Homebrewing Ingredients

Malt

Although there are many sources of fermentable sugars such as corn, rice, and wheat, the main source of malt for brewing beer is barley malt. In all actuality, the corn, wheat and rice are considered adjuncts in addition to the barley malt in most cases in homebrewing beer. There are basically two types of barley, the 2 row barley and the 6 row barley which refer to the number of grains on each stalk of barley.

Two row barley will normally have larger grains which also has less husk while six row barley usually has a lower amount of sweet extract than that of two row barley malt and less in size and husk.

Barley malt is formed by steeping the barley grains in water and allowing them to germinate, or sprout which creates the actual enzymes which have the ability to convert the starches in the barley malt to sugars to be used in the fermentation process by the yeast.
The germination, or malting, process can easily be stopped by drying the barley grains which will also stop the enzymes in their tracks until it is time to steep the grains.
The drying process is what provides the different colors of the grains from light to roasted.
Brewers will mix the different types and colors of barley malt in their grain bills in order to achieve just the right amount of alcohol content, sweetness and color of their beer’s end product.

Once the malts are produced, they are sold to homebrewers and commercial brewers who then grind/crack the grains which allows easier access for the enzymes and starches in order to proceed with the mashing process where the grains are steeped and starches converted into fermentable sugars.

After the mashing of the grains/malts, the grains are sparged/filtered out and disposed of properly, leaving behind a sweet liquid called wort.

One thing to note is that now many companies do the mashing FOR homebrewers by selling malt extract which is basically dehydrated wort where all you have to do is add water and boil with the hops and add yeast. Check out our selected sponsors for more information on some of the best malts and malt extracts and home brewing beer kits available.

Indredients you will need for your home brew and more:

The home brewing process for beer consists of a small amount of basic ingredients. The ingredients consist of:

Malt

Hops

Yeast

Water

Sugars

Other Adjuncts

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