CEREALS, MALTING AND MASHING DR.

JAMES BRYCE

ASSIGNMENT 2 Outline the key parameters used to establish the quality of: 1. 2. Barley for malting Malt for brewing

Nguyen Van Phuc Food Science, Safety and Health (MSc) Heriot-Watt University School of Life and Sciences 10/2011

Cereals, Malting and Mashing

10/2011

Nguyen Van Phuc

BARLEY STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS

The quality of barley grains affects directly the quality of malt so the requirements for malting barley are strict and associated with malting process. The parameters for malt differ among the brewers and the countries. Here are some barley standard specifications of areas in the world.
Table 1. European standard barley specifications. For Danish, French, German and U.K. barley Contract standards Germinative energy Protein Kernal size >2.5 mm Screening below 2.2 mm Moisture Purity of variety Technical Purity * France: humidity content upto 15 % (http://www.e-malt.com/specifications/en_European_barley_standard.htm) Table 2. Australian standard barley specifications Varietal Purity Moisture Protein Germination Foreign material Full barley above 2,5mm Screening below 2,2mm 1000 Corn Weight Test weight *Analytical methods as per 'analytica EBC' 1 % max 88 % min 4 % max 40 grams min 70,0 kg/hl 98 % min 12 % max 12,5 % max 95 % min 95% < 11.5 % >90% 3% * <14.5 % 93 % 98 % Limits <90% 9.5 % - 12 % < 85 % >5% >15,5 %

Cereals, Malting and Mashing

10/2011

Nguyen Van Phuc

(http://www.e-malt.com/specifications/en_Australian_barley_standard.htm) Table 3. US barley standard specifications Six-row Barley Plump Thin Protein Moisture Germination S&B Test weight Vomitoxin 70 or better (>6/64 inch screen) 5 or less (<5/64 inch screen) 13.5 or less 13.5 or less 95 / 96 % depending on buyer 8 or less 47 /bu. (down to 45 /bu.) 0.5 ppm (up to 3.0 ppm) depending on buyer and crop Two-row Barley 80 or better (>6/64 inch screen) 10 or less (<5/64 inch screen) 13.0 or less 13.0 or less 95 / 96 % depending on buyer 10 or less 48 /bu. or better 0.0 ppm normally no issue on buyer and crop

(http://www.e-malt.com/specifications/en_us_barley_standard.htm)

The followings are the key factors used to establish the quality of malting barley. a. Grain size Barley grains are divided into four fractions: <2.2mm, >2.2mm, >2.5mm, and 2.8mm. the barley grains which are larger in size will contain more starch and protein, therefore enhancing the potential extract (Australian Journal of Agriculture Research 2003). b. Protein The levels of protein in malting barley significantly have effects on the quality of the final malt. High protein level in barley leads to the lower extract for the brewer and the slowdown of water uptake during steeping occurs as a result. On the other hand, low protein level will cause the insufficiency of enzymes for modifying the kernel and degradation of the starch during brewing. The typical barley protein used in malting is 11% to 12.5% (Brewing and malting barley research institute, Canada) c. Moisture Moisture content is dramatically important in storage and protection of malting barley. Barley grains conserved at low enough moisture can inactive enzymes, which are encourage the germination of grain during storage (pre-germination), and prevent grains from heat damage and the growth of microorganism. The quality and geminative capacity may significantly deteriorate. Generally, malting barley is stored at 13% (J. Lewis and W. Young 2002) 2

Cereals, Malting and Mashing d. Germination

10/2011

Nguyen Van Phuc

Barley has to growth during the malting process to ensure high quality malt. Dead or dormant grains cause problem. The do not produce any usable ectract and they can impair the quality of finished malt. e. Damaging Weather damage: Weather results in the level of weathering and staining of the grains during harvesting time. The malting barley with high degree of weathering and malting will affect the germination because it may be infected by microorganisms and therefore it influences the quality of malt. Heat damage: barley grains, which getting heat damaging because of storage at high moisture content, will be dead and cannot germinated and also create smell affecting the malt. f. Dormancy Dormancy is the difference between germinative capacity and germinative energy of malting barley. The value of ungerminated grains which is above 95% is undesirable in malting (Australian Journal of Agriculture Research 2003).

Cereals, Malting and Mashing

10/2011

Nguyen Van Phuc

MALT STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS

The quality of malt results in the quality of beer products so determining the key parameters affecting the malt quality is necessary in malting as well as brewing. The following is malt standard specifications.
Table 4. Malt standard specifications Specification Moisture Extract fine grind/dry malt Extract dif. fine-coarse Saccharification Filtration Clarity of wort pH Wort colour in EBC Post coloration Total nitrogen on dry malt Soluble protein Kolbach Index Viscosity Diastatic Power Hartong 45 Friability Whole grains FAN(mg/100g) Soluble glucanes Calcofluor Calcofluor homogeneity Sieving test: - above 2.8mm pDMS MDMA Radioactivity Taste of malt Smell of malt 2RS <4.5 > 80.5 1,0 - 2,5 10 min. normal clear 5,6 - 6,0 2,5 - 4,0 5.0 - 7.0 <11.5 4.0 - 4.7 36 - 45 <1.58 cp 250 min 35 min 80 min <2.0 140 min 200 max 85 min 65 min 90 min 5.0 max 2.5 max < 50 Bq/Kg 0 0 6RW <4.5 >79.5 1,0 - 2,5 5 - 15 min. normal clear 5,6 - 6,0 2,5 - 4,0 5.0 - 7,0 <11,5 4.0 - 4.7 36 - 45 <1.65cp >280min 35 min 75 min <2.0 140 min 250 max 80 min 60 min 90 min 5.0 max 2.5 max <50Bq/Kg 0 0 2RW <4.5 >80.0 1.0 - 2.5 ? normal clear 5.6 - 6.0 2.5 - 4.0 5.7 - 7.0 <11.5 4.0 - 4.7 36 - 45 <1,60 230 min 35 min 75 min. <2.0 140 min. 250 max 80 min. 60 min. 90 min 5.0 max 2.5max <50Bq/Kg 0 0

(http://www.e-malt.com/specifications/en_malt_standard_specifications.htm)

Here are some key parameters to establish the malt quality

Cereals, Malting and Mashing 1. Moisture

10/2011

Nguyen Van Phuc

Moisture is the malt humidity and it is not above 5%. Too high level of moisture results in bad worting, bad conversion of malt, loosing flavours and giving a less silky and steady beer (http://www.e-malt.com/specifications/en_moisture.htm)

b.

Hot water extract (L0/kg) The extract indicates the set of maximum matters that can be dissolved during brewing

c.

Fine/course extract difference (%) It is used to measure the malt disintegration

Table 5. The appreciation of fine/course extract difference of malt Diff. fine/coarse less 1,3% 1,3 - 1,9 2 - 2,6 2,7 - 3,3 Disintegration very good good normal tolerable

more of 3,3 bad (http://www.e-malt.com/specifications/en_extract_difference_fine.htm)

d.

Fermentable extract (%) It measures the sugars that can be fermented into alcohol, normal range 66-67% (International Center for Brewing and Distilling, Heriot-Watt University 2008)

e.

Homogeneity It indicates dead or poorly modified grains and results in processing problems. The preffered value is 96% to 100% (J. Lewis & W. Young 2002).

f.

Total Nitrogen (%) The total nitrogen relates to the ratio of protein and starch in malt. The more protein malt contains, the less starch malt has. For all malt beer, the total nitrogen does not over 12% (http://www.e-malt.com/specifications/en_total_nitrogen.htm). In addition, high protein in malt can shorten the self-life and affect the quality of final beer because of the precipitation of protein in long-term cold storage (J. Lewis & W. Young 2002).

g.

Soluble Nitrogen ratio (%) This parameter indicates the breakdown of proteinaceous materials in malting. The typical values for well-modified malt are from 39% to 41% (J. Lewis & W. Young 2002).

Cereals, Malting and Mashing h. Kolbach Index

10/2011

Nguyen Van Phuc

The Kolbach index permits to encode the chemical disintegration of the malt. The scale of values is between 29 and 45%: > 45 excessive disintegration and it can cause disturbances in the beer > 41 very good disintegration between 35 and 41 good disintegration < 35 insufficient disintegration

(http://www.e-malt.com/specifications/en_kolbach_index.htm) i. Dimethyl Sulphide (PPM) Dimethyl sulphide results in bad smell in wort and normal level is below 4 ppm (http://www.e-malt.com/specifications/en_pdms.htm) j. Colour(EBC units)
Table 6. Classification of colours according to the EBC norms pale mid - dark munich Amber Biscuit Roasted < 4 EBC 5 to 11 EBC 11 to 15 EBC 35 to 50 EBC 70 to 120 EBC > 120 EBC

k.

Viscosity (cP) The presence of thick molecules and -glucan results in the viscosity of the wort and beer. Viscosity leads to problems of filtration and its values is often between 1.50 and 1.70 (http://www.e-malt.com/specifications/en_viscosity.htm).

l.

Saccharification It is the total time that starch is converted to sugar and it is less than 10 minutes for good malt (http://www.e-malt.com/specifications/en_saccharification.htm)

m.

Diastatic power It indicates the capacity of hydrolysing of starch in the malt. European Larger malt -1000L is more appropriate.

n.

Friability (%) The friability reflects the disintegration of malt. Malt will be disintegrated better if it is more friable.
Table 7. The scale of the friability % friability whole grains

Cereals, Malting and Mashing

10/2011

Nguyen Van Phuc

very good good medium insufficient

> 80 71- 80 65 - 70 < 65

< 1% < 2% < 4% > 4%

*The whole grains are the result of a bad germination.

o.

FAN Free Amino Nitrogen (mg/L) FAN affects fermentation process. The typical range of amino acids and amino nitrogen in malt is at least 130 mg./L. If the value of this parameter is too low, the fermentation process of beer will be bad. FAN values (chiefly amino acids and small peptides) must be sufficiently high to ensure that lack of nitrogenous yeast nutrients does not limit fermentation. (Dennis E. Briggs, Chris A. Boulton, et al. 2004).

Cereals, Malting and Mashing

10/2011

Nguyen Van Phuc

REFERENCES
1. E. Briggs, et al 2004, Brewing, Science and Practice, Woodhead Publishing Limited and CRC Press, U.S 2. F.G Priest, Graham G. Stewart 2006, Handbook of brewing, CRC Press, U.S 3. G. P. Fox, J. F. Ponozzo, et al. 2003, Molecular basic of barley quality,, Australian Journal of Agriculture and Research, 54, 1081 1101. 4. J. Lewis & W. Young, 2002, Brewing, 2nd edn, Kluwer Academic/ Plenum, New York 5. William A. Hardwick 1994, Handbook of brewing, Marcel Dekker, New York 6. Quality standard specifications, viewed 17 October 2011, < http://www.emalt.com/index.htm>.