How Is Grain Used in Breweries?

Grain is the most important ingredient in brewing. It provides the essential “building blocks” for every beer, and brewers rely on grains to add flavor, color, body and aroma to give each beer its unique characteristics. 

What types of grains are used? What do they each bring to the table? And how exactly does the brewing process work?

This article answers all these questions and more as we explore how grain is used in breweries.

Three Important Qualities That Grains Give Beer

Grain is the most essential ingredient in beer production because it affects how the final product looks, smells and tastes. Here’s how:

• Flavor and aroma: Different grains will give beer various unique flavors and aroma profiles. For example, roasted grains add coffee or chocolate notes, while lighter malts can provide a sweet or biscuity scent.
• Color: The type of malt used and the level of roasting will determine a beer’s color. Pale malts tend to produce light, golden beers, while roasted malts result in darker beers, like stouts.
• Fermentable sugars: Grains are rich in starches, which are converted into fermentable sugars during mashing. Yeast consumes these sugars to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. This means that the type of grain used will affect the level of alcohol in the beer.

Different Beer Grains and Their Uses

Barley is the most popular grain choice for beer making. This grass has a perfect balance of enzymes, starch and husk, all of which are ideal for beer production. It also adds a mild sweetness and slightly nutty flavor to a brew. 

Many brewers use barley as their base grain and add other grains to the mix to obtain their desired beverage and flavor. 

Beyond barley, brewers can use many other grains to add complexity and unique characteristics to a beer. Some of the most common options include: 

• Wheat: Wheat is a popular choice, especially in styles like witbiers and hefeweizens. It creates a smooth, creamy texture and contributes a hazy appearance. It also has a slightly sweet flavor.
• Oats: Known for their role in oatmeal stouts, oats provide a smooth and silky mouthfeel and add a mild sweetness to the brew.
• Rye: This grain adds a peppery, zesty and earthy flavor. When mixed with barley, rye can make a spicy, complex brew, bringing out sharp flavors and making the drink more crisp.
• Other grains like rice and corn: These are frequently used in lighter lagers to create a crisp, clean finish. They help lighten the beer’s body and flavor profile. Rice doesn’t actually affect the base taste of a beer, but it contributes to the mouthfeel and brings out sharp flavors. On the other hand, corn can help increase the sweetness of beer.

The Beer Brewing Process: How Is Grain Used in Breweries?

Beer is made from four main ingredients — water, grains, yeast and hops. The beer brewing process contains multiple steps, and some of the most important ones include:

• Malting: The process starts with barley (or another grain) being soaked in water. This step allows the barley to germinate before being dried in a kiln. The resulting product is malt, which is rich in starches that will later become fermentable sugars.
• Mashing: The malt from the previous step is then mixed with hot water in a large tank. This activates enzymes that break the starches into sugars, creating a sweet liquid called wort.
• Boiling, cooling and fermenting: The wort is then boiled to sterilize it and add hops. Hops contribute bitterness, aroma and flavor. They also help balance the sweetness of the malt. The boiled wort is cooled before being transferred to a fermentation tank. Next, yeast is added and starts to consume the sugars in the wort, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide. This stage can take weeks and depends on the beer type.
• Conditioning: After fermentation, the beer is conditioned. This step helps refine the beer’s flavors and carbonation. 
• Filtering and packaging: The finished beer is filtered to remove any leftover solids and then packaged to prepare it for consumption.

Milling Techniques in Breweries

Milling is one of the most important steps in the beer brewing process. It helps reduce the malt kernels into tiny particles, which are then used in the following steps. There are essentially two types of milling techniques:

Dry Milling 

In dry milling, the malted grains are passed through a mill to crush the kernels into tiny grist without adding water. The main goal is to break the grain’s husk into coarse fragments. However, the malt shouldn’t be crushed too fine, as this will produce dust-sized fragments that may float around, affecting the wort and sugar extraction. Beer brewers continue to crush the grains until they achieve the desired consistency. 

Wet Milling

In wet milling, the malted grains are put into warm water while being ground, which helps raise the malt’s moisture content. Compared to dry milling, this approach reduces the damage to the husk and the volume of the grist. Wet milling helps the grain husk remain intact, produces no dust and does not present a hazard of explosive ignition by sparks. 

Grain Storage in Breweries

To produce a flavorful beverage, the right beer making supplies and equipment are a must. Proper grain storage helps ensure the quality and consistency of beer. Brewers often store malted barley and other grains in bulk to maintain efficiency and manage costs. To preserve the integrity of these grains, storage facilities must protect against pests, moisture and temperature fluctuations. All these factors can degrade the grains and affect the brewing process and performance.

High-quality grain silos are commonly used for bulk storage, offering a safe and controlled environment. At LCDM, our grain handling products and equipment allow breweries to monitor and maintain optimal conditions within their storage units. This helps ensure grain remains dry, fresh and ready for use.

Protect Your Grain With LCDM’s Reliable Grain Handling Solutions

Grain is at the center of every brewery. While it’s one of many ingredients in beer production, grain is arguably the most important as it affects a beer’s taste, look, aroma and mouthfeel. Barley, wheat, rye, oats and other grains all add unique characteristics to achieve a unique flavor profile.

At LCDM, we recognize the importance of proper grain handling, as the right equipment can influence your final product. Our products help ensure that your grain is stored safely so you can achieve the highest grain quality possible. We also create custom solutions to help you meet your unique needs. Contact us today to learn more about our solutions and how we can help you maintain optimum grain quality all year round.