Base Malts: Tips from the Pros
They don’t get all the hype that specialty grains receive, but base grains are the foundation for every beer recipe. Learn what three pros with experience brewing at breweries of vastly different sizes consider when choosing and handling base grains.
Matty Snyder is the Head Brewer at Weyerbacher Brewing Co. in Easton, Pennsylvania.
As a homebrewer, choosing a base malt is mostly about how it’s going to translate in the beer you want to make. Unfortunately, things like price, extract, beta-glucan content, current malt contracts, and availability are also big factors for a production brewery. Finding that middle ground, as well as being able to test batch and analyze the options help me to choose base malts.
Having certificates of analysis (COAs) of our malt lots, and the ability to understand them, are crucial to a production brewery, especially when brewing high-gravity wort. Even with a great malting company there will be variances from lot-to-lot, and the more you know about each will help you better prepare yourself for any adjustments that might need to be made. As a homebrewer, I wouldn’t say it’s any less important. I feel the more you know about the raw materials you’re brewing with, the more likely it is that you’ll make better wort. So yeah, nerd-out on all that you can.
COAs are also important whenever I’m comparing one malt type or variety from one maltster to another; I’m basically just looking for as much information available as possible. Any available COA along with other technical and sensory information provided on the maltster’s website are definitely helpful and pretty common to find. Physical samples are also great in order to run side-by-side sensory analysis. But of course, the real test is always in the brew. Small-scale pilot or test batches (or traditional batches for homebrewers), and even congress mashing, are the best ways to test out new malts without having to invest in a full-scale brew with crossed fingers. I’m lucky enough to have a maltster (Proximity Malt) that went above-and-beyond to the extent of sending us enough for a 40-barrel batch and run a full-scale comparison. Their confidence was well placed and we now use that malting company for most of our malt-related needs.
For the most part, we don’t really have the luxury of changing up base malts for each style unless it’s a specialty one-off or some small-scale tap room exclusive brew. Still, matching regional malts to regional styles is something we like to do when we can. The mix of terroir and malting methods I think is what really makes the difference. Heirloom variety malts, floor malting, equipment, and methods esoteric to individual maltsters all have an impact on the outcome of the malt and the outcome of the beer.
Different barley varieties also make a difference. One of my favorites is Violetta — it has some serious versatility, sustainability, and agronomic value. Proximity uses and grows a lot of that variety along the East Coast, and we are very happy with it.
Let’s talk a little about handling malts, too. When it comes to the crush, we mostly will consider the type and extent of modification of each malt. Our mill is a 4-roller Buhler MiniCompact that has two different mill settings; fine and rough. Fine, which gives us a (you guessed it) finer grind, as well as great husk separation, is for all of the base malt. Rough is a wider setting used for the more heavily kilned malts that would basically turn to dust and potentially cause lautering issues. No special treatment prior to the mill and no hull separation. The only fermentables that go directly from their bags into the mash tun are flaked grains, which do not need to be milled and could get stuck to the rollers.
Pete Brooks is Co-Owner and Head Brewer at Red Clover Ale Co., in Brandon, Vermont.
I honestly don’t pay a whole lot of attention to COAs. I just make sure I’m getting malt from a reputable maltster and look more at SRM and consider flavor for the recipe I’m making. We are a small brewery and, similar to most homebrewers, have an always rotating selection of beers so I am not as worried about the small details that bigger breweries making the same beers over and over might be concerned with.
For me, when it comes to evaluating base malts from different maltsters, it’s just about using them and figuring out what I like most for each style. It’s fun to brew simple grain bill beers with only base malt (like a Pilsner) and see how they differ.
Matching regional malts with styles is something we do, but not always. It’s fun to brew a traditional Pilsner with Pilsner malt from Germany rather than malt from North America. That said, I have made lots of great Pilsners with North American malt. For other styles, it’s all about layering base malts. Pilsners are basically the only beers I ever brew that only have one base malt. I love using at least a couple in most beers. I think it just helps the beer to be multi-dimensional and have less “gaps.” There are so many great maltsters and great base malts, so it makes sense to me to not limit beers to only one.
I don’t believe too much thought needs to go into crushing grains. We don’t do anything differently when crushing one malt versus another. I’m a big fan of keeping things simple and crushing all our grains the same way is one way to do that.
My advice for homebrewers is just to try lots of different things and see what you like! Flavor is all subjective and the best way to get to know the malts is to use them. I always feel like making beer recipes is like cooking — once you know the ingredients and what flavors you’ll get from different malts it’s easy to think up a beer and figure out which malts will work best. Even though there are lots of great recipes in the world, I definitely encourage people to make their own recipes once they are confident in their brewing ability — it’s way more fun and you learn a lot more about the malts you’re using that way, in my opinion.
Ashton Lewis is the Technical Support Manager for BSG.
Flavor, extract, color, enzymes, and modification are all important factors when selecting a base malt. Most brewers generally start by seeking malts of a particular type and color. This narrows down the field of candidates. A second cut can be made based on modification. Most malts can be categorized into poorly-modified, well-modified, and over-modified buckets. Friability and Kolbach Index, aka S/T or “soluble over total nitrogen,” are the most common indices of modification.
Once the general type of base malt is defined and the candidates are assembled, flavor reigns supreme. Base malt makes up over 75% of the malt bill for most beers and has a significant influence on beer flavor. All other selection criteria, such as enzymatic power, malt aesthetics, size assortment, and price fall into an additional category.
When it comes to analyzing the flavor, I find chewing on the kernels helpful. You can also do hot steeps using a standard method to produce malt teas. There is no question that terroir affects malt flavor and brewers should be mindful of grain source. To my palate, North American barley malts produce clean, bread-like, and slightly sweet flavors in beer. Maritime barley malts have a bit more depth of flavor, and European barley malts from inland regions lend nutty and biscuit aromas to beers. However, excellent and sub-par grain can come from the same growing regions, and brewers should not associate growing region alone with malt flavor or quality.
Most whole-kernel malts (unmilled) are good for at least 12 months of storage in a dry, temperature-controlled environment. Crushed malts are a different story because these malts pick up moisture more rapidly and, depending on the type of the malt, may age more rapidly with increased moisture content. The commercial rule for milled malt is to use these ingredients as soon as possible, with a practical maximum storage period of about six months under ideal conditions.
