6 Homebrew Con Recordings That Will Make You a Malt Master

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[Photo credit: Jesse James Galarza]

By Matt Bolling, American Homebrewers Association

Today is the day you fulfill your destiny: becoming a master of the malt! We’ve compiled six Homebrew Con seminar recordings that dig into the intricacies and understanding of malted grains.

Access to hundreds of Homebrew Con seminar recordings is an exclusive benefit of AHA membership.


1. Does Base Malt Flavor Matter? The Relationship Between Base Malt Flavor Preference and Beer Flavor Preference

Cassandra Liscomb, Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.  |  Homebrew Con 2017 (Minneapolis, MN)

Does preferred base malt flavor translate to preferred beer flavor? Does base malt flavor really matter? In a collaborative study between Briess Malt & Ingredients Co., New Belgium Brewing Co., and Valley Malt, we gain an understanding of the importance of base malt flavor to the finished beer.


2. Specialty Malt: Extreme!

Aaron Hyde (Bevie)  |  Homebrew Con 2018 (Portland, OR)

Let’s take specialty malts to the extreme and create new brewing techniques, beer styles, and bold flavors! Ever wonder what a beer made with 50 percent caramel malt would taste like? Trying to figure out how to make the chocolatiest beer possible? We’ll cover the basics of specialty malt, guidelines for malt usage, how and when to add malts during the brewing process, and much more.


3. How Cold Steeping Malt Can Elevate Your Beer

Dan Bies, Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.  |  Homebrew Con 2016 (Baltimore, MD)

This seminar describes how cold steeping techniques can be used to create truly innovative beer that is maltier, more colorful, and cleaner than previously thought possible. The process is simple and the flavors created are exciting. Listeners will leave this seminar with a new perspective on how dynamic an ingredient malt can be.



4. Blame the Maltster: An Overview of Malting Operations and How They Influence Your Beer

John Mallet, Bell’s Brewery  |  Homebrew Con 2013 (Philadelphia, PA)

As brewers, we understand that malt provides the base and backbone of beer flavor and fermentability. Because we have a lot of options when it comes to malt, understanding how they are produced can influence what we choose to use. This talk will explore influencing factors such as barley selection and malting technique and how they manifest themselves both in brewing approach and ultimately in a finished beer.


5. All About That Base: Learning More about Malt through Sensory Analysis

Jen Blair, Craft Maltsters Guild  |  Homebrew Con 2018 (Portland, OR)

Brewers will learn the basics of sensory analysis, including a brief overview of the hot-steep method, and an overview of malt and the malting process. The presentation highlight is a guided 30-minute malt sensory tasting session incorporating craft malt from around the United States, wherein participants will have the opportunity to practice their sensory analysis skills and learn about differences in craft malt flavors.


6. Kilned Versus Roasted: Do You Really Know Your Specialty Malt?

David Richter, Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.  |  Homebrew Con 2015 (San Diego, CA)

David provides a basic understanding of the malting process before delving into the differences between producing malt in a kiln and producing malt in a drum roaster. He then shifts the discussion toward caramel malt production before analyzing a pair of malts that, while the same Lovibond, tell a radically different story in their flavors with respect to how they were produced.

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Browse through the entire archive of Homebrew Con Seminar recordings on HomebrewersAssociation.org. 

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