Lesson 5 - Malting Process SAQ
This lesson provides the opportunity for you to test yourself on the material covered in Lesson 4 (Malting Process) and determine the level to which you have attained the expected outcomes.
Suggested Response - Q8
SAQ:
**During evaluation of your first wort run-off, you have noticed that there is a noticeable increase in the level of DMS. What changes in the malting process would you suggest making, in order to reduce this?
Response:
Malt is the origin of DMS during wort separation. If you want to reduce DMS at this stage, you will need to investigate the malting process. We know that SMM is the precursor for DMS in malt. SMM is produced during germination and it is thermally degraded during kilning into DMS (and DMSO but we don’t need to consider it for this question as it is important only after wort boiling).
During production of a typical base malt, heat is used to convert SMM to DMS and DMSO, and the DMS is easily driven off from the malt and removed in the kiln exhaust.
If you want to reduce DMS levels during malting, you will need to steep and germinate at lower temperatures. This is important because it restricts growth, and overgrown malts tend to have high levels of SMM. Additionally, kilning temperatures are vital to control DMS with higher temperatures favouring lower levels of DMS in the final malt.