Malted Barley; Used In Various Applications within the Food, Beverages, and Distilleries

Malted Barley, or malt, is the brewer's preferred grain to make beer. Barley simply refers to the seed or plant grain, while malt is the result of that dried barley seed sprouting through a process called malting. Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in process known as malting. Malted grain is used to make whiskey, beer, malt vinegar, malted milkshakes, confections such as Whoppers nad Maltesers, flavored drinks such as Milo, Ovaltine, and Horlicks, and some baked goods, such as bagels, malt loaf, and rich tea biscuits.

The purpose of malting is to change or modify the physical structure of the barley grain and to allow the synthesis or activation of a range of enzymes, such that the final product, malt, used in distilling, brewing, or food manufacture. In manufacturing, Malted Barley is used as a food grain, natural sweetener, and as an ingredient for brewing beer and making alcoholic beverages. Malt liquor is a style of beer, in which adjuncts, such as sugar, rice, and corn, are added to the barley to up the alcohol concentration without dramatically changing the taste.

Malt liquor is a type of mass market beer with the high alcohol content, most closely associated with North America. The alcohol content in beer is typically less than 5%, whereas the alcohol content of malt liquor is typically 12% or more. The majority of whiskeys are built on Malted Barley Market. Malt whisky is whisky made from a fermented mash consisting primarily of barley. Beer can be top or bottom fermented, but malt liquor can only be bottom-fermented. Malt liquor isn't liquor in the sense that it's not a distilled spirit like vodka or whiskey.

Malted Barley has been gaining increasing demand in various applications such as baked goods, flavored drinks, confections, malt vinegar, malted milkshakes, whiskey, and beer. Thus, the use of malted barley is increasing rapidly. In the United States, malting barley is grown from the Dakotas to Washington, with North Dakota having the most acres. Moreover, about three-quarters of the barley grown in the U.S. currently used for malt production.