What is Diastatic Power?... Definition and Chart.

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by David Ackley
If you’ve been brewing for a while, you’ve probably come across the term “diastatic power” when exploring different malts and learning how to mash. What is #diastatic power? What’s the big deal?

A good "diastatic power" (DP) definition would be that it is a measurement of a #maltedgrain’s #enzymatic content. When grain is malted, enzymes are produced during germination. These enzymes are responsible for converting the grain’s starches into sugar during mashing. Diastatic power is an indicator of the amount of enzymes available to convert those starches into sugar.

In the US, diastatic power is generally measured in degrees Lintner. Malts with enough DP to convert themselves are at least 30 degrees Lintner; base malts can reach as high as 180 or more. That covers the question as to "what is diastatic power". Now here's some actual numbers to take a look at.

Here is a diastatic power chart for some of the more common malted grains:

Malt Degrees Lintner

Briess Red Wheat Malt 180
Briess White Wheat Malt 160
Briess Two-Row Malt 140
Briess Pilsen Malt 140
Briess Vienna Malt 130
Briess Rye Malt 105
Briess Munich Malt 10L 40
Briess Caramel 20-120 0
Briess Chocolate Malt 0
Briess Black Malt 0

For most all-grain beer recipes with a substantial amount of base malt, diastatic power isn’t going to be a major issue. DP comes in to play when brewing with a high proportion of specialty malts or unmalted adjuncts. There needs to be enough DP to not only convert the starches in the base grains, but in the specialty malts as well. One of the reasons American adjunct lagers are so high in two-row malt is that the extra DP is needed to convert the adjunct starches into sugar.

Diastatic power is also important when brewing partial mash. Take for example the grain bill for a partial mash recipe such as this one:

• 6.6 lbs. Light LME
• 1.5 lb. Caramel 40L
• 1 lb. Munich Malt (10L)

We know that the Caramel 40L contributes no diastatic power and the Munich only 40 degrees Lintner. The DP available to convert this mini-mash (simply the average by weight of the grains) is only about 16. This is far below the minimum recommended value of 30. Some recommend aiming for 70. In short, the higher the average DP, the more likely your chances are of a successful starch conversion.

There are several possible solutions for the example above:

1. We could replace the Munich with Vienna malt without a huge impact on flavor and bring up the average diastatic power to 52.
2. Alternatively, we could add 1 lb. of two-row barley malt to the mini-mash, bringing the average diastatic power to 52, as well.
3. We could also “cheat” by adding a small amount of diatase enzyme.

The point is, all it takes is a little tweaking to help make sure the mash has enough DP to convert. The good news is that with a partial mash recipe, the mash represents such a small proportion of the overall gravity that it won’t make a huge difference if it doesn’t. Most of the gravity points will come from the LME.

The next time you brew, calculate your diastatic power and record your brewhouse efficiency. Did you have enough DP for a successful conversion? These are all advantages to know the answer to the question, what is diastatic power.

- See more at: http://www.eckraus.com/blog/what-is-diastatic-power-definition-chart#sthash.fSprMsnk.dpuf

Malt Conditioning

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#MaltConditioning

by Chris Colby

Steaming malt for 30 seconds is an easy way to condition your malt in your home brewery.

When a homebrewer crushes his or her malt, he or she must consider two opposing factors when determining how finely to crush. The more finely he crushes, the more the malt endospermwill be broken into small pieces and the better his extract efficiency will be. On the other hand, if the husks are broken into pieces that are too small, lautering may become more difficult and the possibility of extracting too many tannins rises. So, when setting the mill gap, the brewer chooses a compromise setting that gives an acceptable level of extract efficiency without interfering with the ability to lauter.

For homebrewers willing to put in a little more effort, there is a way to crush the endosperm more finely, but not break the husks into too many pieces — malt conditioning. In malt conditioning, the husks are moistened just enough to make them slightly leathery and hold together a bit better when they pass through the rollers of a grain mill.

Malt conditioning is fairly common in commercial breweries, but it is easy to adapt to a home brewery. If you have the right equipment, the simplest way to condition malt is to steam it. If you have a heatable mash tun with a false bottom, add enough water to fill about half the space under the false bottom and bring it to a hard boil. Place your (uncrushed) grains in a large nylon steeping sack and place the sack in your mash tun. Put the lid loosely on the mash tun, leaving a small gap to let steam escape. After only 30 seconds, pull the bag out and pour them into an empty container, like a brewing bucket. Stir them with your hand and let them sit for about 2 minutes (or long enough so any liquid on the surface of any of the grains gets absorbed). While the husks are still faintly “leathery,” proceed with milling. Don’t let the malt sit for an extended amount of time after steaming it — do this immediately before crushing.

To fully take advantage of the mat conditioning, experiment with adjusting your mill gap to find a new compromise between crushing the endosperm and breaking up the husks.

Conditioned malt (left) vs. dry milled malt (right). Note the larger husk size on the conditioned side.

This method is simple, presuming you have the equipment, and fast. (The actual steaming part goes by very quickly.) Plus, it is reliable. First of all it uses hot water. Malt takes up hot water (in this case, steam) faster than it does cold water and steaming ensures a reasonably even uptake of water. The grains on the very bottom of the bag may get a little wetter than the rest, but that’s not a problem. And, if you want to ensure a more even conditioning, you can process your malt in small batches, so that the “grain bed” getting steamed is only 3 to 4 inches high. Just steam some of the grain, crush it and go steam the next portion and repeat until all the malt is crushed. In addition, it is hard to overdo it with this method.

Of course, dry milling works well for most homebrewers. If you are getting results that you consider acceptable from that, going through the added step of malt conditioning may not be worth your time. However, if you’d like to either increase your extract efficiency or routinely experience lautering problems, give malt conditioning a try.

http://beerandwinejournal.com/malt-conditioning/

Holy Chit! Who Shot My Malt?!

#homebrew, #malt, #brewboss Brew Boss Electric Homebrew Equipment www.brew-boss.com

By Cassie Liscomb

Have you ever looked closely at a kernel of malt? I mean really closely? Depending on the variety of barley the malt was sourced from, you might have observed a teeny tiny hole on the side of some of the kernels – as if they were shot by a Leprechaun wielding the world’s smallest gun!

Anyone who has a general understanding of the insect pests that are harmful to stored grains may already think they know where this article is heading. We must obviously be discussing Granary Weevils, the beetles that carry out their life cycle inside stored grains and emerge from the kernels as flightless adults who remain amongst the grain to feed and reproduce, right? Wrong! In this article, we will explore a lesser known, but much more interesting cause of holes in malt. We will also discuss the signs of a true Weevil infestation so that you will be able to understand whether or not your holy malt is a serious problem or not.

So let’s get down to the nitty, gritty, nerdy science of it all. Some barley varieties, such as Copeland and Conrad, are especially desirable for malting due to their strong, resilient husks that provide some protection against kernel breakage during malthouse movements and bulk transportation. As a side effect of that extra husk strength, these same varieties can sometimes be pierced by their own acrospires as they grow in the germination compartment. Much like a stubborn flower that will eventually emerge through the sidewalk that resists its path of growth toward the sun, a growing acrospire will eventually pierce through a stubborn husk that refuses to budge. What results is a small, round hole in the dorsal side of the kernel. Figure 1A below shows this phenomenon in a sample of Copeland barley. Figure 1B shows the same kernel after it has been dried and the acrospire has fallen away. When this type of growth occurs, the flavor and function of the resulting malt kernel is unaffected and the quality is in no way compromised.

Figure 1A: Copeland malt kernels that have been pierced by the growth of their own acrospires during germination.

Figure 1B: Copeland malt kernel from Figure 1A that has been dried and cleaned.

Figure 2: Weevil infestation in malt.

Compare the images shown in Figures 1A and 1B to that of the weevil infestation shown in Figure 2. In this picture, you see that the adult weevil emergence holes are randomly placed and are affecting much of the grain. Even more importantly, the adult weevils can be seen as they remain to feed on the grain.

When holes are observed in malt kernels, suspicions should indeed be raised. However, careful observation will reveal the true culprit. If holes are observed randomly throughout many of the kernels and insects are present, this is a very serious issue and customers are advised to keep the infested malt sealed and separated and to contact their pest control agency and supplier immediately. Yet, if holes are observed in the dorsal side of some of the kernels, but insects are nowhere to be found, you can breathe a sigh of relief. These types of holes are not a sign of weevil infestation, but rather the result of a very determined acrospire overcoming a strong, stubborn husk.

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