Malt & Grain

Behind the coastal towns begins the Wheatbelt, Western Australia's grain belt. Wheat grows there above all, but also barley, the foundation of malt. Malt is barley that has been moistened, allowed to germinate, and then dried and roasted with warm air in the kiln, so its starch later turns to sugar during the mash.

Australia has no purity law like Germany's. Brewers may use ingredients beyond barley, such as wheat, sugar, or spices. Even so, the breweries of this region mostly stick to the classics for their flagship beers: barley malt, hops, water, and yeast, with wheat added in some varieties.

The malt for Pale Ale is pale, kilned gently—that is, dried at low temperatures—so it keeps its light colour. A portion of caramel malt, briefly heated in its moist husk during kilning, lends a touch of sweetness and a hint of amber to the glass. Lager likewise uses pale malt, and its flavour stays even leaner.

Darker beers follow different rules. How dark a malt becomes depends on how long and how hot it's roasted: the heavier the roast, the more colour and roasted aroma, ranging from toast to coffee. Feral Brewing makes a Smoked Porter, a dark beer with a smoky note that comes from smoked malt. The Feral White is a Belgian-style wheat beer, where wheat carries the body and the yeast contributes fruit and spice.