Different Grains

[dc59]

Hey guys I understand that the difference between grains like your pilsner, crystal, chocolate and black are the amount of time and possibly the temperature they are roasted for, but am wondering where everything else fits in.

In particular what is happening with munich and vienna or what seperates caramunich, carafa or melaniodian from other malted grains.

There are so many varieties sold at the online stores compared to my local and am wondering about what the maltsters do differently to produces the different varities.

Thanks for any advice which may unconfuse me in this regard, Dave.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Hey guys I understand that the difference between grains like your pilsner, crystal, chocolate and black are the amount of time and possibly the temperature they are roasted for, but am wondering where everything else fits in.

In particular what is happening with munich and vienna or what seperates caramunich, carafa or melaniodian from other malted grains.

There are so many varieties sold at the online stores compared to my local and am wondering about what the maltsters do differently to produces the different varities.

Thanks for any advice which may unconfuse me in this regard, Dave.

I can see why nobody has attempted this question ! Too big and broad a question, which would take way to long to explain. Maybe just ask about one grain (Pilsner) compared to Carafa and you will find you will get the idea of whats taking place during the malting/drying process.The Weyermann web page FAQ's will explain the process better than me.Handball
GB

 

[dr K]

This is a very simplistic explanation, but often such is better.
Malting is very much just that, malting.
At the end there are two distinct initial streams....green and not.
The green malt is the basis of the Cara and Crystal Malts.
The wet malt is held at sacc temp (say 65C) for a period of time in which a proportion of the starch first gelatanises and then converts to sugars, the green malt is then dried by a heating and ventilation process, usually in a drum and finally rapidly cooled (turn off the heat basically), the deree of colur relates back to the time, and to some small extent the temperature.
Pils, Pale, and Ale are produced by a gentle drying of the wet malt ,followed by a very gentle kilning, Ale is kilned a few degrees above Pils.
Vienna is kilned a tad more than Ale but in a similar way, Munich has a difference that I would have to look up, its either warmer and dryer or warmer and moister...
Carafa is (as the name would indicate) caramelised malt that has been highly roasted, Carafa Special is the same but with de-husked malt, follow the same line with Caramunich. Melanoidan is a special malt, using the Duck (or Maillard) reaction producing beers that are red in hue and very malty in character.
It goes without saying that these Cara, Xtal, Melo malts have low diastatic powers.

K