Drinking in Boston: Adventures in Home Brewing, Malts

We here at Bostonist, in an effort to save pennies and look really cool, are about to begin brewing our own beer. To do this right we’ve been studying up. So today’s lesson: malt.

One thing we knew already: that malt is barley or wheat kept wet enough to sprout before kiln drying and grinding it. What we didn’t know was that different kinds of malts used to brew different kinds of beer are simply roasted at different temperatures in the kiln. And there are many different kinds of malts.

Pale malted barley is the main ingredient in all beers, both light and dark. This malt is the lightest grain and is kilned only enough for the grains to dry. Crystal malt, on the other hand, is kilned at a higher temperature. It is also subjected to a process in the kiln that converts the starches in the malt to caramelized, fermentable sugars. It can be found in both light and amber forms.

Two dark malts are chocolate malt and black patent malt. Chocolate malt, as might be expected, is kilned until it has turned the color of chocolate. It adds a roasted malt flavor to the beer. Black patent malt, much like chocolate malt, is roasted until it reaches the color of espresso. It too adds color to the beer, as well as a sweet roasted flavor.

More malts after the break!

Photo courtesy of epicbeer on Flickr using Creative Commons License