Question on barley malt

[distillrook84]

I am still a bit confused on the terms "malted barley", "barley malt", "malt extract", etc.
I assume malted barley has already been converted from starches to the sugars.
So what does barley malt mean?
The reason I ask is I have read around on this forum other forums, the web & youtube and the answer still is not clear to me.
I basically want to try to make a corn/barley mash by claw hammer.
Everything makes sense to me on the ingredients list except the "must have malted barley".
I just figured since my home brew store has "barley malt" it has already been malted for me and I do not have to go through the process of malting barley. If I have to malt the barley myself. How do you recommend I do it. Or can you point me in the right direction I need to learn all this please.

Thank you for your help.

[shadylane]

Good question distillrook84
One of our more articulated members will be on shortly to give you an answer.

[FullySilenced]

Here's a good first start:

http://www.briess.com/food/Processes/maltwhat.php



Malt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Malt (disambiguation).

A handful of malted barley, the white sprouts visible
Malt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as "malting". The grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air.[1][2][3][4] Malting grains develop the enzymes required to modify the grain's starches into sugars, including the monosaccharide glucose, the disaccharide maltose, the trisaccharide maltotriose, and higher sugars called maltodextrines. It also develops other enzymes, such as proteases, which break down the proteins in the grain into forms that can be used by yeast. Malt also contains small amounts of other sugars, such as sucrose and fructose, which are not products of starch modification but were already in the grain.

Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted shakes, malt vinegar, confections such as Maltesers and Whoppers, flavored drinks such as Horlicks, Ovaltine and Milo, and some baked goods, such as malt loaf, bagels and rich tea biscuits. Malted grain that has been ground into a coarse meal is known as "sweet meal".[5][6] Various cereals are malted, though barley is the most common. A high-protein form of malted barley is often a label-listed ingredient in blended flours typically used in the manufacture of yeast breads and other baked goods.[7]


Malted grain for Beer production.
The term "malt" refers to several products of the process: the grains to which this process has been applied, for example malted barley; the sugar, heavy in maltose, derived from such grains, such as the baker's malt used in various cereals; or a product based on malted milk, similar to a malted milkshake (i.e., "malts").


My search of HD only turned up 112 pages of malt barley links for ya to read ifn you wanna search for it

[distillrook84]

Ok so according to the wiki on "malt" the definition is:

"Malt refers to grains which have been sprouted, then dried, which prepares the starches for conversion to sugar in a [[wash]].

Malting grains develops the enzymes that are required to modify the grain's [[starch|starches]] into [[sugar|sugars]]. Barley is the most common malt because of its high [[enzyme]] content. Other grains may be malted, although the resulting malt may not have sufficient enzymatic content to convert its own starch content fully and efficiently."



If I understood it correctly the barley I purchased from my home brew store called "barley malt" has already been malted and I'm good to go on the mash. (Well I still have to convert the starches to sugars in the corn, then I'm set)

[FullySilenced]

The breiss link is quite good on the history and all the variations of malt ... down to LME and DME etc...

[Jesse]

I know this is a little late, but I'm not sure this has been answered fully.

What was written above is all correct, in terms of what malt is. To answer the other parts of your question- the vast majority of grains you get at a homebrew store are malted barley. Very few unmalted grains get used in brewing, and they tend to be in very small amounts and are roasted to higher levels. Guinness gets its dark color from a relatively small amount of unmalted barley that has been roasted at high temperatures to give it its color and flavor.

What you say you're "good to go on the mash," it sounded like you were under the impression you didn't need to mash the barley, only the corn. This isn't quite the case. Malting makes the enzymes available which can convert the starches into sugars (alpha- and beta-amylase and whatnot), but that conversion takes place when the grains are mashed. The barley in the 50lb sack is all starches and enzymes, and it waiting on the mash with the right temperature to convert into sugars and enzymes.

The note about barley having a high enzyme content is why your typical mash contains barley and corn and/or other grains. If you mashed with just corn, you wouldn't have enough enzymes to convert starches into sugars. The barley can provide enough enzymes to take care of itself and the other grains in your mash.

As to what dry malt extract and liquid malt extract are, they're essentially a completed barley mash with very high sugar content, which has had a large portion of its water removed to turn it into a syrup (liquid malt extract) or a powder (dry malt extract). It's important to note that you shouldn't count on these malt extracts containing any enzymes, so it would be pointless to add them to other grains with the expectations that they will convert starches into sugars.

While you've probably already discovered this and moved on with your life in the last 3 months, I wanted to put it down for others that may be searching for "malt extract"