Graham in singing the praises of Galaxy malt, has jogged me into response mode. Actually he is right about Galaxy - I believe it is the best pale/pils/lager malt currently produced in Australia, and yet has some interesting characteristics that bare elaboration.
First some background: Galaxy malt is malted from 100% Galaxy barley. Developed by Barrett Burston, the Galaxy strain is contract grown for Barretts mostly in northwestern Victoria and southwestern NSW and is primarily an export only malt. The barley produces slightly smaller grains than other strains and the plant itself is more bushy and does not grow very tall. This "bushiness" helps smother any weeds and in turn means less use of weed control sprays.
Specifications are:
Moisture 4.5% max.
Extract (dry basis) 81% min.
Colour 3.3 - 4.0 EBC
Total nitrogen 1.58 - 1.75% (9.9 - 10.9%)
Kolbach index 40 - 46
Diastatic power 250 min (degrees WK)
Beta-glucan 180 max. mg/L
AAL 80% min (Apparent Attenuation Limit)
The description on the spec sheet reads:
"Galaxy malt is a premium export lager malt produced exclusively from Barrett Burston's own strain of Galaxy barley. Suitable for use in lagers, dry ales and stouts, Galaxy will finish dry and clean when mashed at normal saccharification temperatures (64 - 66C), but can be mashed at higher temperatures (68 - 70C) to afford more body to the finished beer. The malt is characterised by its versatility and ability to cope with high levels of cereal adjunct while offering greater levels of attenuation than those found in other pale malts."
Galaxy also has high levels of Beta-glucanase (as distinct from Beta-glucan) and this characteristic is of immense interest to professional brewers. Now before you all dive off to find your copy of Noonan's NBLB, let me explain. Beta-glucan is the stuff that causes stuck mashes and haze and must be controlled in the malting process. Beta-glucanase enzymes break down the beta-glucan into glucose in the malting process and usually do not make it into the final malted barley in any significant strength. Galaxy however does retain good levels of Beta-gluconase and this is used to good effect by commercial brewers in a sub-40C rest to further degrade the Beta-glucans and better set key parameters such as foam head, body and most importantly the "lauterability" of the wort (just sent the spell-checker into spasm!). As Graham pointed out, Galaxy is a very clean lautering malt and this coupled with the requirements for long term stability in fully packaged beer, is what the big boys are looking for. For us homebrewers this surfeit of Beta-gluconase can be used to handle high levels of cereal adjunct and enable a better breakdown of beta-glucans into fermentables. Stouts (made with say 15% flaked barley) will produce a nice dry finish because there is little unfermentable material left in the wort.
Galaxy is also by nature a highly attenuable malt. The AAL of 80% in the specs above is quite high - most mega-lager malts would be in the 70's - and this characteristic makes for a fine dry Koelsch, or a dry stout. If you want to use it as a pils/lager malt then use a main saccharification rest of 68 - 70C. On the issue of protein rests - I would suggest 10 to 15 minutes as a guideline and possibly longer if you are using a cereal adjunct such as FB where that cereal will be providing body/head/mouthfeel in its own right.
A pointer on levels of modification - Galaxy is a FULLY modified malt and will produce great beers with a simple single step infusion. You dont need to go the masochist route like Graham did, but I would suggest that you mash in a couple of degrees higher than normal to avoid an over-dry finish in your beer. There are several microbrewers now using Galaxy and doing just that.
This caution also applies to Weyermann malts. They are FULLY modified and dont need a protein rest, in fact a 20 min rest at 38 - 40C is TOO long and will reduce the head considerably. I know this from a recent experience!
So, happy brewing - I'm off, can feel a Koelsch coming on......
Wes
