Malting
Malt is not just processed grain. It is grain that has been biochemically transformed to do specific work in the brewhouse. If that transformation is incomplete or inconsistent, the beer will show it — in yield, in fermentability, in flavor, or in all three.
For gluten-free brewing, malting is not optional. The enzymes that convert starch to fermentable sugar are built during germination. How well they develop depends on grain variety, steeping conditions, germination temperature, and kilning parameters. Get those wrong, and the malt will not do the job in the brewhouse.
Sorghum is the grain Bard's used — the first production gluten-free beer made with gluten-free malt. Not syrups, not raw grain plus commercial enzymes. Real malted sorghum brewed the right way. That choice drove everything downstream: grain selection criteria, malting protocols, mashing procedures, and the quality thresholds the process had to meet.
This section documents what malting is, how it works in sorghum, where it differs from barley malting, and what quality standards actually matter for production.
What This Section Covers
- Malting Basics — what malt is, enzyme fundamentals, sorghum vs barley
- Malting Process — steeping, germination, kilning parameters
- Malt Types — pale, crystal, roasted, and specialty malts
- Malt Quality — testing standards, acceptance thresholds, failure modes
- Malting Operations — batch sizing, efficiency, operational constraints
- Malt as a Platform Ingredient — malt beyond beer