Quality of Western Canadian malting barley 2018
Brewing trials
The brewing trials conducted by the CMBTC according to standard brewing conditions indicated that malt made from 2018 AC Metcalfe, CDC Copeland and AAC Synergy performed well in process without posing any major processing issues.
AC Metcalfe exhibited slightly longer conversion and lautering time, as well as comparable time to clear in the lauter tun compared with the 2017 average. Average wort color was slightly lower (lighter) than 2017. The high attenuation limit indicated good fermentability for 2018 crop AC Metcalfe malt, which was significantly greater than the 2017 average.
CDC Copeland exhibited shorter conversion and lautering times along with a comparable time to clear in the lauter tun compared with 2017. Brewhouse efficiency was excellent, although attenuation limit was lower compared to the previous year. Average wort colour was lighter than the 2017 average. The high attenuation limit indicated good fermentability for 2018 crop CDC Copeland malt, although it was significantly lower than the 2017 average.
AAC Synergy exhibited a slightly longer conversion time, but a shorter time to clear and shorter lautering time. Its brewhouse efficiency was good although lower than the 2017 average. The high attenuation limit indicated very good fermentability of 2018 AAC Synergy malt, although it was slightly lower than the 2017 average.
| Brewing parameters | 2018 Average (n= 2) | 2017 Average (n= 2) | 2016 Average (n= 5) | 2015 Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conversion time (minutes) | 16.5 | 12.5 | 12 | 12 |
| Time to clear (minutes) | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 |
| Lautering time (minutes) | 51.5 | 49 | 49 | 45 |
| Brewhouse Efficiency (%) | 86.4 | 87.8 | 86.5 | 88.5 |
| Wort pH | 5.55 | 5.36 | 5.30 | 5.37 |
| Wort Colour (SRM) | 3.12 | 3.42 | 4.42 | 5.57 |
| Attenuation Limit (%) | 88.1 | 84.8 | 84.9 | 85.0 |
| Brewing parameters | 2018 Average (n= 2) | 2017 Average (n= 2) | 2016 Average (n= 4) | 2015 Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conversion time (minutes) | 18.5 | 22.5 | 16 | 16 |
| Time to clear (minutes) | 6.5 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| Lautering time (minutes) | 44 | 49 | 49 | 46 |
| Brewhouse Efficiency (%) | 89.7 | 89.1 | 87.8 | 88.0 |
| Wort pH | 5.50 | 5.35 | 5.34 | 5.51 |
| Wort Colour (SRM) | 2.33 | 2.81 | 3.89 | 4.37 |
| Attenuation Limit (%) | 89.0 | 90.7 | 88.9 | 87.6 |
| Brewing parameters | 2018 Average (n= 2) | 2017 Average (n= 2) | 2016 Average (n= 2) | 2015 Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conversion time (minutes) | 18.5 | 16 | 12 | 12 |
| Time to clear (minutes) | 5.5 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
| Lautering time (minutes) | 49 | 52 | 43 | 47 |
| Brewhouse Efficiency (%) | 87.5 | 89.6 | 89.6 | 88.1 |
| Wort pH | 5.58 | 5.35 | 5.31 | 5.35 |
| Wort Colour (SRM) | 2.60 | 2.58 | 4.34 | 5.43 |
| Attenuation Limit (%) | 90.0 | 90.7 | 86.2 | 91.1 |
Brewing conditions
- 100% all malt brew with 40 kilograms of malt (water to malt ratio of 3.75:1)
- Mashing: mashed in at 48˚C; 30-minute hold; temperature raised at 1.5˚C per minute to 65˚C; 30-minute hold (iodine conversion test every minute); temperature raised at 1.5˚C to 77˚C; one-minute hold. Mash transferred to lauter tun with 25 Litres underlet water.
- 10-minute rest in lauter tun followed by a vorlauf (wort clarification) until wort clarity reading is below 100 FTU. First wort collected into kettle followed by a hot water sparge of the grain bed using 125 Litres of water at 77˚C to a total volume of 275 Litres in brew kettle.
- Wort boiled for 90 minutes at 9% evaporation rate. Hop additions: Magnum at 0 minutes into boil time and Mt. Hood at 85 minutes into boil time.
- Wort transferred to whirlpool and rest for 15 minutes.
- Wort fermented for 7 days using Nottingham Ale yeast at 19˚C until final attenuation and force ferment overnight using 100 grams of Nottingham Ale yeast and 600 millilitres of wort.