FerMa – Fermentation of green malt for sustainable beverage production

Barley malt is one of the most widely used ingredients in fermented beverages, especially in beer and spirits. The beverage industry consumes major amounts of energy and other resources, which bring about the need for innovation that can contribute to the green transition and ensure sustainable beverages.

This project aims at developing a new malting process where barley kernels are processed in brewery equipment and used directly in the brewing process as green malt, omitting the kilning. This requires controlled germination with optimal microbiological conditions and process adaptions to fit the process to brewing facilities. The green malt will be characterized by lower energy consumption, high microbial diversity and enzymatic capacity as well as an interesting flavor potential.

The project will study different barley varieties for microbiota development during germination, their flavor potential and enzymatic capacity. Further, the potential of adding a starter culture during germination will be evaluated on flavor and enzymatic capacity. In addition to developing the green malting process, the project will perform test fermentations for prototypes of new beverages.

This project is part of the first steps in enabling a shortened supply chain for breweries and reconnecting farmers and brewers, which will create savings and stimulate innovation.