Stumbled on this article/blog about a company using unmalted barley and enzymes to make their Clim8 beer. Interesting. Searched and could not find it posted already.
Stumbled on this article/blog about a company using unmalted barley and enzymes to make their Clim8 beer. Interesting. Searched and could not find it posted already.
Planned: Lambic, American IPA Fermenting: 6 gals of 1.090 stout (Belgian) & 6 gals of 1.090 stout (English) Tapped: Berliner Weisse, Black English IPA, German Pils, & Live Oak Primus
Wow...an 8% reduction in CO2 emissions. What about the emissions created from the production of the enzymes? Producing and purifying enzymes is not a trivial process, and requires a fair amount of energy and resources. Why not use the barley's innate ability to produce its own enzymes?
Everybody is obsessed with saving the environment, and this is purely a marketing ploy. "Wow, environmentally friendly beer, if I drink that I'll be saving the planet!" I'm sure it tastes ok, but I think the idea is pretty stupid.
I think that they did calculate in the emissions from the enzyme production. However, the brewery, Harboe, is known to make the cheapest swill, only most of their beers taste ugly, not just bland. I once bought their pale ale just to discover that it was brewed with a lager yeast.
I will sacrifice myself and see if I can get hold of a Clim8 tonight, and I'll let you know how it tastes.
Interesting, I noticed they only have a trademark on the name, I wonder if the enzyme is patented or patentable, their process is I'm certain. I bet the malting industry bashes this enzyme.
I can see it all now; "After crushing your raw barley sprinkle 1 package of Ondea Pro in the mixture as you mash, mix well" etc.
Last edited by COLObrewer; 09-25-2009 at 01:11 AM.
sounds like complete bull$hit to me. Its probably cheaper to buy unmalted barley and bulk enzymes than paying for malted grain.
I guess lambic brewers have been greener all along since they use a lot of unmalted wheat.
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I don't understand what's so energy intensive about malting the barely, isn't it pretty much a natuural process, or is it the drying of the malted barely to stop the sprouting that uses all the energy.
If they really want to make it "green" they need to figure out how to splice the enzyme producing gene into the barely so that it just grows that way and neither malting or adding the enzyme after the fact is required, this would eliminate enzyme production and further streamline the process (just harvest, clean and mash).
Next, they'll need to figure out a way for the barely and grapes to self-ferment, so we can just squeeze beer and wine out of them
Last edited by jrfuda; 09-24-2009 at 03:14 PM.
Reason: typos
Article: Beer Brewed with Unmalted Barley
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