Germination of the seeds from cereals

The germination of raw grains (Brewing Path n° 2).

Every peoples living as grain farmers and brewers in same time have used the malting, from Asia and Europe to Africa and America. Malting is documented since the 3^rd millennium BC in Mesopotamia. and Egypt. Analyses of starch residues found on very ancient archaeological sites in West Asia (Middle East) and China show that the malting technique dates back 13,000 years. This brewing technique is rooted in Europe since millenia. Malting became, with the acid amylolysis, the dominant method of brewing in Europe. The literature on malting is profuse.

1. Bedel A. 1894, Traité théorique et pratique de la brasserie, contenant l'analyse détaillée des méthodes les plus récentes appliquées à la fabrication de la bière ..., Garnier Frères éd. Paris.
2. Boullanger Eugène 1907, Industries agricoles de Fermentation : Brasserie, Hyrdomels, J. Baillère & Fils Paris.
3. Boullanger Eugène 1934, Malterie Brasserie 2 vols 3^ème éd., J. Baillère & Fils Paris.
4. Deckers Joseph 1968, Recherches sur les Brasseries de la région mosane au Moyen-Age, mémoire de licence université de Liège. Download here
5. De Clerck Jean 1948, Cours de Brasserie Vol. 1 Matières premières, Fabrication, Installations, Vol. 2 Méthodes d'Analyse, Contrôle de Fabication, Louvain.
   • Note the contents of the 2^nd volume. The chemistry laboratory, analysis and controls have been part of the brewer's profession since the beginning of the 20^th century.
6. Haggblade S., Holzapfel W. H. 1989, Industrialization of african indigeneous beer brewing, In Industrialization of fermented food, Steinkraus Keith (ed.), New York, 191:283.
7. Hébert Jean-Paul, Scriban René 1977, Cours de technologie professionnelle du CAP d'ouvrier brasseur-malteur,7 fascicules 3^ème éd. ENSIA.
   • A practical course without simplification.
8. Hesseltine C., Kurtzman C. 1990, Yeasts in amylolytic Food Starters, Anales Inst. Biol. Universitad Nac. Auton Mexico, Ser. Botanica 60(2), 1-7.
9. Johnson George Maw 1887, Traité pratique de la Brasserie et du Maltage anglais et fabrication des bières anglaises y compris leur adaptation aux systèmes belges et français, Canterbury.
10. Le Pileur d'Appligny 1783, Instructions sur l'art de faire la bière, 255 p. Paris.
    • Beer in antiquity; beer's healthful properties; of "vins de grains" in general; grains used to make beer; the growing and choice of barley; grain's preparation; how to grind the grain; choice of water and hops; observations on different beers; brewers in Paris and London; general comments on how to make beer; the ale of Avione; Flemish white ale; the beers of England; and how to cellar beer.
11. La Cambre G. 1856, Traité complet de la Fabrication de la bière et de la Distillation des Grains, Pommes de Terre, Betteraves, Topinambours, etc. T1 : De la Fabrication des Bières. T2 : De la Distillation, Bruxelles.
    • For the historian, this Treaty owes its value to the inventory it gives of special beers in Europe in the middle of the 19^th century, and of the sources of starch actually used by brewers, alongside barley and wheat. We thus find mentioned: oats, rye, buckwheat, maize, rice, legumes (beans, broad beans) and potatoes. Next to the hops, the following aromatic materials: coriander, caraway, seed of paradise, cayenne pepper, elderflower, aromatic calamus, ginger.
12. Laurent A. 1875, Dictionnaire de la Brasserie, Bruxelles.
13. Malepeyre F. 1903, Nouveau manuel complet du fabricant de Levure, traitant de sa composition chimique, de sa production et de son emploi dans l'industrie principalement dans la Brasserie, la Distillerie, …, Manuels-Roret, Paris.
    • Around 1900, it has been known for over a century that yeast is responsible for alcoholic fermentation. After the studies of Pasteur and Hansen, a new profession appeared: supplier of pure and specialized yeasts according to the fermented beverage (beer, wine, pure alcohol for spirits or liquors).
14. Nicholson G. Edward 1960, Chicha maize types and chicha manufacture in Peru, Economic Botany 14(4), 290:299.
15. Petit P., Raux J, Pierre L 1923, Brasserie et Malterie 2 vol., Paris.
16. Rifault, Vergaud et Malepeyre 1853, Nouveau Manuel Complet du Brasseur, ou l'Art de faire toutes sortes de Bières contenant les Procédés de cet art tels qu'ils sont usités en Angleterre, en France, en Belgique et en Allemagne …, Manuels-Roret, Paris.
    • In the middle of the 19^th century, these four countries were credited with a solid brewing tradition in Western Europe.
17. Rohart F. 1848, Traité Théorique et Pratique de la fabrication de la bière, Paris.
18. Schönfeld Franz 1930, Handbuch des Brauerei und Mälzerei, Band I & II, Verlag Paul Parey Berlin.
19. Soriano S. 1938, Estudio microbiológico del proceso de la “chicha”, Revista del Instituto Bacteriológico del Departamento Nacional de Higiene 8(3), 231:321.
20. Stika Hans-Peter 1998, Zu den biologischen Grünlagen des Brauens und der Kultivierungsgeschichte der Getreide, in Gerstensaft und Hirsebier, 5000 Jarhe Biergenuß, Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Nordwestdeutschland Helft 20, Schloßmuseum Jever Heflt 19, Oldenburg, 11:37.
    • The author reviews all the cereals used in brewing since antiquity, and the history of their domestication, without being limited to barley and wheat. But always from the point of view of the Western brewing tradition founded first on the method of germination of whole grains.
21. Teramoto Y., Okamoto K., Kayashima S., Ueda S. 1993, Rice Wine Brewing with Sprouting Rice and Barley Malt, in Journal of Fermentation and Biotechnology 75(6), 460:462.
    • An attempt to brew beer with germinated rice, compared to barley malt. To germinate, rice must not be husked in order to preserve the germ of the grains (Ueda 1992). The saccharifying power of germinated rice turns out to be much lower than that of barley malt.
22. Thomas Keith 2011, Beer: How it's made – The Basics of Brewing, in Liquid Bread. Beer and Brewing in Cross-Cultural Perspective ed. by Wulf Schiefenhövel & Hellen Macbeth, 35:46.
    • Only covers the malting brewing method. Simple summary of what is found in the manual of the amateur brewer. Disappointing, from a "Cross-cultural" perspective.
23. Titeux-Masson 1888, Moyen simple et pratique de faire des bières très claires en été, Bruxelles.
24. Van der Hulle L. 1890-91, Cours de Brasserie à l'usage des brasseurs, Gand.
25. Vanderstichele G. 1905, La Brasserie de fermentation haute, Turnhout.
26. Van Laer Marc H. 1937, La Bière, Paris.
27. Van Laer Marc H. 1942, La Chime des Fermentations T II: Brasserie, Paris.
28. Wauters P. E. 1798, Dissertation sur la manière de faire l'Uytzet et sur sa salubrité, Gand.
29. Zymurgy 1994 vol 17(4), Special ingredients and indigenous beer.
    • The Zymurgy magazine goes around traditional European beers (non-industrial = indigenous beers!). Sahti (Finland), Gotlandsdricka (Sweden), Steinbier (Germany), Keptinis Alus (Lithuania), Leann Fraoch (Scotland), Bouza (Egypt), Sorghum beer (Africa). Herbs, spices and fruits added to beer. Grains: oats, quinoa, rye, sorghum, rice. Twenty years ago, a timid opening of home brewing to the world of non-Western beers.

The 6 Brewing Paths (or Brewing Technologies)

Click one of the 6 brewing paths below or navigate through the left menu.

For the scientific overall studies on beer, consult "Science and technology".