By Greig McGill
You’ve probably heard it said that malt is the soul of a beer. Hops might get all the glory, but without malted barley, beer wouldn’t be beer. It provides sweetness to balance the hop bitterness, and colour to tempt the eye and the thirst. It provides the body to avoid a thin watery drink, and most importantly, it provides depth and richness of flavour in almost endless variety.
Where does all that variety come from though? As I’m sure you all know, so I won’t bang on about it too long, barley is the primary grain historically used in beer production. There have been many other adjunct grains used, and in the case of gluten free beers, grains such as millet, buckwheat, sorghum, and others can even be the only grains used, but barley is our hero here today.
There are many different types of barley, and this provides our first lever to pull when we select malt for our brewing. I will cover some of these later, but for now, just remember that one maltster’s Pilsner malt might use a completely different base barley than another’s. Malting, the process of taking barley and causing it to begin germination so as to cause conversion of proteins and carbohydrates into starch, is the point of difference with all malt producers. Each maltster has their own methods for initial malting and then kilning (the process of drying and colouring the malt) and these individual variances lead to the differences in malts from one supplier to another.
So what does all that mean to you, the brewer, as you sit formulating your latest malty concoction and wondering which of the many fine malts available from brewshop.co.nz you should choose today? Well, as inferred above, you probably now realise that Pale Ale malt from, say, Gladfield Malt is not the same as Pale Ale malt from Simpsons, which in turn is not the same as Pale Ale malt from Bairds. They will all do pretty much the same job in your beer, but each will have a different flavour profile. Sometimes it is subtle, sometimes it can be quite pronounced. Nobody can tell you which the “right” one to use is, but so long as you are aware that they are not necessarily 1:1 substitutes, eventually you will learn what each brings to the table and you will make your own decisions on which you enjoy the most in your own beers.
Now that we’ve talked about the differences between the same kinds of malt from different maltsters, let’s go over the most common malts, and what they are primarily used for. Malts are primarily divided into base malts, those malts where we get most of our fermentable sugars from, and specialty malts, where we get a lot of our colour, body, depth and specific character of flavour, and aroma from. Base malts are the lightest kilned malts, and the heat of kilning denatures the amylase enzymes which break down the starches into fermentable sugars thus allowing the yeast to ferment the resulting wort. The amount of enzymatic conversion potential present in malt is called diastatic power, and you’ll need to ensure you have enough from your base malts to convert the starches present in any specialty malts you wish to use also.
Base Malts
Pilsner Malt: Kilned extremely lightly to ensure high diastatic power, and very pale colour. Provides a very clean, often cracker or fresh white bread like flavour. Very subtle, and a great base for lagers, though often used in modern IPAs where malt flavour is not desirable.
(Pale) Ale Malt: Often referred to as 2-row in the USA, though this sometimes infers an even paler kilning than the already light ale malt. Kilned slightly longer and hotter than Pilsner malt, this provides a slightly nuttier and richer flavour and a little more colour to the finished beer. A good choice as a base for most ale styles.
Vienna Malt: Darker again, and used to add richness and often nutty and toasty complexity. Commonly used in amber lagers, and Märzen/Oktoberfest style beers. Personally I use a little Vienna in almost every pale ale I brew to add a little richness and depth to the malt profile.
Munich Malt: The darkest of the base malts, and often available in two types, commonly referred to as Type 1 and Type 2, with Type 2 being darker, and occasionally without enough diastatic power to serve properly as a base malt. If you plan on using a significant proportion of Munich malt in your recipe, it pays to check the diastatic power of the batch from your supplier. Munich malts are very rich and bring notes of well toasted wholegrain bread, especially bread crust, and rich nutty flavours. A common base malt for Schwarzbiers, Bocks, and Dunkles.
As I alluded to earlier, you may see Pilsner malts with names such as Eraclea, Isaria, or Barke, or modifiers such as Bohemian. You might see pale ale malts called Golden Promise, or Maris Otter. These are not different types of malts, but are different breeds of barley.
Eraclea is an Italian barley variety, grown near the Adriatic sea, and known for a slight minerality of terroir, as well as great foam stability and high yield. It’s become a popular option for Italian style pilsners and grape ales.
Isaria is a German barley variety, in fact the oldest barley cultivated specifically for the brewing industry. It’s a very soft, gentle flavoured grain, useful for historical European styles or just a twist on a modern pilsner malt.
Barke is another heritage grain, popular for a long time in central Europe. It’s very full flavoured, and like Eraclea, is known for great foam stability. It has a very high diastatic power, but can also bring some “un-lager-like” notes to the table when malted, such as light toffee notes. Great for beers where you want more rich malt character.
Maris Otter and Golden Promise are English and Scottish respectively. Both developed in the 1960s specifically for the brewing (well, and distilling in the case of Golden Promise) industry, Maris Otter tends to create a more flavourful “classic malt” profile when malted, whereas Golden Promise is known for creating a full bodied, sweeter wort with honey hints. Fun fact: Golden Promise is the Incredible Hulk of the barley world, having been created by gamma ray mutation introducing a dwarf gene that led to a shorter, stiffer stalk, being favoured for growing. Cool, huh?
In addition to these barley types, you may also see “floor malted”. What’s that all about? Well, most malt is produced using drum malting, which is a largely automated and industrial process designed to achieve uniformity and consistency. Floor malting is a manual process where the grain is literally spread out on the floor of a warehouse and turned manually to ensure even germination and to prevent overheating. Although very labour and space intensive, making it a lot more expensive, floor malting creates greater interaction with natural environmental conditions, which can lead to more complex and nuanced flavour development. It might be pricey, but there’s nothing like it for a good English-style ale.
There are other descriptors for base malts, and probably the most common for pilsner type malt is “Bohemian”. This usually signifies malts that are often made from traditional Czech or similar barley strains, such as Haná, Malz, or Bojos, which are selected for their low protein content and excellent malting qualities. Expect a pale wort with nutty, and malty sweet properties. Commonly used, as you’d expect, in Czech styles such as Bohemian Pilsner.
Look out for part two, coming soon, where I’ll talk about the types of specialty malts, their uses, tips and tricks, and how to build a recipe with diastatic power in mind.