC >1300.
Crystal malt
![Crystal Malt 80L](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Crystal_Malt_80L.jpg)
Crystal malts, or caramel malts
are prepared separately from pale malts. They are high-nitrogen malts that are wetted and roasted in a rotating drum before kilning. They produce strongly sweet
toffee
Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepared, toffee is ...
-like flavors and are sufficiently converted that they can be steeped without mashing to extract their flavor. Crystal malts are available in a range of colors, with darker-colored crystal malts kilned at higher temperatures producing stronger, more caramel-like overtones. Some of the sugars in crystal malts caramelize during kilning and become unfermentable. Hence, adding crystal malt increases the final sweetness of a beer. They contain no enzymes. ASBC 50-165/EBC 90–320; the typical British crystal malt used in pale ale and bitter is around ASBC 70–80.
Distiller's malt
Standard distiller's malt or pot still malt is quite light and very high in nitrogen compared to beer malts. These malts are used in the production of
whiskey
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden cask ...
/whisky and generally originate from northern Scotland.
Peated malt
Peated malt is distiller's malt that has been
smoked over burning
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
, which imparts the aroma and flavor characteristics of
Islay whisky
Islay whisky is Scotch whisky made on Islay ( ) or ''Ìle'' in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, one of the southernmost of the Inner Hebrides, Inner Hebridean Islands located off the west coast of Scotland. Islay is one of five Scotch whisky, whisky di ...
and some
Irish whiskey
Irish whiskey ( ga, Fuisce or ''uisce beatha'') is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish , meaning ''water of life''. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a lo ...
. Recently, some brewers have also included peated malt in interpretations of
Scotch ale
Strong ale is a type of ale, usually above 5% abv and often higher, between 7% to 11% abv, which spans a number of beer styles, including old ale, barley wine and Burton ale. Strong ales are brewed throughout Europe and beyond, including in Engl ...
s, although this is generally ahistorical. When peat is used in large amounts for beer making, the resulting beer tends to have a very strong earthy and smoky flavor that most mainstream beer drinkers would find irregular.
Vienna malt
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
malt or Helles malt is the characteristic grain of
Vienna lager
Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storag ...
and
Märzen
''Märzen'' or ''Märzenbier'' (german: March beer) is a lager that originated in Bavaria. It has a medium to full body and may vary in color from pale through amber to dark brown. It was the beer traditionally served at the Munich Oktoberfest. ...
; although it generally takes up only ten to fifteen percent of the grain bill in a beer, it can be used as a base malt. It has sufficient enzymatic power to self-convert, and it is somewhat darker and kilned at a higher temperature than Pilsner malt. ASBC 3-4/EBC 7–10, DP 50 °Lintner.
Munich malt
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
malt is used as the base malt of the
bock
Bock is a strong beer in Germany, usually a dark lager. Several substyles exist, including:
*Doppelbock (''Double Bock''), a stronger and maltier version
*Eisbock (''Ice Bock''), a much stronger version made by partially freezing the beer an ...
beer style, especially doppelbock, and appears in
dunkel lager and
Märzen
''Märzen'' or ''Märzenbier'' (german: March beer) is a lager that originated in Bavaria. It has a medium to full body and may vary in color from pale through amber to dark brown. It was the beer traditionally served at the Munich Oktoberfest. ...
s in smaller quantities. While a darker grain than pale malt, it has sufficient diastatic power to self-convert, despite being kilned at temperatures around 115 °C. It imparts "malty," although not necessarily sweet characteristics, depending on mashing temperatures. ASBC 4-6/EBC 10–15, DP 40 °Lintner.
Rauchmalz
Rauchmalz is a German malt that is prepared by being dried over an open flame rather than via kiln. The grain has a smoky aroma and is an essential ingredient in
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...
Rauchbier.
Acid malt
Acid malt, also known as acidulated malt, whose grains contain
lactic acid
Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has a molecular formula . It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as well as natu ...
, can be used as a continental analog to
Burtonization. Acid malt lowers the mash
pH and provides a rounder, fuller character to the beer, enhancing the flavor of Pilseners and other light lagers. Lowering the pH also helps prevent beer spoilage through
oxidation
Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a d ...
.
Other malts
Honey malt is an intensely flavored, lightly colored malt. 18–20 °L.
Melanoidin Melanoidins are brown, high molecular weight heterogeneous polymers that are formed when sugars and amino acids combine (through the Maillard Reaction) at high temperatures and low water activity. They were discovered by Schmiedeberg in 1897.
Melan ...
malt, a malt like the Belgian Aromatic malt, adds roundness and malt flavor to a beer with a comparably small addition in the grain bill. It also stabilizes the flavor.
Unmalted barley
Unmalted barley kernels are used in mashes for some Irish whiskey.
Roast barley are un-malted barley kernels toasted in an oven until almost black. Roast barley is, after base malt, usually the most-used grain in
stout
Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout.
The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...
beers, contributing the majority of the flavor and the characteristic dark-brown color; undertones of chocolate and coffee are common. ASBC 500-600/EBC >1300 or more, no diastatic activity.
Black barley is like roast barley except even darker, and may be used in stouts. It has a strong, astringent flavor and contains no enzymes.
Flaked barley is unmalted, dried barley rolled into flat flakes. It imparts a rich, grainy flavor to beer and is used in many stouts, especially
Guinness
Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...
stout; it also improves head formation and retention.
Torrefied barley is barley kernels that have been heated until they pop like
popcorn
Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion.
A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the se ...
.
Other grains
Wheat
Wheat malt
Beer brewed in the German
Hefeweizen
Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German ''Weizenbier'' and Belgian ''witbier''; other types include Lambic (made with wild ye ...
style relies heavily on malted wheat as a grain. Under the
Reinheitsgebot
The ''Reinheitsgebot'' (, literally "purity order") is a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in beer in Germany and the states of the former Holy Roman Empire. The best known version of the law was adopted in Bavaria in 1516 (by Will ...
, wheat was treated separately from barley, as it was the more expensive grain.
Torrefied wheat
Torrefied wheat is used in British brewing to increase the size and retention of a head in beer. Generally it is used as an enhancer rather than for its flavor.
Raw wheat
Belgian
witbier
Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German ''Weizenbier'' and Belgian ''witbier''; other types include Lambic (made with wild ye ...
and
Lambic
Lambic () is a type of beer brewed in the Pajottenland region of Belgium southwest of Brussels and in Brussels itself since the 13th century. Types of lambic beers include gueuze, kriek lambic and framboise. Lambic differs from most other beers ...
make heavy use of raw wheat in their
grist
Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also mean grain that has been ground at a gristmill. Its etymology derives from the verb ''grind.''
Grist can be ground into meal or flour, depending on ho ...
. It provides the distinctive taste and clouded appearance in a
witbier
Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German ''Weizenbier'' and Belgian ''witbier''; other types include Lambic (made with wild ye ...
and the more complex carbohydrates needed for the wild yeast and bacteria that make a lambic.
Wheat flour
Until the general availability of torrefied wheat, wheat
flour
Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...
was often used for similar purposes in brewing. Brewer's flour is only rarely available today, and is of a larger grist than baker's flour.
Oats
Oats
The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...
in the form of rolled or steel-cut oats are used as mash ingredients in
Oatmeal Stout
Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout.
The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscri ...
.
Rye
The use of
rye in a beer typifies the
rye beer
Rye beer is a beer in which rye is substituted for some portion of the malted barley.
''Roggenbier'' is a beer produced with up to 60% rye malt. The style originated in Bavaria, southern Germany, and is brewed with the same type of yeast as ...
style, especially the German ''Roggenbier''. Rye is also used in the
Slavic kvass
Kvass is a fermented cereal-based Alcohol by volume, low alcoholic beverage with a slightly cloudy appearance, light-brown colour and sweet-sour taste. It may be flavoured with berries, fruits, herbs or honey.
Kvass stems from the northeastern ...
and
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
sahti
Sahti is a Finnish type of farmhouse ale made from malted and unmalted grains including barley and rye. Traditionally the beer is flavored with juniper in addition to, or instead of, hops; farmhouse styles, as readily available grains in eastern Europe. However, the use of rye in brewing is considered difficult as rye lacks a hull (like wheat) and contains large quantities of
beta-glucans
Beta-glucans, β-glucans comprise a group of β-D-glucose polysaccharides (glucans) naturally occurring in the cell walls of cereals, bacteria, and Fungus, fungi, with significantly differing Physical chemistry, physicochemical properties depend ...
compared to other grains; these long-chain sugars can leach out during a mash, creating a sticky gelatinous gum in the mash tun, and as a result brewing with rye requires a long, thorough
beta-glucanase rest. Rye is said to impart a spicy, dry flavor to beer.
Sorghum and millet
Sorghum
''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...
and
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
are often used in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n brewing. As
gluten
Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain cereal grains. Although "gluten" often only refers to wheat proteins, in medical literature it refers to the combination of prolamin and glutelin proteins naturally occurring in all grain ...
-free grains, they have gained popularity in the Northern Hemisphere as base materials for beers suitable for people with
Celiac disease
Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine, where individuals develop intolerance to gluten, present in foods such as wheat, rye and barl ...
.
Sorghum produces a dark, hazy beer. However, sorghum malt is difficult to prepare and rarely commercially available outside certain African countries.
Millet is an ingredient in
chhaang
Chhaang or chhyang (, ne, छ्याङ, new, थो:) is a Nepalese and Tibetan alcoholic beverage also popular in parts of the eastern Himalayas, Yakkha, Limbu, Dura, Newar, Sunuwar, Rai, Gurung, Magar, Sherpa, Tamang and Lepcha comm ...
and
pomba, and both grains together are used in
oshikundu
Oshikundu or Ontaku is a traditional Namibian drink made from fermented millet (mahangu) flour, brans and malted sorghum flour mixed with lukewarm water. It is made from cereal. Ontaku has short life span and it has to be consumed within the ...
.
Rice and maize
In the US,
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
and
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
(corn) are often used by commercial breweries as a means of adding fermentable sugars to a beer cheaply, due to the ready availability and low price of the grains. Maize is also the base grain in
chicha
''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize land ...
and some
cauim, as well as
Bourbon whiskey
Bourbon () is a type of barrel-aged American whiskey made primarily from corn. The name derives from the French Bourbon dynasty, although the precise source of inspiration is uncertain; contenders include Bourbon County in Kentucky and Bourbo ...
and
Tennessee Whiskey
Tennessee whiskey is straight whiskey produced in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Although it has been legally defined as a bourbon whiskey in some international trade agreements, most current producers of Tennessee whiskey disclaim references to ...
; while rice is the base grain of
happoshu and various mostly Asian
fermented beverage
This is a list of fermented foods, which are foods produced or preserved by the action of microorganisms. In this context, fermentation typically refers to the fermentation of sugar to alcohol using yeast, but other fermentation processes involv ...
s often referred to as
"rice wines" such as
sake
Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...
and
makgeolli
''Makgeolli'' ( ko, 막걸리, raw rice wine ), sometimes anglicized to makkoli (, ), is a Korean alcoholic beverage. The milky, off-white, and lightly sparkling rice wine has a slight viscosity that tastes slightly sweet, tangy, bitter, and ast ...
; maize is also used as an ingredient in some Belgian beers such as
Rodenbach Rodenbach may refer to:
* Rodenbach Brewery, a brewery from Roeselare, Belgium
Places
* Rodenbach, Hesse, in the Main-Kinzig district, Hesse, Germany
* Rodenbach, Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Ger ...
to lighten the body.
Maize was originally introduced into the brewing of American lagers because of the high protein content of the six-row barley; adding maize, which is high in sugar but low in protein, helped thin out the body of the resulting beer. Increased amounts of maize use over time led to the development of the
American pale lager style. Maize is generally not malted (although it is in some whiskey recipes) but instead introduced into the mash as flaked, dried kernels. Prior to a brew, rice and maize are cooked to allow the starch to gelatinize and thereby render it convertible.
Non-cereal grains
Buckwheat
Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as '' Fago ...
and
quinoa
Quinoa (''Chenopodium quinoa''; , from Quechua ' or ') is a flowering plant in the amaranth family. It is a herbaceous annual plant grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds; the seeds are rich in protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins, and ...
, while not cereal grasses (but are whole
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
s), both contain high levels of available starch and protein, while containing no
gluten
Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain cereal grains. Although "gluten" often only refers to wheat proteins, in medical literature it refers to the combination of prolamin and glutelin proteins naturally occurring in all grain ...
. Therefore, some breweries use these plants in the production of beer suitable for people with Celiac disease, either alone or in combination with sorghum.
Syrups and extracts
Another way of adding sugar or flavoring to a malt beverage is the addition of natural or artificial sugar products such as
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
,
white sugar
White sugar, also called table sugar, granulated sugar, or regular sugar, is a commonly used type of sugar, made either of beet sugar or cane sugar, which has undergone a refining process.
Description
The refining process completely removes t ...
, Dextrose, and/or malt extract. While these ingredients can be added during the mash, the enzymes in the mash do not act on them. Such ingredients can be added during the boil of the wort rather than the mash, and as such, are also known as ''copper sugars''.
One syrup commonly used in mash, however, is dry or dried malt extract or DME. DME is prepared by mashing malt in the normal fashion, then concentrating and
spray drying
Spray drying is a method of changing a dry powder from a liquid or slurry by rapidly drying with a hot gas. This is the preferred method of drying of many thermally-sensitive materials such as foods and pharmaceuticals, or materials which may requ ...
the resulting wort. DME is used extensively in
homebrewing
Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed dom ...
as a substitute for base malt. It typically has no diastatic power because the enzymes are denatured in the production process.
Regional differences
Britain
British brewing makes use of a wide variety of malts, with considerable stylistic freedom for the brewer to blend them. Many British malts were developed only as recently as the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, as improvements in temperature-controlled
kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...
ing allowed finer control over the drying and toasting of the malted grains.
The typical British brewer's malt is a well-modified, low-nitrogen barley grown in the east of England or southeast of Scotland. In England, the best-known brewer's malt is made from the
Maris Otter
Maris Otter is a two-row, autumn sown variety of barley commonly used in the production of malt for the brewing industry. The variety was bred by Dr G D H Bell and his team of plant breeders at the UK's Plant Breeding Institute; the "Maris" ...
strain of barley; other common strains are
Halcyon
Halcyon is a name originally derived from Alcyone of Greek mythology.
Halcyon or Halcyone may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Television
* ''Halcyon'' (TV series), a Virtual Reality murder mystery on SyFy
* '' The Halcyon'', British period ...
,
Pipkin
A pipkin is an earthenware Cookware and bakeware, cooking pot used for cooking over direct heat from coals or a wood fire. They were not held in direct flame which would crack the ceramic. It has a handle and many (though not all) examples had th ...
,
Chariot
A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...
, and
Fanfare
A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets, French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introduction to an instrumental perfo ...
. Most malts in current use in Britain are derived from pale malt and were invented no earlier than the reign of
Queen Anne. Brewing malt production in Britain is thoroughly industrialized, with barley grown on dedicated land and malts prepared in bulk in large, purpose-build
maltings
A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain food ...
and distributed to brewers around the country to order.
Continental Europe
Before controlled-temperature kilning became available, malted grains were dried over wood fires; Rauchmalz (german: smoked malt) is malt dried using this traditional process. In Germany,
beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
is often used as the wood for the fire, imparting a strongly smoky flavor to the malt. This malt is then used as the primary component of
rauchbier;
alder
Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
-smoked malt is used in Alaskan smoked porters. Rauchmalz comes in several varieties, generally named for and corresponding to standard kilned varieties (e.g. Rauchpilsener to Pilsener); color and diastatic power are comparable to those for an equivalent kilned grain.
Similarly to crystal malts in Britain, central Europe makes use of caramel malts, which are moistened and kilned at temperatures around 55–65 °C in a rotating drum before being heated to higher temperatures for browning. The lower-temperature moistened kilning causes conversion and mashing to take place in the oven, resulting in a grain's starches becoming mostly or entirely converted to sugar before darkening. Caramel malts are produced in color grades analogous to other lager malts: carapils for pilsener malt, caravienne or carahell for Vienna malt, and caramunch for Munich malt. Color and final kilning temperature are comparable to non-caramel analog malts; there is no diastatic activity. Carapils malt is sometimes also called dextrin malt. 10–120 °L.
United States
American brewing combines British and Central European heritages, and as such uses all the above forms of beer malt; Belgian-style brewing is less common but its popularity is growing. In addition, America also makes use of some specialized malts:
6-row pale malt is a pale malt made from a different species of barley. Quite high in nitrogen, 6-row malt is used as a "hot" base malt for rapid, thorough conversion in a mash, as well as for extra body and fullness; the flavor is more neutral than 2-row malt. 1.8 °L, 160 °Lintner.
Victory malt is a specialized lightly roasted 2-row malt that provides biscuity, caramel flavors to a beer. Similar in color to amber and brown malt, it is often an addition to American brown ale. 25 °L, no diastatic power.
Other notable American barley malts include Special Roast and coffee malt. Special Roast is akin to a darker variety of victory malt.
Belgium
Belgian brewing makes use of the same grains as central European brewing. In general, though, Belgian malts are slightly darker and sweeter than their central European counterparts. In addition, Belgian brewing uses some local malts:
Pale malt in Belgium is generally darker than British pale malt. Kilning takes place at temperatures five to ten °C lower than for British pale malt, but for longer periods; diastatic power is comparable to that of British pale malt. ASBC 4/EBC 7.
Special B is a dark, intensely sweet crystal malt providing a strong malt flavor.
Biscuit malt is a lightly flavored roasted malt used to darken some Belgian beers. 45–50 EBC/25 °L.
Aromatic malt, by contrast, provides an intensely malty flavor. Kilned at 115 °C, it retains enough diastatic power to self-convert. 50–55 EBC/20 °L.
See also
*
Roasted grain drink
A cereal coffee (also known as grain coffee, roasted grain drink or roasted grain beverage) is a hot drink made from one or more cereal grains roasted and commercially processed into crystal or powder form to be reconstituted later in hot water ...
*
Sour mash
Sour mash (or sourmash) is a process used in the distilling industry that uses material from an older batch of mash to start the fermentation of a new batch, analogous to the making of sourdough bread with a starter. The term can also be used ...
*
List of barley-based drinks
This is a list of barley-based drinks. Barley, a member of the grass family was one of the first domesticated grains in the Fertile Crescent and drinks made from it range from thin herbal teas and beers to thicker drinkable puddings and gruels.
...
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Daniels, Ray, ''Designing Great Beer'', 1996, 2000, Brewers Publications.
External links
"Understanding Malt Analysis Sheets – How to Become Fluent in Malt Analysis Interpretation" by Greg NoonanHow to Brew by John Palmer an online book detailing all the basics of homebrewing beer.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mash Ingredients
Brewing ingredients
sv:Malt