Malt & Grain

The foundation of an American IPA is usually simple. Pale barley malt forms the base, with a dash of caramel malt added. It's heated moist in the kiln until the starch in the kernel converts to sugar, giving the beer color, sweetness, and body. This leaves room for the hops to take center stage.

How much malt a beer carries shows up in the original gravity. That's the dissolved sugar in the wort before fermentation, measured in degrees Plato. According to the style guidelines, an American IPA sits between 13.8 and 17.1 degrees Plato, an Imperial Stout between 18.2 and 27. More sugar means more alcohol later on.

Dark beers need roasted grain. Founders Breakfast Stout, according to the brewery, comes with oats, chocolate, and coffee, the oats giving it a soft, full-bodied texture. The Kentucky Breakfast Stout, or KBS, adds aging in bourbon barrels.

Wheat plays a role in summer. Bell's Oberon is an American-style wheat beer, pale, hazy, and somewhat fruity, sold in spring and summer.

The kiln also makes a difference. Pale malt is dried at moderate heat and stays light-colored, while roasted malt goes nearly black in the drum and delivers coffee and chocolate flavors. Bell's in Kalamazoo and Founders in Grand Rapids use both, depending on the beer.

The old Detroit lagers were built differently. Many American brewers of the 19th century mixed corn or rice in with the barley malt to make the beer lighter and crisper. That still holds true today for the majority of the country's lagers.