Malt analysis - Clarity of wort

[okiedog]

Great Western Domestic 2-Row malt analysis lists: "Clarity of Wort 11". I have never seen that on a malt analysis sheet. Is there a guide somewhere that would tell me whether a wort clarity of 11 is good, bad or average?

 

[SoCal-Doug]

My wild guess (with absolutely nothing to base it on) is it's a turbidity/haze rating similar to what is used in many other fluid analysis. Normally measured in "NTU" on a scale of 0 to 40. It includes all "total suspended solids". If my memory is working (at my age, memory is the second thing to go) anything below a "5" can be considered "clear" and as you pass "15" it is noticeably beginning to get hazy. I think it's measured by a device suspended in some specific amount a fluid, with lines and patterns on it. As the fluid gets muckier, less of the patterns can be seen.

But, I might be totally wrong. The malt industry may have some totally different method of rating clarity.

 

[okiedog]

Thanks. I could only guess that it was based on an average TDS reading, based on some standardized sample(s). But like I said, until now I have never seen that on an analysis sheet. I guess I could contact a Great Western distributor for clarification.

 

[okiedog]

To update this post, I thought I would add the explanation that I received from MoeBeer:

Thank You for your email. Clarity of Wort refers to how clear, or bright your beer can be by using that malt. The scale is 0-50. A Malt on the lower end 0-5 has the potential to be very clear. A malt 10-15 will leave / have some haze to it. Any malt above that usually means you need to filter your beer. The effect on brewing has to do with how bright, clear you want your beer. If you like clear beer, dont use grain with a high clarity of wort rating, use a lower rated malt.
I hope this help. You can these topics on Google as well.
Richard Corrick
Customer Service Representative
MoreFlavor! Inc.
800-600-0033

 

[day_trippr]

Ok, so given there's some barley characteristic that has a metric, would it be a protein content thing?

Cheers!

 

[okiedog]

Of course, protein content would affect clarity, but I don't think it is just protein. With a range of 0-50, I'm sure there are other factors that effect clarity. Optic malt, which was specifically developed to provide better wort clarity, has a protein content of 9.5%. I don't know what the clarity of wort rating is for Optic, but the protein content is not much lower than some other malts. Though some malts have protein content of 11% or so, Golden Promise is 9.64%. With so few malt analyses including clarity of wort, it is difficult to say.