Science behind "grainy character"

menschmaschine · 07-16-2009, 05:05 PM

What exactly in the brewing process can produce a pleasant grainy character in a beer? What types of compounds are responsible for a grainy character?... proteins? (Not to be confused, per se, with maltiness... I know what can produce that.) Here's the background to my question:

I brewed a German Pils a little while back and am working on the 2nd keg of it. I don't buy commercial beer all that often, but I bought a 6-pack of Würzburger Hofbraü pils (Bavarian). The flavor of the Würzburger came across to me as very crisp and clean with not that much grainy character (or maltiness) compared to my German pils which is very grainy (IMO in a good way, not a tannin issue).

I'm not sure of the distinguishing line between "grainy" and "malty", but regardless of that, I didn't expect that much of a difference between the Würzburger and my pils in respect to the character from the malts. I brewed my pils using a Hochkurz-style step-mash and used 97.5% BestMalz pilsener malt and 2.5% BestMalz Cara-Pils and fermented with the Weihenstephaner W-34/70 strain. So, I half expected them to taste comparible (hops aside).

I'm not saying I want to change my German light lager brewing style, but I'm just curious to know more about the beers I produce and why they taste the way they do. Could it have to do with centrifuging/filtering of many commercial beers?... would that strip some of the grainy/malty flavor away?

**Edcculus** · 07-16-2009, 08:14 PM

It could have to do with Maillard Reactions/melanoidins. These reactions take place in malting and the boil. I guess on a lighter malt level, these flavors could be described as a pleasantly grainy.

menschmaschine · 07-16-2009, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edcculus

It could have to do with Maillard Reactions/melanoidins. These reactions take place in malting and the boil. I guess on a lighter malt level, these flavors could be described as a pleasantly grainy.

OK, I can buy that. But I'm wondering why a commercial German pils would be so much less grainy/malty than my beer... being that some of the key factors are probably the same... German pilsener malt, Hochkurz-style step-mash, 90 min. boil, same or similar yeast strain, etc. I guess the one factor I didn't consider is water profile... and my water is very soft and devoid of minerals, to which I added gypsum (mainly for the calcium, but a little sulfates would be good for a Pils too)... but there's virtually no chloride in my water.

**rocketman768** · 07-17-2009, 08:06 PM

At least for oatmeal, it seems that nearly all of the volatile flavor compounds come from heating. Also, seems that the method of heating also plays a big role since microwaved oatmeal has a different profile from stove-top oatmeal.

eschatz · 07-17-2009, 08:09 PM

I was stooped about the "grainy quality" I found in commerical brews. Eventually I learned about maliard reactions. That's what I precieved as "grainy".

In regards to your OP. I was thinking that a decoction could be what caused the difference between the two beers. I believe many German brewers still use decoction mashes. As you stated, the water source can obviously accentuate different flavors.

menschmaschine · 07-17-2009, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschatz

In regards to your OP. I was thinking that a decoction could be what caused the difference between the two beers. I believe many German brewers still use decoction mashes. As you stated, the water source can obviously accentuate different flavors.

But that would make their beer more grainy/malty than mine... but it was less. Also, I understand many German breweries have gotten away from doing decoctions due to the costs involved.

carnevoodoo · 07-17-2009, 09:24 PM

Their beer is filtered, I'm assuming. Sometimes filtration can strip character from a beer, and this is a definite possibility in this case.

menschmaschine · 07-17-2009, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnevoodoo

Their beer is filtered, I'm assuming. Sometimes filtration can strip character from a beer, and this is a definite possibility in this case.

This was one of my suspicions.

z987k · 07-18-2009, 06:59 AM

also, they probably use steam jacketed kettles which are a much more even heat source than propane. This would probably reduce the maliard reaction.

menschmaschine · 07-18-2009, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by z987k

also, they probably use steam jacketed kettles which are a much more even heat source than propane. This would probably reduce the maliard reaction.

That's an interesting point.