Brewing With Briess |
- How Many Barley Kernels are in a Bottle of Beer?
- 5S Program for Brewery Excellence
- We’re Jazzed about CBC/GABF!
| How Many Barley Kernels are in a Bottle of Beer? Posted: 12 Aug 2021 06:45 AM PDT  Questions like this may keep us up at night. They can also be the perfect starting point for a conversation at the bar or around the table. Let's explore this subject… Every time I see the results of a certain test commonly done in the barley and malting industry, I do a double-take. The test has a variety of official methods, such as ASBC-Barley-2D, but is generally known as the 1,000 Kernel Weight (TKW) test. I find the result simply unbelievable. Every time I use it, I need to validate my math and, on several occasions, have run over to the analytical balance with a jar full of barley to double-check. MethodologyWhat is the scientific method for this valuable test? If you guessed counting 1,000 kernels and weighing them, you would be right-ish. There are automatic seed counting machines that can do this job with 100% accuracy. Though this is an acceptable method for a machine, plucking 1,000 kernels with tweezers and weighing them is quite time-consuming. Grain scientists have shown that counting a smaller number and "doing the math" provides a statistically valid result. The ASBC-Barley-2D method mentioned above requires counting about 350 kernels in the manual method. So, literally, don't take the name of the test literally. GrowingHow are results of the analysis used? TKW is important to barley growers because they use it to determine how much seed to buy based on their desired seeding rate. Farmers buy barley based on weight (bushels) but want to grow a specific number of plants per area (typically acres in North America) for optimum yield. TKW allows them to determine how much seed they need to buy to achieve the desired plant population, as detailed in the link here. MaltingMaltsters use TKW only as a general indicator of quality and expected yield after cleaning, because the correlation between the average weight of the kernels and the grain factors that are most meaningful to maltsters, such as the number of kernels of different sizes, isn't absolute. Maltsters regularly use plumpness and assortment as more valuable analyses to determine expected yield and what malting parameters need to be used. This is because the malting process is highly dependent on size of the kernels. Kernel size determines how fast a kernel takes up water and how fast it grows. It is so important that maltsters sort the barley by size prior to malting in order to get all the growing plants behaving most similarly during malting. If a crop of barley has a lot of small kernels it will have a very low yield of plump, high-quality malt. Malt made from small kernels is often not suitable for brewing because of high protein and other factors and is often used for distilling/food products, though it may be blended with plump malt as long as finished malt quality specs are satisfied. BrewingBrewers typically don't use TKW, though it can be measured and I have seen it on a specification before. Really, it's not the number of kernels that matter to the brewer, it's the assortment. Brewers really have very little use for this analysis and most don't know what a typical value is. So, what is the typical weight of 1,000 kernels of barley? About 45 grams. About the same as three tablespoons of water for 1,000 kernels! Almost nothing. Unbelievable, right? This means that a pound of barley contains about 10,000 kernels. If that's right (and it is) it means in our two malthouses we grow more barley seeds each day than there are people on planet earth! Billions of seeds per day and over 2 trillion seeds per year. Even Carl Sagan would be impressed by these numbers. Indeed, the most value I've gotten as a brewer/maltster from TKW is the sense of awe it inspires in me about the difficulty and miracle that is malting. Imagine getting every person on earth moving in the same direction and growing at the same rate using just temperature, moisture, and care. ConclusionTo get to the headline hook that may have brought you here… The average bottle of craft brewed beer is made from about 2,000 kernels of barley malt. There is about a factor of two variance, either way, depending on style but that's the average. Amazing, huh? There are about two hop cones per bottle unless it’s an IPA in which case there may be up to ten. Still, it's better than growing yeast; the average amount of yeast cells pitched into a bottle of beer is 5 billion (5,000,000,000)! So the next time you raise a glass of your favorite craft beer, celebrate all the ingredients that went into producing such glorious flavor, body, and color. Cheers! |
| 5S Program for Brewery Excellence Posted: 11 Aug 2021 10:56 AM PDT  It can be helpful for any organization to identify and communicate their core operating principles. That may include guidelines such as "Keep it organized" and "Everything has its place". The "5S" methodology can help a brewery stay focused as they grow. It can also help put the entire team on the same page about what is expected for a clean, well-organized, and safe brewery. Wasatch & Squatters Brewery (W&S) in Salt Lake City, UT was the first brewery in the CANarchy Group to implement 5S workplace organization methodology, and this is a summary of their story.  5S is a method of workplace organization based on five Japanese words: seiri, seiton, seisล, seiketsu, and shitsuke. In English they are translated as:
The program is executed over a 120-day period where you achieve certain percentage goals at each of the four months until an organization is 100% implemented.  2020 began almost like any other year for a growing brewery wanting to implement new projects, and W&S decided to implement the 5S program. COVID slowed down progress for a couple of months, but they were back on track and ready to take on the project by mid-year. W&S Brewery completed its 120-day implementation in November 2020, and since then all the breweries in the CANarchy group have implemented the program. Results of the program are still being measured, and a number of benefits have been observed:
 Once implemented and operational a monthly audit of the physical area is conducted and quantifiable documentation takes place, including communication with those responsible for specific work areas. This regular plant follow-up assures the new system is being utilized, which helps shape the work culture. In my opinion, a 5S program should be considered for every new brewery's business plan. |
| Posted: 11 Aug 2021 08:05 AM PDT  CBC/GABF is just around the corner, and we're stoked about connecting in person with as many of you as possible. The event is being held in Denver from September 9-12 and it will be exciting to get together again! Stop by booth #1219 to talk with our sales and technical experts and find out what's new from Briess. (Hint: we've introduced three new specialty malts during the past two years.) You won't want to miss the opening night reception sponsored by Briess. On opening night and every day of the show, we'll be sampling some special beers that use Briess malt:
If you want to take your sensory skills to the next level, we'll be offering hands-on demos of the hot steep method. It was originally developed by Briess' technical team and since then has become widely used across the industry. You'll also be able to win cool stuff by throwing dice in "Shake of the Day", a popular Wisconsin bar game. Let's raise a glass to the awesome industry we have the privilege to work in. Hope to see you there! |
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