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Malting and beer colour - how grain becomes colour and flavour

Look at two beers: one golden and pale, the other black as tar. Both are made from the same grain, so where does this gulf in colour and flavour come from? The answer hides in the malt, and more precisely in the process of malting and drying the grain. It is here, long before brewing, that it is decided whether the beer will be pale and bready or dark, roasted and coffee-like. Malting is a fascinating, multi-stage process that turns hard barley grain into malt ready for brewing, and the way it is dried paints the future beer. Understanding this process explains where the whole palette of beer colours and flavours comes from. Here is a guide to malting and beer colour: the six steps from grain to malt, how drying creates colour, what the Lovibond and EBC scales are and why specialty malts exist.

Why malt barley at all

Let us start with the question of why barley cannot simply be ground and soaked in water. Raw barley grain contains starch, but it is locked away and inaccessible to the yeast, which needs sugars to produce alcohol. Malting is the process that releases and prepares this starch. It consists of controlled stimulation of the grain to germinate, during which enzymes capable of breaking down starch into simpler sugars are activated, and then stopping this process at the right moment. In other words, malting tricks the grain into thinking it is time to grow, to start its internal enzymatic machinery, and then halts germination before the grain uses up the accumulated sugars. Without malting there would be no fermentable sugars, and so no beer. It is the first, essential stage that turns a store of starch into a brewing-ready raw material. Understanding the purpose of malting - releasing sugars - is the key to everything else.

The six steps of malting

Malting is not a single move but a precise sequence of stages. The malting process has six steps: cleaning, steeping, air rest, germination, kilning and roasting. First the grain is cleaned, removing impurities. Then comes steeping: the barley is soaked in water, encouraging it to absorb moisture and begin germination. The air rest lets the grain breathe between water baths. Next the grain germinates, spreading out on the malting floor and putting out sprouts, and during this time enzymes are activated that break down complex starches into simpler sugars. Germination is stopped by kilning, which at the same time creates colour and flavour. The last, optional step is roasting, for specialty malts. Each stage is controlled for time, moisture and temperature. This precise sequence of six steps transforms hard grain into ready malt. Understanding this sequence shows how much happens before brewing even begins.

Germination - the heart of the process

The most important stage of malting is germination, because it is here that the grain potential is released. During germination the barley is spread out on the malting floor so it can put out sprouts. It is during this time that enzymes inside the grain are activated, breaking down complex starches into simpler sugars - a process called modification of the grain. In other words, the germinating grain itself prepares its starches for later release during brewing. The maltster controls moisture and temperature and regularly turns the grain so it germinates evenly and does not clump into a mass. It is a delicate stage: too little germination and the starch stays inaccessible, too much and the grain uses up precious sugars on its own growth. That is why germination must be stopped at the ideal moment. It is the heart of malting, in which the grain turns from a store of starch into a carrier of ready enzymes and sugars. Without proper germination there would be no good malt, and so no good beer.

Drying creates the colour

Here we reach the heart of the question about beer colour. Germination is stopped by kilning, which at the same time plays a crucial role in determining the colour of the malt, and consequently the colour of the beer. The rule is simple and powerful: the higher the drying temperature, the darker the malt and the darker the beer made from it. Drying at a low temperature gives pale malt, from which golden beers of a bready, sweet character are made. Drying at a higher temperature toasts the grain, giving a darker malt of toasty, caramel and finally roasted notes. It is precisely here, at the drying stage, that the future colour of the beer is decided. Two beers of a vast difference in colour - pale and black - differ above all in the temperature at which their malt was dried. Drying is the moment when the maltster paints the future beer, deciding its colour and a large part of its flavour. It is the key stage for the whole palette of beer colours.

Colour scales - Lovibond and EBC

Since colour is so important, breweries need a way to measure it. Colour scales serve this purpose. Malt colour is described in degrees Lovibond, named after the inventor of an early method of measuring beer colour, Joseph Williams Lovibond. His method involved visually comparing the colour of a sample against a set of glass discs of known colour values. It is an old but still-used scale, popular especially in the United States. In Europe, the EBC system is mainly used, developed by the European Brewing Convention. Both scales describe the same thing - the intensity of the colour of malt and beer - just in different units. The higher the number on the scale, the darker the malt or beer. These scales let brewers precisely choose malts for a target beer colour, instead of guessing. It is a tool that turns colour from something subjective into a measurable parameter, easing repeatable brewing of specific styles.

Specialty malts - where caramel and chocolate come from

Most of the colour and depth of flavour of beer comes not from the base malt but from specialty malts, produced in a separate way. To create caramel malts, the green malt after germination goes not to an ordinary kiln but to a roaster, where the grain is heated to about sixty-five to seventy degrees. After this conversion the grain is roasted at higher temperatures, from a hundred and five to a hundred and sixty degrees, depending on the desired amount of flavour and colour. Roasted malt gives specialty malts, like crystal or patent malt. It is these specialty malts that bring beer the notes of caramel, toffee, chocolate, coffee and roasted bread. The base, pale malt gives above all sugars and a bready taste, and specialty malts add colour and complexity. That is why the brewer builds a recipe by blending base malt with specialty malts in the right proportions. They are the palette of colours and flavours from which the character of a beer is made.

A malt table - from pale to roasted

Let us gather the most important kinds of malt and what they bring to beer, to see the whole palette at once:

This table shows that colour and flavour go hand in hand: the darker the malt, the more intense, more roasted the notes. Remember, though, that dark malt does not mean a stronger beer - colour depends on the malt, and strength on the amount of sugars and fermentation, which we cover in the dark beer myth. Malt paints the colour and flavour, not the alcohol.

The essentials in brief

Let us gather it up. Malting turns hard barley grain into malt, releasing the starch locked within it. It has six steps: cleaning, steeping, air rest, germination, kilning and roasting. The heart is germination, during which enzymes break down starch into sugars. The colour of beer is decided at drying: the higher the temperature, the darker the malt and the beer. Colour is measured on the Lovibond scale (older, popular in the US) and EBC (European). Specialty malts, like caramel or chocolate, are made by roasting and bring notes of caramel, chocolate, coffee and roasted bread, while base malt gives sugars and a bready taste. Dark malt does not mean a stronger beer - colour and strength are two different things. Now you know where the whole palette of beer colours and flavours comes from, before brewing even begins. It is the malt that paints the future beer.

Note every beer in GustoNote - the style, colour and the malt notes you sense. Over time you will start to recognise which malts stand behind the flavour in the mug, and tell the bready base malt from the roasted notes of specialty malts.