Malting and Malt Release
Malt to specification
Malt is processed to written order specifications in a gluten-free environment — dedicated steep, germination, kiln, and handling equipment, with the same cross-contact controls that govern storage. A maltster running gluten and gluten-free grain on shared equipment must control the changeover with documented cleaning and verification, not scheduling alone.
Each single-product process run is its own batch with a unique ID that extends the incoming rail-car ID — for example Farm_Bin01_RC1_2007-02-02_BaseMalt_2007-02-27. If one delivery yields two products (say a base malt and a darker malt), each is a separate batch with its own record and its own release decision.
Release testing
A malt quality report and a retained sample from the run are delivered for acceptance. Bard's ran this as a hard rule — the lot moved with its analysis sheet or it did not move (the record), and an independent laboratory analysis of its production malt is published on Why Native Malt Enzymes Are Not Enough. A working set of release measures from commercial practice:
| Measure | Why it is on the list |
|---|---|
| Friability, moisture | Modification and stability |
| Protein (N × 6.25) | Foam, body, and mash behavior |
| Diastatic power, alpha-amylase (optional) | Lot characterization only — conversion is external, so a native-enzyme number describes the malt; it is not a release gate |
| Color | Style and process consistency |
| Extract (fine/coarse grind + difference), S/T | Yield and modification |
| Vomitoxin, aflatoxin (FGIS) | Finished-malt mycotoxin verification |
| Gluten — none detected, with certificate (e.g., FARRP) | The claim, verified on the finished malt |
| Free of foreign odors | Contamination and process faults |
Set your own specifications, limits, and sampling frequency with your maltster; the list is a starting point, not a universal spec.
Release is a decision
Hazard-identified verification of the finished malt lot happens here — it does not simply inherit the grain-intake screen. The workflow:
- Quarantine. Hold the lot as unreleased until its report exists and has been reviewed.
- Review against spec. Compare every measure to the accepted specification.
- Decide explicitly — release, hold, or reject. Silence is not acceptance.
- On any fail, open an investigation using the batch ID and the retained sample before the lot moves. A gluten result is a stop; a spec miss may be a hold pending a decision on suitability.
Keep the report, the certificate, and the retained sample. They are part of the pre-fermentation evidence the finished beer's claim depends on.
Extract
Where malt is further processed into extract before it reaches the brewery, the extract carries its own batch ID and its own QA, and is released the same way — measured, reviewed, and accepted, not just delivered.
← QA Trust Chain · Next gate: Brewery Receiving and Production →