In the brewing process of craft beer, most countries in the world use cereal accessories to produce beer. Cereal accessories mainly refer to unmalted grains, sugars, and syrups. The selection of these special malts, wheat malts, and other substitutes not only helps reduce production costs but also improves beer’s flavor. The selection of cereal accessories should be adapted to local conditions, considering local resources and market prices. Starch-rich grains (such as barley, wheat, corn, rice, millet, soybeans, etc.) and sugars or syrups should be preferred. It is necessary to ensure that they are added without increasing the difficulty of filtration and affecting the flavor, foam, and color of beer.
Using sugar or syrup as an auxiliary raw material can not only increase the yield of wort but also adjust the proportion of sugar in the wort and enhance the fermentation degree of beer. The protein content and easily oxidized polyphenols of cereal accessories are much lower than those of malt, which helps to reduce the color of beer, optimize the flavor, and improve the non-biological stability of beer. In addition, the addition of certain cereal accessories (such as wheat) can also increase the sugar and protein content in beer, thereby improving the foam performance.
While following the traditional brewing process, the addition ratio of cereal accessories is usually controlled between 10% and 50%, and this ratio will be adjusted according to the consumption habits, beer types, and quality requirements of different countries and regions. The added cereal accessories should ensure the production of normal fermentation products during the wort brewing process to meet consumers’ pursuit of beer quality.
Overall, the use of cereal accessories aims to use affordable, starch-rich grains as an effective supplement to malt, thereby increasing wort yield, reducing raw material costs, and maximizing economic benefits.
