Beer Styles: Fermentable carbs; malted barley - part 5

Pale to black, malt choices can be beerwildering to
the novice brewer, but with experience the art of
blending a principal factor in achieving distinctive beer
characters and replicating traditional styles.  Photos by
Charlie Papazian

There are more than a hundred types of barley malt.  Making the right choices when formulating a beer recipe is an art form.  Most of the world’s barley is grown as animal feed.  Only a small percentage is suitable for use in beer as malting barley.  Malting quality barley suitable for beer is much lower in protein content.

Every malt type has unique character, resulting in an incredible variety of contributions to the qualities of beer. There are different varieties of barley and there are different techniques used to malt the barley.  Malting is the process of soaking barley seed and beginning germination.  Then at a certain stage the germination is halted by a drying process using varying degrees of heat.  The quality of barley is dependent on regional climate, soil, hours of sunlight and other factors.  The quality of malt is influenced by the technique of malting. Remember, barley is an agricultural product and malt is produced by processing the barley.  It’s quality will vary, just as the grape harvest and grape processing effects wine quality. 

Particular types of barley and malting procedures influence the emergence of particular beer styles.    Color, flavor, aroma, alcohol, mouthfeel are a few characters influenced by malt, other fermentable carbohydrates and sugar adjuncts.  The choice, amount and combination of malt types and other fermentable carbohydrates creates an extraordinary variety of character in beer.

A few examples of barley malt types are: pale malt, pilsener malt, wheat malt, rye malt, oat malt, dark wheat malt, sauer (acidified by lactobacillus bacteria) malt, Vienna malt, mild malt, smoked malt, brown malt, biscuit malt, aromatic malt, toasted malt, Munich malt, honey malt, amber malt, caramelized/crystal malt, dark roasted malt, chocolate malt and black malt.  Additionally unmalted rye, barley and wheat are roasted as specialty ingredients in unique beers.

The United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Czech Republic, Great Britain, France, Russia, Belgium, China are but a few countries producing the world’s malting barley.

Next: Beer Styles: Fermentable carbs; other grains and sugar - part 6

Guide to entire 27-part Beer Style Series - table of contents