A Study on the Suitability of Unmalted Triticale as a Brewing Adjunct

Abstract

Although not essential in brewing, adjuncts are used in most countries for cost-reduction purposes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the brewing properties of unmalted triticale—an amphidiploid between wheat and rye—in comparison with those of commercial brewing adjuncts, such as brewers' rice or maize grits. Furthermore, a suitable mashing regime was designed. Laboratory-scale experiments were carried out at adjunct ratios of 0, 30, and 60%, calculated as fermentable substance. We demonstrate that a modest preliquefaction method (64°C for 10 min at pH 5.9) with triticale and 10% malt followed by an infusion process is the most suitable to convert malt–triticale grists. When using this procedure, the carbohydrate composition of triticale worts did not deviate from that of traditional adjunct worts and the triticale worts displayed soluble-nitrogen contents similar to those of all-malt worts. When using triticale, 10–15% higher adjunct ratios could be employed to obtain similar free amino nitrogen levels of wort compared with those of control worts from commercial adjuncts. Compared with 100% malt, 30% triticale increased the wort viscosity by 10% but did not significantly affect filtration rates. We conclude that triticale is highly suitable to serve as a brewing adjunct.