Combining unmalted barley and pearling gives good quality brewing

Brewing with unmalted barley can reduce the use of raw materials, thereby increasing the efficiency of the brewing process. However, unmalted barley contains several undesired components for brewing and has a low enzymatic activity. Pearling, an abrasive milling method, has been proposed as a pre-treatment for barley to remove some of its undesired components, while maintaining its β-amylase activity. The potential of combining pearling with using barley/malt mixtures for brewing was studied. Filtration was performed either in a mash filter or in a lauter tun. The effects of the different barley/malt ratios, degree of pearling and two different filter types on compositional and quality parameters were assessed. It was concluded that a mash filter is optimal for this type of process, and a window of operation could be identified in which optimal use is made of the raw materials while maintaining the end product quality, judged on basis of four quality parameters.