Malt Extract - Derived from nature
Malt Extract is a liquid with the consistency of honey and is used as a raw ingredient in the manufacture of many everyday food products. Many types of breakfast cereal, confectionery, chocolate, baking goods and malt based drinks use malt extract as a key component.
Malt extract is derived from malted barley and utilises the same brewing process as making beer. Before fermenting the liquid wort, the product is evaporated to produce a thick, sweet liquid, which is completely natural and rich in natural goodness (such as B group vitamins).
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Milling
A Mill is used to crush the different malts that go into a Mash. The settings on the Mill Rollers and the extent to which the grain husk is broken up are very important when later lautering of the wort is undertaken. If the husk is too finely milled, then there will be too much sediment in the wort resulting in cloudy beer.
Mashing
The time and temperatures are specifically set and controlled for each recipe so as to impart unique characteristics to the final beer. The mashing cycle determines the fermentability of the final wort - for example; dark beers require a lower fermentability giving these beers more body. A lager has a higher fermentability giving the beer less residual sweetness allowing the hop bitterness to prevail.
Lautering
From the mash tun the wort is separated using traditional European lautering methods. This process involves straining the liquid wort from the mashed malt and subsequent hot water rinses of the spent grain.
Kettling
The wort is collected in the kettle. If it is to hopped then a selection of fresh hops is added for bitterness. Late hops are then added for aroma. In each case, only fresh hops are used. During the vigorous kettle boil the bitterness component of the hops (alpha acids) is isomerised giving the final beer its bitter characteristic. At the end of the boil, more fresh hops are added to give the beer its aroma. These aroma hops are high in specific aromatic oils.
A vigorous boil also removes unwanted volatile compounds and causes the protein to denature and settle out.
Whirlpooling
The boiled wort is transferred from the kettle to the whirlpool where a circular motion of liquid is formed allowing the protein and used hop material to settle to the bottom from where it is removed.
Evaporation
The wort is then concentrated at this stage by removing 80% of the water in a gentle three stage evaporator. Temperatures are kept low to prevent darkening of the wort. This stabilises the wort ready for the packaging.
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