Malt & Grain

A Fino pours straw-yellow because its malt was only lightly kilned. Malt is barley that's been moistened and allowed to germinate for a few days before drying in a kiln. The hotter the kiln, the darker the beer that follows.

Pilsner malt is the name for this pale variety, and it's the standard base for lagers of this style. It contributes little color, a mild sweetness, and enough fermentable sugar for the yeast. In flavor it recalls fresh bread crust and a touch of honey, never roasted notes.

The grain of the north, however, is corn. Small cornfields dot the Minho, and its flour goes into broa de milho, a dense, slightly sweet corn bread. It's eaten with caldo verde, the region's kale soup, or alongside grilled sardines.

In beer, though, corn is a point of contention. In Germany, Section 9 of the Provisional Beer Law permits only barley malt for bottom-fermented beer. Elsewhere, brewers of pale lagers replace part of the malt with corn or rice to lighten the body.

That said, the brewery doesn't need a special regional variety for its pale malt. What matters is that the barley germinates evenly and the malt ends up pale and clean-tasting. Each brewery blends its own mix, and that blend determines how full, sweet, or dry the finished beer will taste.

A Portuguese beer is subject to the laws of its own country. Under the import rule in Section 1(2) of the German Beer Ordinance, it may still be called beer in Germany as long as it's legally sold as beer in Portugal.