Whisky malt made from Prospect barley

The whisky trend continues to pick up speed, and Germany is no exception. Distilleries are coming up with daring new creations leading to an increasingly diversified product range for whiskies.

BESTMALZ is accommodating to the specific requirements of branding malts and, for a limited time, is currently offering the Prospect barley variety. This malt is not only suitable for breweries, but also perfectly tailored to distilleries – thanks to the lack of glycosidic nitrile content (in short: a non-GN variety).

The nitrile content is the most important characteristic when using a barley variety for distillation, because under certain circumstances glycosidic nitrile can react with ethanol during the distillation process. This creates ethyl carbamate – a harmful substance. Its formation can be reduced by implementing suitable measures during the distillation process. However, in order to get to the root of the problem, research has been carried out for years to develop barleys which have little or no amounts of glycosidic nitrile. A barley variety is considered non-GN if it is below 0.5g glycosidic nitrile per ton of malt. “Prospect” barley passes this test with flying colors.

A short profile:

• for use as base malt: use in up to 100% of the grain bill possible
• ideal basis for use with higher specialty malt proportions
• very high enzymatic power
• light, golden yellow color up to max. 4.9 EBC
• very good extract content and low protein values
• optimal germination and thus uniform solubility properties thanks to a double steeping process
• very homogeneous malt due to the low height of the germination box