Science behind "grainy character"

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?

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.

Edcculus said:

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.

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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.

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.

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.

eschatz said:

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.

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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.

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

carnevoodoo said:

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

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This was one of my suspicions.

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

z987k said:

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

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That's an interesting point.

Interesting thread so I skimmed a few of my brewing books for some ideas…it seems to me that it could be many factors and may be hard to pin down.
But first let me ask this….when you say grainy do you mean grainy as a raw grain flavor/aroma. To me personally, grainy and malty are different in that malty is a large overarching descriptor for bready, biscuity, grainy, cereal flavors where grainy is a much more defined raw grain characteristic.

That being said let’s look at a few factors that produce grainy flavors that I’m aware of.
The grain:
BestMaltz is 2-row so we can eliminate the 6-row/more husk material = grainy character argument. However do you know what base malt is used by Würzburger? I’m sure you’re well aware that the same style of grain produced by different maltsters may have different characteristics. If you are using the exact same grain from the same batch from the same maltster then I would have to assume it is part of the process.
Interestingly enough in Noonen’s first edition of Brewing Lager Beer he talks about grainy characteristics being attributed to the toasting/roasting of malts and that in time this flavor will drop out during lagering. So here’s another factor to consider how old/how long did you lager and at what temp in comparison to Würzburger? And to really push the limits of this discussion what was the kilning date of the malt you used? Apparently that too could have an effect according to Noonen’s book. How old was your beer and how old was the Würzburger?

The crack:
Listening to a Basic Brewing Radio podcast regarding German brewing techniques Kai Troyster (spelling?) discussed a milling technique used in Germany where by the moisture content of the malt is increased just before milling. This technique apparently wets the husk allowing for it to be more flexible and thereby produces less flour. Now thinking this through a bit it could be that Würzburger is using a different milling process that produces fewer husks then your crack and when tasted side by side there’s a perceived difference. I’ve no experience to draw from but I’m sure that producing two identical beers with different cracks could have minor differences in flavor.

The sparge:
Similar to my point about the difference in milling practices I’m wondering about the differences between your sparging techniques. Again if you’re sparging just a bit longer or to a lower gravity then Würzburger that may lead to flavor differences.

Ok, so here’s where I start to get into the realm of speculation and further investigation.
I’ve always read that 6-row is “grainier” then 2-row due to the higher husk content and that pale malt is “less grainy” then pils malt. I would say that we can eliminate the 6-row/2-row argument in this case. However what is it about pils malt that could potentially be “grainier” then pale malt? Could this be a result of the kilning process? In the same capacity that SMM is greatly reduced in pale malt due to kilning what other compounds are reduced? Is there a specific compound that lends itself to that grainy flavor? I ask because many malt description list pale malt as having a smoother graininess in comparison to pils malt.
In article I read by Charlie Bamforth he discussed one of the reasons for boiling wort is to drive off the grainy flavors and aromas. Here’s another potential process difference that could be a factor. How long/how vigorous/etc you boil could be a factor.

Do you filter? Does Würzburger? Someone raised this question already; it’s worth considering and lends support to the possibility that the grainy character is a compound, it mirrors what Noonen says in his book about lagering the beer. If the flavor can “drop out” then it must be a compound and can therefore be filtered out as well.
I think at the end of the day we’re trying to quantify something that doesn’t necessarily need to be quantified as it can be manipulated many different ways; between process and recipe adjustments you should be able to achieve a similar results to Würzburger if that’s what you’re after. Either way it has made for a thought provoking discussion.

ScottD13 said:

But first let me ask this….when you say grainy do you mean grainy as a raw grain flavor/aroma.

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Yes, I mean raw grain flavor with some slight maltiness mixed in.

ScottD13 said:

do you know what base malt is used by Würzburger?

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I think we'd be hard pressed to find a commercial German Pils that wasn't brewed with almost all 2-row pilsener malt (and German pilsener malt at that).

ScottD13 said:

how old/how long did you lager and at what temp in comparison to Würzburger?

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I lagered mine for 6 weeks at 33°F. I'm sure Würzburger centrifuges/filters their beer and takes measures to reduce lagering times with the same results as beers that didn't have these measures taken but were lagered longer.

ScottD13 said:

And to really push the limits of this discussion what was the kilning date of the malt you used? Apparently that too could have an effect according to Noonen’s book. How old was your beer and how old was the Würzburger?

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My BestMalz was from the 2008 crop. The analysis doesn't state the kiln date, but I imagine it was the autumn of 2008. There's no telling how old the Würzburger was, but the bottle states "Best Before 2009/08". So, I'm not sure how long they put on it (6 months? a year?).

ScottD13 said:

Listening to a Basic Brewing Radio podcast regarding German brewing techniques Kai Troyster (spelling?) discussed a milling technique used in Germany where by the moisture content of the malt is increased just before milling. This technique apparently wets the husk allowing for it to be more flexible and thereby produces less flour. Now thinking this through a bit it could be that Würzburger is using a different milling process that produces fewer husks then your crack and when tasted side by side there’s a perceived difference. I’ve no experience to draw from but I’m sure that producing two identical beers with different cracks could have minor differences in flavor.

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Troester. That's Kaiser here on HBT. I'm familiar with that technique. I'm not sure about the flour issue, but as I recall, it allows for much of the husks to be cracked and left whole... not broken up like regular milling. You raise a good point here. Perhaps Kai will weigh in on that one.

Perhaps it's a combination of some of the many things you mention.