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. A scheduling gap does not replace either.
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 | Release limit | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moisture | Stability, and honest weight | ≤ 9.3% | Highest of six readings on the three 2019 production malts (Reading a Malt COA) |
| Friability | Modification | No limit yet | No sorghum basis on file |
| Protein (N × 6.25) | Foam, body, and mash behavior | Reported with every lot; never a fail | Protein tells the brewer how to handle the lot (Lot Reporting Standard) |
| Diastatic power, alpha-amylase (optional) | Lot characterization only | Not a release gate | Conversion is external, so a native-enzyme number describes the malt |
| Color, pale base malt | Style and process consistency | ≤ 2.1 SRM | Top of the 0.9–2.1 SRM range across six production readings |
| Extract, fine grind, dry basis | Yield | ≥ 66.8% | Lowest of the three 2019 production malts |
| S/T, FAN | Modification, yeast nutrition | Reported; no limit | Barley S/T scales don't apply to sorghum; FAN sets the nutrient plan |
| Lab filtration and wort clarity | Runoff and brightness | Filtration "normal", wort "clear" | The 2019 panel that filtered slow and ran hazy is the failure this catches |
| Vomitoxin, aflatoxin (FGIS) | Finished-malt mycotoxin verification | None detected | Our standard, at the method's limit of detection stated on the certificate; see Finished Malt QA |
| Gluten, with certificate (e.g., FARRP) | The claim, verified on the finished malt | None detected | The gluten-free claim; a positive is a stop |
| Foreign odors | Contamination and process faults | None | Sensory check on every lot |
A lot is released when it passes every line. The limits come from this site's own production record, and where the record gives no basis, the table says so. Moisture here is the finished malt: kilning takes it well below the 10–14% the grain arrives at (Grain Source and Acceptance).
Who tests and who pays. Release testing runs at the maltster's own lab, or at FGIS by default until a lab is agreed. The party that orders the grain pays for the testing, and the cost belongs in the price and the contract. A standard that gets skipped to save money isn't a standard.
The specification settles a dispute. A lot that meets the written specification is bought. So the buyer writes the specification out line by line before the run, and anything it leaves out can't be held against the lot afterwards.
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. Delivery alone does not release it.
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