Malt

The basic starting ingredient in beer is malt. Malt is simply barley which has been periodically steeped in warm water and then allowed to rest in air. This will cause the barley to germinate.

The barley wants to convert its starch stores into sugars for energy so that it can grow. However the maltster wants to control the process so that the barley starts to break down its starch, but then stop it from growing. The sugars can then be used by the brewer. The germination process is stopped by kilning the malt, this drying process dehydrates the enzymes preventing them from working.

Black malt grains This malt is now in a stable form and can be transported and used by the brewer. Malt can also be roasted by the maltster to produce a wide range of speciality malts. These include:

Crystal Malt
Vienna Malt
Amber Malt
Chocolate Malt
Black Malt

Oat malt grains Others cereal grains may also be used which have there own unique effect on beer flavour and characteristics – such as head retention. At Harviestoun we use barley, wheat and oats. If you want a full description of the speciality malts its worth looking at the websites of the commercial maltsters.