Malting Wakes a Grain and Then Stops It
Malt is grain prepared for brewing. The process starts germination and halts it at exactly the right moment.
Malt is grain, usually barley, that has been germinated and then dried for brewing or distilling. The process is a controlled interruption: the grain is soaked until it begins to sprout, which activates enzymes that break starch into fermentable sugar, and is then kilned to stop growth before the sprout consumes what it has made. Timing is the whole craft. How hot the kiln runs decides the colour, from pale malt to the near-black grain used in stout.
- Germinated grain. *Malted barley.*
- Malt whisky. *Single malt.*
- To malt. *Malting barley.*
- Maltster — one who malts. *A maltster.*
- Old English — *mealt*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | malt | Malt. |
| Verb | malt | Malting. |
| Adjective | malted | Malted. |
| Agent | maltster | A maltster. |
| Old English | mealt | Malt. |
- The beer uses pale malt.Brewing.
- A single malt whisky.Distilling.
- Kilning stops germination.Process.
How kilning changes malt
- Pale malt — dried gently, giving light colour and most enzymes
- Crystal malt — stewed before drying, giving sweetness and colour
- Chocolate malt — roasted dark, used in porters
- Black malt — roasted almost to carbon, for stout
- Darker malts lose the enzymes that convert starch
Old English *mealt*, of Germanic origin, related to *melt*.
What does malting do?
It starts germination so enzymes convert starch to fermentable sugar, then stops it by kilning before the sprout uses that sugar.
What makes dark beer dark?
The kilning temperature of the malt. Roasted grain gives colour and flavour but loses the enzymes that convert starch.