Water, Hops, Yeast, and Barley (Part I): Barley

Most of us know that Beer is made from water, hops, yeast, and barley, but what exactly is it about those four items that, when combined, transform them into something that is greater than the sum of its parts? In this first of a four part series, I’ll discuss barley and malting.

First, here are two definitions:

Barley:

–noun

1. a widely distributed cereal plant belonging to the genus Hordeum, of the grass family, having awned flowers that grow in tightly bunched spikes, with three small additional spikes at each node.

2. the grain of this plant, used as food and in making beer, ale, and whiskey.

Malting:

–verb (used with object)

1. to convert (grain) into malt by soaking it in water and allowing it to germinate.

The basic goal of malting is to make the starches in barley accessible to the brewer. This is done by the malter by soaking the grain in order to start the germination process. As the seed of the grain begins to germinate, the outer shell opens or breaks down, exposing the inside where the starch is stored. There are a lot scientific words and diagrams that are associated with this activity, and I recommend John Palmer’s book, “How To Brew” if you want to learn the details of how enzymes break down the endosperm into carbohydrates, amino acids, and lipids, etc. Why do we want to get to the starch? The brewer uses a mash process to convert the starch to sugar. “Mashing is the brewer’s term for the hot water steeping process which hydrates the barley, activates the malt enzymes, and converts the grain starches into fermentable sugars.”–John Palmer. Each type of malted barley has a specific level of enzymes, or ability to convert the starches to sugars. The brewer needs these sugars because when yeast is added to the wort, the yeast will convert the simple sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide.

The two basic kinds of barley are two-row and six-row. It is said that two-row has a better flavor, but six-row has a greater ability to convert starches into sugars. From these two varieties of barley malters make Vienna, Munich, Roasted, Cara-pils, Crystal, and all the other types of light-malts, toasted malts, and specialty malts. This is done by heating the barley during the malting process to various temperatures depending on the overall color the malter wants to achieve in the end. Sometimes this will completely remove the grain’s ability to convert starch into sugar, and the specialty malt will only serve to add color and flavor to the beer. Sometimes certain higher temperatures will convert the starch to sugar inside of the grain before it even gets to the brewer–this type of malt lends a sweet or caramel flavor to the beer. There is a scale called the Lovibond color scale that helps the brewer calculate how much color a particular malt will add to the overall color of the beer.

By combining different types of malt, the brewer can calculate how much starch should be converted to sugar, and what color the beer will be. Knowing how much sugar should be in your wort, will allow you to calculate your mash or extract efficiency, which I covered in this post. If you are just starting out as a home-brewer, and your local brewing supply store allows you to collect your own grains, I highly recommend tasting each grain as you add it to your grain bill. By tasting the kernels, you will really become familiar with how it will effect your beer, and may even change your mind about how your recipe has been designed.