The Secret to Cheaper, Greener Local Beer

I came across this article today as I was reading through Digg, thought the community would enjoy reading it

The Secret to Cheaper, Greener Local Beer
ALEX GOLDMARK

http://www.good.is/post/the-secret-to-cheaper-greener-local-beer/

Very interesting. I'd like to try a batch. But wouldn't that just limit the amount of styles you can make? It's not like you can make crystal malt from unmalted grain...

After the barley is malted, it is kilned, which is part of the difference between pilsener vs. Munich vs. generic US 2-row vs. a UK 2-row pale ale malt. Do they kiln the unmalted grain? Seems to me that you could potentially lose a lot of flavor doing this.

my understanding from the article was that they do not kiln it, however, due to the fact that you have to clean the barley before use anyway an extra step (roasting/kilning) shouldnt be to difficult.

The problem i see from this is the lack of reducing sugars in the raw barley due to the fact that the barley is unmalted and therefore contains lots of long chain starches.

Limited reducing sugars = limited maillard reactions = less complexity in taste.

I dont see this as a viable alternative to beers with lots of flavor, however for your generic light american lager there could be plenty of room for potential cost saving opportunities.

If more clarification is needed feel free to ask, I just got off my 12hr shift and am quite foggy headed.

I don't see this catching on wide scale. There's already small maltsters popping up, and I'd see that catching on before something like this. There will always be a stigma attached to using unnatural processes in local products.

Airborneguy said:

There's already small maltsters popping up, and I'd see that catching on before something like this. There will always be a stigma attached to using unnatural processes in local products.

Click to expand...

+1 Totally agree. I could see a brewery with in-house malting & farming operation (or at least local co-op) being a huge hit.