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Why do craft beers use malt, many people know it but don't know why

Craft beer has a long history, and the use of malt as a raw material is also passed down. Everyone knows that if you want a good quality craft beer, you must use malt, but many people know it but don’t know why. So I will tell you why you should use malt.

To understand why malt is used, you must first understand malt.

Beer is the oldest alcoholic beverage of mankind and the third most consumed beverage in the world after water and tea. Beer was introduced into China at the beginning of the twentieth century and is an exotic wine. Beer is translated into Chinese “beer” according to English Beer, called “beer”, which is still in use today. Beer is a low-alcohol liquor full of carbon dioxide brewed by yeast fermentation with barley malt, hops, and water as the main raw materials, auxiliary raw materials (corn, rice, wheat, etc.) and sugars as auxiliary raw materials. The picture below shows hops (it turns out that hops are really flowers, this is the first time I saw them, is there one like me?)

Why do craft beers use malt, many people know it but don't know why
1. The purpose of malting

Manufacture of enzyme preparations:After barley is germinated, part of the starch is decomposed and a large amount of enzymes are generated.

Moderate dissolution of malt: During the malting process, with the cooperation of enzymes, starch and protein in wheat grains are moderately dissolved, and macromolecular substances are degraded.

Remove the green flavor and produce color, aroma and taste: the excess moisture and green flavor in the green malt are removed by drying, and the wheat grains have a unique color, aroma and taste in the coking process, which will affect the quality of craft beer. Flavor has a very important impact.

2. Two principles of malting
biological process

Dormant kernels are fully awakened, including root and germ growth; other structural changes; production or release of enzymes.

chemical process

Without growth, the malt is “dissolved” by the action of enzymes (which is quite different from enzyme release), forming soluble substances called extracts and malt flavours.

3. The purpose of soaking wheat

(1) Activating the physiological activity of dormant barley. The moisture content of barley is required to increase to 43%-48%, and an appropriate amount of air is required for barley to breathe.

(2) Further cleaning of barley.

(3) Remove the tannins and harmful components from the husk.

Why do craft beers use malt, many people know it but don't know why
4. Malt drying

Reduce moisture: above 40% to below 5%. When the moisture is reduced to 10-12% by a large amount of hot air, the temperature is raised to above 50 °C. Termination of germination and dissolution: The kernel dies and becomes stable malt.

Formation of color and fragrance substances: When the temperature exceeds 80 °C, a series of low molecular weight substances will form various pigment substances and fragrance substances.

The reason why barley is used is because it is not a staple food and is in large quantities. Moreover, the husk is thin, the starch content is high, the protein content is relatively low, the germination is uniform, and the extract yield is high. It is the first choice for craft beer brewing. Now everyone understands why craft beer uses malt, and these contents are only a small part of “Haolu Beer Equipment”. Friends who like craft beer can learn more useful knowledge from it.