malt or mash - which contains the simple sugars

[perfection]

I was just wondering, is it the malt that contains the simpler sugars or is it that the modified starch get converted into soluble sugars with diastase and hot water for the yeast pitched in to feed on?

In other words starch to sugar simplification happens during malting or during mashing?

 

[schematix]

Raw barley contains mostly starch.

In simple terms the malting process is designed to breed the enzymes that are subsequently used during mashing to convert the remaining starch to chemically broken down versions, most, but not all, of which are simple sugars.

 

[RM-MN]

Grab a small handful of malted barley and start chewing. It won't be sweet. The mashing is where the starch is converted to sugar.