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Beer Adjuncts
Classification of Cereal Adjuncts
Cereal adjuncts are classified according to the way they are used in brewing, i.e., by whether they are added to the cooker, the mash tun, or the brew kettle.
Cooker Mash Adjuncts
The cooker mash adjuncts consist of nongelatinized cereal products (meal, grits, flour, or dry starch) whose starches are in their native forms. A nongelatinized adjunct needs to be heated in a separate cereal cooker to complete liquefaction since the starch gelatinization temperature of the adjunct is higher than that used for the malt saccharification (starch hydrolysis) temperature. The cooked adjunct is then added directly to the mash in either the mash tun or mash conversion vessel, once it has completed its proteolytic stand. The malt enzymes from the standard mash can be used to hydrolyze the starch from the adjunct, converting it to sugars ready for fermentation. In some cases, starch hydrolysis can be augmented or replaced by adding commercially-available exogenous enzymes (bacterial alpha-amylase) directly to the mash in either the mash tun or mash conversion vessel. Table 6.1 shows typical gelatinization temperatures for various adjuncts.
Mash Tun Adjuncts
The adjunct can be mashed directly with the malt in either the mash tun or mash conversion vessel when the starch gelatinization temperature of the adjunct is lower than the malt saccharification temperature required for mashing or the adjunct has been pregelatinized (e.g., for flakes, torrified cereals, and refined starches). Whole grain wheat and barley can be mashed this way after being milled. The amount of raw grain that can be converted will depend on the diastatic power of the malt. Exogenous enzymes can be added to allow the use of higher levels of raw grains.
Brew Kettle Adjuncts
Kettle adjuncts consist of cereal grain syrups and sucrose sugar. The British and the Australians commonly use syrups and sugars, whereas the rest of the world uses cereal adjuncts such as corn, rice, and wheat.
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