Brewing with 100 % unmalted grains: barley, wheat, oat and rye

Whilst beers have been produced using various levels of unmalted grains as adjuncts along with malt, brewing with 100 % unmalted grains in combination with added mashing enzymes remains mostly unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the brewing potential of 100 % unmalted barley, wheat, oat and rye in comparison with 100 % malt.

To address this, identical brewing methods were adopted at 10-L scale for each grain type by applying a commercial mashing enzyme blend (Ondea® Pro), and selected quality attributes were assessed for respective worts and beers. Different compositions of fermentable wort carbohydrates were observed in the worts (all at ca. 12°P), and in particular oat wort had lower concentration of maltose compared to the others, resulting in the lowest concentration of alcohol in final beer.

Moreover, wort made from unmalted grains also showed lower free amino nitrogen and higher viscosity than malt wort. Furthermore, the use of 100 % unmalted grains resulted in a decrease in the levels of colour and brightness, as well as higher alcohols and esters in the final beers. Consequently, the study provides valuable information for exploring beer brewing with 100 % unmalted barley, oat, rye or wheat using exogenously added enzymes.

It also helps to understand the process ability by revealing specific needs when manufacturing different type of beers from unmalted grains, potentially paving the way to process optimisation and development of future products.