Malt & Grain

What malt goes into an Italian lager? Mostly pale barley malt. The barley is first soaked, allowed to germinate, and then kilned, or dried, at gentle heat in the malthouse. The gentler the kilning, the paler the malt stays.

This pale malt gives a lager like Moretti's Baffo d'Oro its golden color and a soft, slightly bready sweetness. How strong the beer tastes depends on the original gravity, the dissolved sugar content of the wort before fermentation, measured in degrees Plato.

Italian law classifies beer by this original gravity, which is where the term "Doppio Malto" comes from. It stands for a beer with more malt, meaning higher original gravity and usually more alcohol. Moretti produces its own style under this name.

Darker malt brings color to the reddish styles. Roasted or caramel malt turns the wort amber to red and lends aromas of caramel and baked goods. A Rossa like Moretti's shows this difference from the pale lager right in the glass. The degree of roasting determines whether the beer tastes of fresh bread, toast, or caramel.

Brewers and maltsters trained at a dedicated school in Feltre, and the Luciani brewery built on that knowledge. Birrificio Gjulia calls itself "agricola" and claims to control the entire process from barley to beer. Small operations like this show just how much craftsmanship goes into the malt.