Common Used Auxiliary Raw Material For Malt

There are many kinds of cereal materials that can be used as auxiliary materials for malting, commonly used are rice, corn, barley, wheat, sugar, syrup, etc.

(1). Rice
Rice is the most widely used auxiliary material in domestic beer brewing. They are of two types. Whole rice and broken rice. Ground rice is a by-product of rice mills.

The main characteristics of broken rice are its low cost, high starch content, high leaching rate and lower protein and polyphenol content than barley. The yield of wort will be improved by using rice as a secondary material. If the brewer can control the ratio well, it is good for the flavor of the beer, the color of the beer and the retention of the foam.

However, considering that the saccharification temperature of rice is much higher, it should be gelatinized with liquefaction enzymes beforehand.

(2). Corn
Like rice, corn has the characteristics of low cost and high yield. Wort made from corn has a higher level of unsaturated fatty acids than wort made from other materials. Therefore, it will ration better for yeast under anaerobic conditions. However, too much corn reduces the dissolved nitrogen content in the wort, which may affect the fermentation and foam recovery of the beer.

When corn is used as an auxiliary, it does not need to be gelatinized in advance because of its high fat content of 4-5%.

(3). Barley and wheat
Barley and wheat have lower starch content than rice and corn, but they have little enzyme content. Wheat contains α-amylase and β-amylase, barley contains β-amylase and protease, etc. The starch has a low pasting temperature and can be added directly to the mash without prior pasting. And at a temperature close to 65°C, the saccharification process will be in a perfect state.

As auxiliary ingredients, the amount of barley is about 30%-50% and the amount of wheat is about 20%-25%.

(4). Sugars and syrups
The main component of sugar is sugar with 99% content. Sugar can be completely fermented and very fast. However, it is limited in use because it does not contain nitrogen and is expensive. Generally, it is used in amounts of about 10%. It can be added to the brew kettle to increase the final concentration of the wort.

Molasses is a widely used material abroad and it can be made from barley, wheat, corn, etc. Barley syrup is very similar to wort and is an ideal auxiliary material for “high beer fermentation”. This syrup includes fructose, glucose, maltose, maltotriose, dextrin, etc., and has a fermentation capacity of 65%-95%. Its dosage depends mainly on the DE.