Lesson 4 - Adjunct Composition and Application
This lesson explores adjuncts, which are sources of fermentable extract other than malted barley. It investigates the different cereals that we can use as a starch source within the brewhouse and examines how these same cereals can produce liquid adjuncts. It also considers other sources of fermentable sugars that we can add either directly into the kettle or later in the brewing process.
Malted Adjuncts
Figure: Other malted cereals
You will notice that there is an overlap here with speciality malts, as we’ve already discussed malted wheat, sorghum, and rye in the previous lesson. These malts can be viewed in brewing as both speciality malt and adjunct, depending on the definition you use. We include it here, as our adjunct definition applies to these malted cereals, e.g. an adjunct is a supplementary raw material (ingredient) other than malted barley, which provides a source of fermentable sugars.
As they are malted, their use generally comes with no cost benefit, so malted wheat, rye, and sorghum are instead used to impart particular characteristics to beer. These were discussed in the speciality malt lesson.