Phospates in malt
Phosphate is a mineral and compared to the other compounds of barley is the amount
of minerals pretty low. But the minerals are important for the metabolism of plants (very useful while malting) and for some brewing technical matters later on. Zinc, for instance, is responsible for a healthy and active yeast, oxalates for beerstone and especially the phosphates are involved with the pH-value in mash, wort and final beer. Minerals in wort are almost completely influenced by the malt and neglectable by the brewing liquor. Admitted, the brewing process itself has a certain influence to the mineral content in wort (eg amount of sparge liquor), but it still depends mainly on the malt. Phosphates have the property to accept or to donate, up to a certain point of course, H+-ions or other protons. That means, they can react both as an acid as well as a caustic. This function is also called buffer effect.
Specifications of the delivery of barley to maltsters and of malt to brewers
As it is known, barley and its product malt is one of the main raw material for the brewing process. Both, maltsters and brewers, are interested in getting the best available material to harm possible occurring problems during processes like lautering, filtration, and so on. For example it has been shown that the malt raw material is one of the main causes of filtration problems. Therefore the raw materials have to be looked up, especially in its specifications which are often referred to as indices. Only good indices will lead to a perfect product. This specifications are written down in contracts.
Meaning of proanthocyanidin-free barley
For ordinary the beer customer awaits of his beer a good quality with a special flavour, a certain colour, a good foam stability and absence of haze. Moreover the breweries expect of their raw materials specific brewing properties for saving money. Each single of these requirements cannot be satisfied completely. Therefore compromises must always be sought. At the latest then, when the breweries decided becoming bigger and bigger (the longer the distance, the more distribution time), and when the "best before"- label was introduced for beer.
Special procedures for barley
First it is to say that a whole grist load of malt from abraded barley is only useful for breweries that are working with mashfilters. The discovery of abraded barley was more or less an accident. In 1908 Rigaud recognized that the grains that was damaged by harvesting or on the transport were faster in pregerminating.
