Qualifications The General Certificate in Malting (GCM) Learning Material © Institute of Brewing and Distilling & Maltsters’ Association of Great Britain 2015 Qualifications The General Certificate in Malting (GCM) Section 1. Cereals; their uses for malting and beer/spirit production. Page 3 2. Malting; overview and requirements. Page 7 3. Barley growing and harvesting. Page 14 4. Malting – barley intake and storage. Page 20 5. Malting - steeping. Page 27 6. Malting - germination. Page 38 7. Malting - kilning. Page 48 8. Malting - storage and dispatch. Page 54 9. Speciality malt production. Page 57 10. Malt quality and process control. Page 61 11. Beer types; raw materials and sweet wort production. Page 70 12. Distilled spirits; raw materials and wort production. Page 78 13. Safety in the malt plant. Page 86 14. Quality management. Page 92 15. Plant cleaning; cleaning in-place (CIP), pest control and general hygiene. Page 100 16. Engineering maintenance. Page 111 17. Utilities; energy, water and effluent in malting Page 115 18. Malting and the environment. Page 120 Examination Syllabus page 128 2 General Certificate in Malting Section 1 Cereals; their uses for malting and beer/spirit production CEREALS IN BREWING AND DISTILLING wheat, barley and rye beers and the beginnings of the ‘national drinks’ of a number of countries. The history of the cultivation of cereals and the production of beer and distilled spirits are closely linked. It is widely Wind forward to the present day and what has changed? claimed that the invention of bread and beer was Mankind’s (and industry’s) reliance on wheat and barley as responsible for humanity’s ability to develop technology food crops continues, and the demands for cereal crops and build civilisations, but this was not possible until the today seem to come under the influence of more diverse widespread development of the first ‘domesticated’ cereal factors such as climate change, exchange rates, sustainable grains which can be traced back to around twelve thousand industry, population growth etc. years ago. It is these early Holocene farming communities in southwest Asia, and the development of the first crops of CEREALS – PRODUCTION wheat and barley, that gave rise to the brewing and distilling industries we now take for granted. Cereal grains are members of the monocot families Poaceae or Gramineae, more commonly known as grasses, Beer was first believed to have been brewed as early as cultivated for the edible components of their fruit seeds – 11.5 thousand years ago or shortly after cereal was first the endosperm, the germ, and the bran. They are grown in farmed. It is recorded in the written histories of Egypt and greater quantities and provide more food worldwide than Mesopotamia, although it is probable that beer-like any other crop. As whole grains, their natural form, they are beverage were produced as a result of natural fermentation a rich source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, oils of starches or sugars throughout the world where cereals and proteins. When refined by removing the bran and were available. Distillation has been around since around germ the remaining endosperm is mostly carbohydrate and 2000 BC, with perfumes and aromatics being distilled by the the remaining nutrients are lost. Cereals form the basic diet Babylonians. Distillation was brought to Europe by the in some developing nations, with grains in the form of Moors, and its use spread through the monasteries, largely maize, rice, wheat or millet being prevalent. In the for medicinal purposes, such as the treatment of colic, developed world, cereal consumption is a smaller portion of palsy, and smallpox. Between 1100 and 1300, distillation the diet but is much more varied and, in terms of total spread in Ireland and Scotland, with monastic distilleries consumption, substantial. existing in Ireland in the 12th century. Since the islands had few grapes with which to make wine, barley beer was used Table 1 shows the growth in annual world cereal production instead, resulting in the development of whisky. Unlike beer from 1961, data from the Food and Agriculture production, it took the development of the art of distillation Organisation of the United Nations. All but buckwheat and before specific distilled spirits were first available – rather quinoa are true grasses (these two are pseudocereals). than the availability of starch/sugar supply – and it wasn’t until around 1400 when it was discovered how to distil from Worldwide production Grain (millions (106) of metric tons) Notes 2013 2012 2011 2010 1961 A staple food of people in America, Africa, and of livestock worldwide; often called corn or Indian corn in Maize (corn) 1016 872 888 851 205 North America, Australia, and New Zealand. A large portion of maize crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption. The primary cereal of tropical and some temperate regions. Staple food in India, Brazil, Korea, Japan and Rice 745 720 725 703 285 China The primary cereal of temperate regions. It has a worldwide consumption but it is a staple food of North Wheat 713 671 699 650 222 America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Barley 144 133 133 124 72 Grown for malting and livestock on land too poor or too cold for wheat Sorghum 61 57 58 60 41 Important staple food in Asia and Africa and popular worldwide for livestock Millet 30 30 27 33 26 A group of similar but distinct cereals that form an important staple food in Asia and Africa. Formerly the staple food of Scotland and popular worldwide as a winter breakfast food and livestock Oats 23 21 22 20 50 feed Triticale 14.5 14 13 14 35 Hybrid of wheat and rye, grown similarly to rye Rye 16 15 13 12 12 Important in cold climates A pseudocereal, as it is a Polygonaceae and not a Poaceae or Gramineae, used in Eurasia. Major uses Buckwheat 2.5 2.3 2.3 1.4 2.5 include various pancake and groats Fonio 0.6 0.59 0.59 0.57 0.18 Several varieties of which are grown as food crops in Africa Quinoa 0.10 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.03 Pseudocereal, grown in the Andes Maize, wheat and rice together accounted for 87% of all Cereal crops, including malting barley, are traded as grain production worldwide, and 43% of all food calories in commodities around the world where grain from an area of 2003, while the production of oats and rye have drastically surplus (lower price) is traded with an area of deficit (higher fallen from their 1960s levels. Other grains that are price). This matches supply with demand and brings prices important in some places, but that have little production together to make a global market and a global price. The globally (and are not included in FAO statistics), include: availability, and therefore price, of cereal crops is determined in the short term by the crop size in any Teff, popular in Ethiopia but scarcely known particular year and the stock level brought forward from elsewhere. This ancient grain is a staple in the previous year. Ethiopia. It is high in fiber and protein. Its flour is often used to make injera. It can also be eaten as a A look at definitions of ‘beer’ available from various sources warm breakfast cereal similar to farina with a shows an interesting range of ingredients – as well as chocolate or nutty flavour. Its flour and whole water, hops, and yeast various definitions also call for grain products can usually be found in natural ‘malted barley’, or ‘malted cereals’, or just ‘cereals’ , so foods stores. despite a reliance on barley crops during beer’s long history Wild rice, grown in small amounts in North there are alternatives to all-barley malt brewing. Clearly this America is not a new proposition; looking back over the 125 years of Amaranth, ancient pseudocereal, formerly a staple the Institute of Brewing and Distilling’s history there are crop of the Aztec Empire and now widely grown in many references to these ‘alternative’ uses of cereals. The Africa Brewers Journal’ of November 1886 reported “a very happy Kañiwa, close relative of quinoa idea that was originated by Messrs Gillman, Spencer Ltd, who had a competitive exhibition of beers brewed with Several other species of wheat have also been their patent rice and torrified barley malts. Over 100 domesticated, some very early in the history of agriculture: brewers responded to the invitation, their prospects of substantial prizes apparently having proved an incentive Spelt, a close relative of common wheat not to be neglected.” This ‘idea’ eventually evolved into the Einkorn, a wheat species with a single grain Brewing Industry International Awards, which today Emmer, one of the first crops domesticated in the demonstrate how far the brewers have moved from being Fertile Crescent almost exclusively dependant on malted barley. There is Durum, the only tetraploid species of wheat also a long history of beers made with malted wheat currently cultivated, used to make semolina around the world, as well as brewing in areas where the Kamut, an ancient relative of durum with an most popular cereals are not available, such as with unknown history sorghum and millet in Africa. Increased production of cereals over the last 40 years has The distilled spirits industry, outside of the traditional of largely kept pace with population growth over the same grain distilling, has managed to diversify during its period of time (3.0 billion to 6.9 billion estimated). A development into fruit, sugar, and simple-starch based fourfold growth in maize, a staple food of people in the products as were able to be locally sourced.