Integrating the malt value chain
Barley is especially well suited to malting operations and meets brewers’ needs and expectations. During the different stages of fabrication of malt and beer, the grain is capable of synthesizing and rapidly activating an enzymatic complex. Certain of these enzymes are necessary for the saccharification of starch, and thus its later transformation into alcohol during fermentation of the wort at the brewery. During this final stage, barley’s moderate protein content is sufficient for nourishing the yeast while limiting the appearance of sludge in the beer.
The fine husks that are a particularity of barley grains, following crushing of the malt, are the origin of the draff through which the wort is filtered in order to separate the insoluble parts.
Even though malt is made essentially from barley, other cereal grains can be malted (wheat, sorghum, buckwheat, rye) depending on the availability of raw materials in the country. Wheat malt is used mainly in making "white" beers (Weiβenbier in Germany).
Following a harvest of malting barley done at a stage of complete physiological maturity (moisture < 14.5 %), storage must be able to ensure maintenance of satisfactory sanitary and technological quality. That means that malting barley must be stored in clean, watertight installations equipped with ventilation allowing the grain to be cooled in successive stages, thus avoiding the proliferation of insects and the development of microflora and maintaining the barley’s germinating power.
Several hundred varieties of malting barley exist around the world, suited to local conditions.
Brewing-type winter barleys (two-row/six-row) are grown mainly in Western Europe (GB/F), with a French preference for producing six-row winter malting barleys.
A complete approach to malting barley procurement must take into account these six key areas and deploy pragmatic, multi-faceted solutions keyed to situations and customer needs in each region.
Certain countries are structurally in deficit since they consume beer yet produce little or no barley.
Malting consists in causing the grain to germinate and set in motion the transformation undergone naturally by the plant during its growth, and then halting that transformation more or less rapidly depending on the characteristics desired.
Malteurop conducts a research and development policy aimed at introducing innovations into the barley-malt-beer value chain. It concerns primarily control over raw materials – barley and malt – and improving industrial processes at malting plants.
Malteurop has an international Technical Department whose goal is to optimize the industrial process at two levels – that of the malting process itself and that of the design and renovation of malting plants.
