I heart malt
Jan. 19th, 2005 02:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
featherynscaleToday's "That's What The Internet is For" question concerns malt. What the hell is malt? Is the malt in malt vinegar the same thing as the malt in malted milk? What about malt beverages? Can my regrettable tendency to devour entire bags of malted milk balls in one sitting and to drown my fish and chips in malt vinegar explain my preference for whiskey and stout beer?
Malting is a process applied to grains in which the grains are soaked and made to germinate, then kiln-dried before the plant has a chance to sprout, and roasted. This process causes the starch in the grain to become sugar instead (maltose, sometimes known as baker's sugar). Barley is the most often malted grain, because it apparently yields the most sugars.
The sugars from the malting process can then be brewed into ale, which can be turned to vinegar, which is tasty.
Or, the grains can be milled with wheat flour and combined with dry milk, becoming the basis for malted milk products.
Scotch whisky is generally brewed from malted barley (single malt) or from a blend of malted grains (blended). Irish whiskey is made from a mix of malted and unmalted grains. Given my fondness for malt in all its forms, this explains why I'd rather drink a Scotch any day. Bourbon whiskey, although also very tasty, is made mostly from corn and generally contains no malt at all. (On a non-malt-related note, they make whisky in Japan. I did not know this.)
My taste in beers is also explainable by preference for malt. Darker beer is made with darker malt, which is more strongly flavored.
This moment of malt has been brought to you mostly by wikipedia and Real Beer.
More on malt:
Malt: The Soul of Beer
The Darker Side of Malts
Malting is a process applied to grains in which the grains are soaked and made to germinate, then kiln-dried before the plant has a chance to sprout, and roasted. This process causes the starch in the grain to become sugar instead (maltose, sometimes known as baker's sugar). Barley is the most often malted grain, because it apparently yields the most sugars.
The sugars from the malting process can then be brewed into ale, which can be turned to vinegar, which is tasty.
Or, the grains can be milled with wheat flour and combined with dry milk, becoming the basis for malted milk products.
Scotch whisky is generally brewed from malted barley (single malt) or from a blend of malted grains (blended). Irish whiskey is made from a mix of malted and unmalted grains. Given my fondness for malt in all its forms, this explains why I'd rather drink a Scotch any day. Bourbon whiskey, although also very tasty, is made mostly from corn and generally contains no malt at all. (On a non-malt-related note, they make whisky in Japan. I did not know this.)
My taste in beers is also explainable by preference for malt. Darker beer is made with darker malt, which is more strongly flavored.
This moment of malt has been brought to you mostly by wikipedia and Real Beer.
More on malt:
Malt: The Soul of Beer
The Darker Side of Malts
