Malt facts for kids
Malt is a special type of cereal grain, like barley or wheat. It's made by letting the grain start to sprout (grow a tiny bit), and then drying it with hot air. Malt is often used to make beer and whisky. When the grain sprouts, much of its starch turns into sugar. This sugar is what makes malt so useful for brewing. If the malt is dried using fire, it can even have a smoky taste! The sugar from the malt can be fermented (a process where yeast turns sugar into alcohol) to make drinks like beer and whisky.
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History of Malt
People have probably used malted grains to make beer for a very long time. Ancient civilizations like those in Egypt, Sumer, and China likely used malt in their drinks.
In countries like Iran, a sweet paste made from sprouted wheat is called Samanū. It's a special food prepared for Nowruz, which is the Persian New Year celebration. Families often cook it in a large pot, and it's a traditional part of the Haft sin table, symbolizing good fortune. Traditionally, women would gather and cook it all night, singing songs. In Tajikistan and Afghanistan, they sing: "Samanak is boiling and we are stirring it, others are asleep and we are playing daf" (a type of drum). Today, making Samanu is often a fun family activity.
Another traditional food made from malt is Mämmi, also known as Easter Porridge. This is a Finnish dish, similar to Samanū in how it's made and how it tastes. It's cooked from rye malt and flour. You can usually find Mämmi in shops in Finland from February until Easter.
How Malt is Made (Malting)
Making malt is called malting. This process turns grains like barley into malt. It happens in a special building called a malthouse.
First, the grains are dried until they have very little moisture. Then, they are stored for about six weeks. After that, the grain is soaked in water two or three times over a few days. This helps the grain soak up water and begin to sprout.
When the grain has enough moisture, it's moved to a malting floor. Here, it's spread out and turned constantly for about five days while it dries in the air. At this stage, it's called "green malt."
Finally, the green malt is dried and lightly roasted in a large oven, called a kiln. This drying and roasting gives the malt its final color and flavor. Malts can be very pale, or they can be dark like chocolate or black.
In the past, people used to spread the sprouted grain on a wooden floor. Smoke from a special fireplace would heat the floor and dry the grains. This process was common until the 1940s. Now, large industrial fans are used to blow air through the grains and to heat them. These modern methods can process much larger amounts of grain at once.
What Grains are Used?
Barley is the most common grain used for malting. This is because it has many natural enzymes. These enzymes are important for turning starch into sugar. Other grains like wheat, rye, oats, rice, and corn are also used.
Barley is also good because its husk (the outer covering) stays on after it's processed. This husk protects the tiny new plant growing inside the grain. It also helps create a natural filter during the brewing process.
Types of Malts
Active and Inactive Malts
As grains sprout, natural enzymes inside them break down the starch into simpler sugars. These sugars taste sweet and are easy for yeast to use.
- Diastatic malt has active enzymes.
- Nondiastatic malt has inactive enzymes. The enzymes are made inactive by heating the malt.
Base and Specialty Malts
Brewers often divide malts into two main groups:
- Base malts have enough active enzymes to turn their own starch into sugar. They can also help convert starch from other grains that haven't been malted.
- Specialty malts have few active enzymes. They are used more for adding flavor, color, or "body" (thickness) to the finished beer. Some specialty malts, like caramel or crystal malts, are heated in a way that turns their starches into sugars without needing enzymes.
Two-row and Six-row Barley
Malts are also named after the type of barley plant they come from:
- Two-row barley
- Six-row barley
These are just different varieties of the barley plant used for malting.
Malt Extract
Malt extract is a sweet, thick substance, like a syrup. It was very popular in the early 1900s as a healthy addition to children's diets in the United Kingdom. Many children didn't get enough vitamins and minerals back then. Sometimes, it was even mixed with cod liver oil to make it taste better. In the famous book The House at Pooh Corner, Kanga gives malt extract to Roo as a "strengthening medicine," and it was also Tigger's favorite food!
How Malt Extract is Made
Making malt extract starts with malting barley grain. The barley is soaked in water to make it sprout, then dried to stop the sprouting. The enzymes in the malt stay active because they are dried at low temperatures.
Next, brewers use a process called mashing. They warm the crushed malt in water. This activates the enzymes, which break down more of the malt's starch into various sugars, especially maltose. The liquid that results from this process is called wort.
Finally, the wort is concentrated by heating it or using a vacuum to remove the water. This concentrated wort is what we call malt extract.
- Liquid malt extract (LME) is a thick syrup. It's used in baking and brewing, and you can buy it in jars.
- Dry malt extract (DME) is made by drying the LME even further. It looks like white sugar crystals.
Images for kids
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A handful of malted barley, the white sprouts visible
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Beer malt varieties from Bamberg, Germany
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Malted grain for beer production
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1897 Pabst Malt Extract ad
See also
In Spanish: Malta (cereal) para niños
