grains

[murrayhulderman]

Are all grains "fermentable"?...my bro says once grains are roasted they are not fermentable.....true or false?

 

[frazier]

The recipe calculator I use (at BMW) gives about 25 pts per pound per gallon for roasted barley, compared to 28 for 2-row. So yes, sugars are available. Maybe what he meant was that the enzymes for self-conversion are destroyed. This is not a problem, since your base grain provides plenty of enzymes to convert the small amount of roasted grains.

In any event, the vast majority of the fermentables are provided by the base grain anyway, so it's not a significant point to argue. Unless, of course, you and your brother typically go to the mat over small details.

Cheers!

 

[Pie_Man]

Here's an interesting experiment about the fermentability of different crystal malts: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/testing-fermentability-crystal-malt-208361/index8.html

At least with the crystal malts, you'll see there is both sugar extraction and some level of fermentability.

 

[billl]

Are all grains fermentable? No. Most grains require some sort of treatment to be fermentable. Crystal malts are roasted with heat to release the sugars and become fermentable. (so your bro is wrong) Most other grains need to be malted (to activate enzymes) and then mashed (to let the enzymes work).