Malt is the basic ingredient in beer. It makes the beer sweet, gives it body, mouthfeel and color. Malt also provides yeast with the fermenable sugars that are magically transformed into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Malt is made from barley grain. Barley is grown all over the world, and there are many varieties of barley. Barleycorns (the grains) grow in rows on the stalk of the plant, and the number of rows determines the name, 2-row, 6-row, etc. Typically, if there are more rows of barleycorns on the stalk the individual grains are smaller. Since the bulk of the corns are filled with starch, this means less starch content per barleycorn, and also means that there is more protein content by volume of these grains. Although modern engineering has altered these trends, in the past, a brewer designed his "grainbill" with a mixture of 2-row and 6-row grains in order to obtain the desired amounts of starches and proteins.
Barley is harvested and sent to a "maltster". The maltster places the barleycorns in a warm, dark, moist room where the grains begin the germination process. This develops the neccessary proteins in the endosperm of the grain that will break down the starches into sugars during the "mashing" process. Before the seeds can sprout roots and stems, the grain is gathered and kiln-dried, then roasted and sent to the brewer. The darkness of the roasted grain determines the color of the beer and is measured in units called "Lovibonds".
More about sugars and alcohol in the fermentation section...
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The brewer mills the grain in order to crack the hulls which allows water to easily enter the grain and carry away the proteins and sugars. The hulls create a "grain bed" in the mash tun (container) which act as a filter for the sweet wort that flows through it. The grain is mashed in one of several methods in order to extract fermentable sugars, which later will be turned into alcohol during fermentation, and dextrins which give the beer color, body and sweetness.
Malt...
from the field to your glass.