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Why Malt Matters:
Top 5 Things Brewers Should Know
As craft beer has grown over the last decade, so too has craft malt. Within the last century, craft brewers are tuning-in their palates and creating a better appreciation for malt. Hops are a highly sought-after seasoning, but malt is the “soul” and a keystone ingredient in any craft beer. Without malt, the rich beer ecosystem would not survive.
Across our food landscape, an increasing amount of people are starting to care about grains and their properties. Waving grain is once again enticing us to imagine new ways to learn and create, and by focusing on the needs of craft brewers we are defining what malted grains will taste like for the next several decades.
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Malt’s magnitude and how it can continue to improve the beer you drink cannot be overstated. Consider supporting the vibrant craft malt community and translate the added-value of your products made with craft malt, to promote both awareness and engagement among craft beverage consumers.
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When considering choosing your malt varieties and your supplier, the following are the top five things brewers should know about malt.
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1. Hot Steep. When performing sensory evaluations, several aspects of malt wort (or tea) are examined: Appearance (Lovibond), Aroma, Flavor, and Mouthfeel.
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A step-by-step guide to performing a hot steep can be found here:
Hot Steep Method - Step by Step Instructions
How does malt sensory contribute to your beer?
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Offers additional sensory experience when used in conjunction with "chewing" the malt.
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Reveals complexity of malt flavor with focus on sweetness, grassiness, acidity, and roast/maillard character.
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Unlike the chew, a hot steep allows brewers to understand the aromas malt will contribute, including bread/cracker, earth/grassiness, vegetal/fruit among others.
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Offers insight into clarity and lauterability. Many of these characteristics will be present during the brewing process and in the finished product.
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Learn the flavor descriptors of malt and be able to pick them out. A Base Malt Flavor Map and Specialty Malt Flavor Map can be purchased via the Craft Maltsters Guild.
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To better understand the profiles of the malts, contact your malt supplier and schedule hot steeps.
There is a science behind malt flavor and Craftbeer.com prioritizes “flavor” as number one in the following article: Breakthroughs in the Science Behind Malt Flavor.
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2. Certificate of Analysis: Request and demystify a COA with your malt supplier and use this as an opportunity to learn from the maltster. Get feedback on recipe formulation, and work backwards in designing beers. What ingredients fit best with your imagined beer? Having a direct connection with your provider is very beneficial to problem solving.
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Most brewers focus on color, beta glucans and extract, but other attributes such as alpha amylase and diastatic power should also be considered. Craft malt trends higher in many of these categories, offering a higher quality product that may reduce the volume of malt needed to hit brewers' targets.
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An example of a malt COA can be found here: Genie Pale COA Example and the following parameters are examined further.
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Color: While color is an important attribute, it is truly just a measure of light's ability to pass through the wort. Flavor should be of higher importance than the measured color. Large maltsters have the ability to blend to hit this specification. Focus on flavor, rather than color. In most cases, customers won’t notice a difference between a 5L and a 10L beer. Color holds higher priority in large production beers.
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Friability: Friability is the measurement of how crushable the malt is and determines how well the grain was modified during the malting process. This attribute can point directly at extract potential, as the higher the friability, the more you can potentially extract from that grain. Industry standard for base malts is greater than 80%. By knowing your friability you can adjust your mill to the right crush grist to ensure that you are maximizing your potential. High friability and too tight of a mill gap can lead to flouring the malted barley and creating a stuck mash. Too low of friability can indicate poor quality.
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Extract: Craft brewers put a premium on high levels of extract. Lower protein levels go hand in hand with increased extract, and to some degree with lower FAN. Look for base malt levels to be at least 78% FGDB (Fine Grind Dry Basis) to achieve brewhouse efficiency.
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FAN (Free Amino Nitrogen): FAN is a product of the breakdown of proteins through the germination process, and is needed for yeast health and nutrition for the fermentation process. Acceptable FAN levels are between 150-250 mg/L to provide sufficient support for yeast health. Too high (or too low!) FAN levels can reduce stability and the shelf life of packaged products. As more brewers move to canning, FAN should be considered.
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Beta Glucan: Differing levels can mean different things for you in the brewhouse. Low levels of beta glucan indicate proper modification and the breakdown of cell walls inside the kernel. Elevated levels can lead to problems with lautering and beer filtration, and may need extra steps in the mash to unlock the malt’s full potential. Acceptable levels for malted barley is less than 175 mg/L.
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The following study, performed by the Brewer’s Association, collects ideas and perspectives offered in the spirit of communication with growers, academics, breeders, maltsters, brewers, and all other barley and malting industry stakeholders: Malting Barley Characteristics for Craft Brewers - BA.
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3. Calculate Yield Efficiencies: Single source barley and single source variety can help with greater consistency in malt, which leads to brewhouse efficiency. The freshness from a local malt supplier will contribute to brightness of flavor/lack of staleness in the final product. Imported grains often have a lengthy supply chain and often result in products that lack freshness.
Crush (mill settings) is an ongoing debate in the brewing industry, and small suppliers are willing to work with customers to provide the best product for their equipment and applications. No matter the size of the brewery, you should
always consider your extraction rate, and become familiar with your grain to get the most out of every kernel. The following MBAA links better define and shed more light on brewhouse efficiency:
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​4. Traceability: Do you know where your ingredients come from? Do you know which field your barley was grown in, who planted it, what day it was harvested, and who malted the grain? Visit your local farmer, see how the grain is processed, and learn the basic malting steps (steeping, germination, kilning). This relationship can help you make your best beer and provides a story that resonates with the beer-drinking community.
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​5. ​Cheat sheet for malt selection: There are endless options for grain selection and malt varieties play an important role in developing your beer.
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A few tips:
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Capitalize on shipping costs - fill your pallet up!
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If space is limited for storage in the brewery, look for suppliers who
provide same day pick up.
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Design beers using a consistent base malt, while rotating specialty malts to differentiate between beer styles.
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Only use fresh ingredients - try to limit open bags for extended amounts of
time. Store in a cool, dry environment.
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Peruse a Malt and Grain Selection catalog to help jumpstart your creative
recipe development.
Contributing Author
Todd Olander Founder/Farmer, Root Shoot Malting
Root Shoot Malting craft malthouse supplies the Rocky Mountain region with craft malt and grains. Founded by the Olander family in 2016, Root Shoot supplies barley, wheat, rye and corn to craft brewers and distillers. Located on the Olander Farms, Root Shoot is working to ensure that farmland remains available to grow grain for the beers and spirits of tomorrow.
Selecting and sourcing ingredients is one of the most important action items prior to opening a brewery. In this post, we will dive into a few of the top considerations when it comes to selecting the real workhorse of brewing, yeast!
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From flavor production to behavioral attributes such as flocculation, attenuation, and alcohol tolerance it can be difficult to navigate between 100’s of commercially available strains to create the perfect beer. How do you choose the best yeast strains to work with from house strains to making specialty beers and in addition to considering managing multiple strains in the brewery?
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Working Backwards
First, you must set the parameters for the beer. What style are you planning on brewing and what yeast strain is best suited for that style/beer? Determining things like desired alcohol content (starting gravity), fermentation temperature and time, malt or hop forward, and how the yeast strain may accentuate or diminish that character will help narrow the search.
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Have a target prior to brewing and selected ingredients to hit the target.
Chris DellaBianca & Audrey Gehlhausen, Billy Goat Hop Farm
As terrior’s presence and effects on all crops becomes more well known and understood, so too does the need to answer a question I’ve had for the past few years; why do Colorado hops
produce such high alpha acids (AA)?
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After three successful harvests at Billy Goat Hop Farm and lots of conversations with other hop farmers in the state who have been growing for much longer than I, a pattern of consistently
higher AA from hops grown in Colorado compared to other growing regions or the industry average has emerged. This year's crop in particular contains extra high AA. I began to dig into why this might be. Unsurprisingly, I couldn’t find a clear answer, in fact some studies contradict each other. So, what is presented here is my personal opinion along with data and information that was found to be unanimously agreed upon.
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What is an alpha acid?
AA’s are chemical compounds found in the resin of the lupulin glands (the golden/yellow stuff on the inside of a hop cone). Alpha acids are widely thought of as a general indicator of plant
health and quality. AA’s are the main contributor to the bitterness in beer, they also contain anti-bacterial and microbial properties, which were more important prior to pasteurization for the longevity of beer not to spoil.
Barrel aging may seem like a large undertaking, and in many ways it is. With so many different varieties and complexities within barrels, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged. But once you understand the ways barrel aging can improve taste and add exotic flavors, you won’t look back. Get more confident in your barrel knowledge and brush up on the barrel aging basics.
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The Effects of Wood
The type of wood/barrel you decide to use has a drastic effect on the final outcome in terms of color, profile, and flavors. Oak is the most popular wood used for barrel aging not only because of its leak-resistant grain formation but also because of its unique and flavorful contributions. Everything from the organic compounds in the wood to the level of char or toast
of the barrel will have an impact. There are five main compounds found in oak that will lend important flavor notes, and getting to know them will give you more control over your aging program:
• Oak Lactones: The two main aroma constituents of raw oak, these lactones give a woody or coconut flavor.
• Vanillin: Just like it sounds, vanillin releases vanilla aromas with the degradation of wood cells.
Ashleigh Hayden, Yakima Chief Hops
Cascade and Centennial are two of the most classic American hop varieties and have played important roles in the history of craft beer. Arguably seen as the foundational varieties of the
craft beer movement, even as new varieties emerge, they are still strong contenders for brewing aromatic and flavorful beers. For many, these varieties are still synonymous with a
delicious Pale Ale or West Coast IPA.
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Since the early 2000’s, these varieties have experienced an ebb and flow in the market, from low supplies and high prices, to an abundance of readily available inventory. Over the past few harvest seasons, our growers have experienced overall solid yields and great quality for both Cascade and Centennial hops, resulting in a steady, consistent supply.
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Because of this, more and more breweries across the globe have begun to shy away from contracting these varieties, knowing that they have become so easily accessible at low prices due to a heavy supply. This is not uncommon in the hop market, however, it can be detrimental to a balanced supply chain. It can have a ripple effect that impacts the brewing industry as a whole.
Growers rely on brewer contracts to create appropriate
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Secure/raise financing
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Build your brewery
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Establish vendor relationships
