Malt Extract
All over the world demand for natural colourant and the general demand for extracts originating from malt, barley, oats, rye and wheat as well as from other cereals, is continuously increasing. These extracts can be liquid (at 80°P) or solid (powder or pellets).
Malt extract's applications are numerous in the food & beverage industry. Indeed, malt extract is more and more often used in candies, bakery products, sauces and the brewing industry. It's also used in the pharmaceutical industry and dairies. Malt extract from high diastatic malt is used as a natural source of alpha and beta amylase, betaglucanase, and other enzymes mostly used in the baking industry.
There are multiple advantages for the consumer. Malt extract and colourant are natural, healthy and are not obtained from genetically modified raw materials.
Malt extract can be produced from several cereals such as oats, rye, barley, wheat, malt or roasted malt or from a cereal mix with rice, sorghum, millet, corn, etc.
Production Plant:
The malt extract production plant consists of a mash conversion vessel, a Meura 2001 mash filter and heavy and weak wort vessels.
The first two steps in extract production are the milling and the brewing process, and the final step, the concentration.
In order to provide the highest density before concentration using less evaporation energy, Meura developed an extract production process including the Meura 2001 mash filter, which is the only technology allowing extracts up to 30°P before evaporation
The following table shows the principle of the process
It is important to define at the beginning the kind of extract to be produced. Indeed, some modifications in the milling and brewing equipment and changes in the brewing process have to occur depending on the choice and characteristics of the final product. Nevertheless the equipment for the concentration stage can remain the same (evaporator and spray dryer).
First step: the milling
-
-
More than 70 % of the extracts are produced from malt or barley.
To guarantee 100% extraction yield (= laboratory yield) as well as to guarantee the clearest possible wort, the malt must be milled very finely. Meura, having always been intent to offer its customers the best technology, developed different milling systems taking the specification of the different used raw material into account.
For raw material with a moisture content of 4% and over, Meura offers the Classicmill, which is a ventilated hammer mill with horizontal shaft. The Classicmill affords several advantages. First of all, it can finely grind malt, barley, sorghum and some cereals with a moisture content up to 15 %. Then, thanks to the ventilated hammer mill, the risk of having the mill blocked because of the accumulation of gums due to humidity can be overcome, as are the risks of burning or explosion.
For the milling of some cereals rich in cellulosic fibres like oats, or for the production of extract from powdery products such as dark malt or roasted barley, or for the production of enzymatic malt extracts from green malt, Meura offers the Hydromill. This device has been developed to finely grind cereals under water. It offers a perfectly controlled milling process.
Second step: Brewing Process
- The Mashing-in
During the mashing in process, particular attention should be paid to obtaining a wort with the highest possible density after filtration and before evaporation so as to reduce the investment cost of the evaporator as well as the costs of evaporation itself.
A thick mash (between 25°P and 30°P) needs to be produced. Weak wort coming from the previous brew can be used for mashing-in and, if required, partly also during the initial sparging cycle of the mash filter to achieve densities of about 30°P. During the mix of the grist and the brewing liquor some problems of lump formation can occur. To avoid this, Meura has developed the Mechamasher, an ideal complement to the Classicmill. The Mechamasher produces a lump free mix up to 30 to 35°P. The Mechamasher achieves a water/malt ratio as low as 1.5 L/Kg.
By entering the mash tun from the bottom, Meura takes care to avoid on one hand the oxygen pick up and, on the other hand, shear forces during the brewing process thanks to special agitators. This technique then encourages a better mash filtration due to the non-formation of large molecules responsible for a high viscosity.
Meura has experience with brews up to 35°P.
Meura has further developed the AFLOSjet system. The mash is heated up by injection of clean steam directly into the mash; this also avoids the burning of the double jackets and subsequent fouling which is particularly important with high density brews.
- Filtration
As the aim of malt extract production is to obtain the clearest possible wort as well as a wort with the highest density, filtration should be assured by the Meura 2001 mash filter.
The Meura 2001 mash filter is a thin bed membrane-assisted mash filter which offers numerous advantages for malt extract production.
One of these advantages is that the precompression stage allows the recovery of more than 80 % of the total extract before sparging. Related to this fact, the sparging liquor is only 2 l per kg malt equivalent. Even weak wort can be re-used in the first step of sparging to obtain higher final extract.
Thus the Meura 2001 mash filter assures a clear and dense wort between 25 and 30°P before evaporation.
For more information, do not hesitate to contact us.
MEURA • 1 Rond Point J.-B. Meura B-7600 Péruwelz (Belgium) • Phone : +32 69 88 69 88 • Fax : +32 69 88 69 80
Website : http;//www.meura.be • E-mail : sales@meura.com