Prediction of the extract content and predetermination of the processability and value of a lot of barley for brewing purposes
The behavior of barley during the malting process, which is intended for large-scale malt production, must be known.
MEBAK approved and adopted a micromalting procedure on 6 April 1971 as a standard method for predicting the extract content and for determining the suitability of barley varieties for malting. In 2003, MEBAK shortened the procedure by one day for a total of six days for vegetative growth (steeping and germination), the same length of time as the EBC procedure.
The compounds in the malt dissolved in the mash liquor during a standardized mashing process using finely ground malt (fine grist) are determined in this analysis.
Malt intended for use in beer brewing or elsewhere in the food industry
The Congress mash method primarily serves to determine the extract content of malt.
The extract content is determined by the weight ratio sL 20/20 of the wort on the basis of the official sugar tables (Plato tables) at 20 °C. sL 20/20 stands for the weight ratio of a volume of wort at 20 °C to the same volume of water at the same temperature.
Furthermore, the following is tested over the course of this analysis: Iodine test (saccharification time), odor of the mash, wort run-off, clarity of the filtered wort; the Congress wort is also used as a basis for a wide variety of further analyses.
Determination of the amount of cold break material in the pitching wort
Cast-out wort, wort from the midpoint of chilling/pitching wort (without yeast)
The hot break material (trub) and any hop particles which may be present in the wort, must first be removed. After the wort has been cooled to 2 °C, it is filtered through a glass fiber filter. The residue remaining on the filter is dried and then weighed.
Cold break material or cold trub refers to all material that settles out in the process of chilling wort after separation of the hot trub or hot break material. Cold trub can be filtered out of the wort and primarily consists of proteins (48–57 %), tannins (11–26 %) and carbohydrates (20–36 %). The amount of cold break material in wort depends on the quality and composition of the raw materials, brewhouse equipment and wort handling. In academic and professional circles, opinions regarding the significance of cold break material for downstream processes and for the quality of the finished beer are strongly divided [1, 2, 5]. Under certain circumstances, the quantity of cold break material in wort may exceed 250 mg/l, especially where accelerated fermentation is practiced. Ultimately, this can detract from the flavor of the finished beer [3]. Breweries, where removal of the cold break material has been practiced successfully, determine the quantity of cold break in their pitching wort at regular intervals, in order to evaluate the efficacy of their separation equipment.
Determination of the fermentation cellar yield in order to monitor brewhouse operations
Wort from the midpoint of chilling/pitching wort
The fermentation cellar yield is calculated using the value determined for the amount of extract contained in a batch of wort relative to the amount of extract present in the raw materials used to produce the wort.
The sample describes how to collect samples of adjuncts.
The moisture content of adjuncts is determined through the loss in mass during a standardized drying process, in which ground malt is dried at a defined temperature within a specified time in an electrically heated drying oven.
The moisture content is determined through the difference in the weight of the adjuncts prior to and after drying.
For samples with a moisture content greater than 17 % (for corn over 15 %), the sample has to be dried prior to conducting the analysis.