Optimisation of Steeping Program in Malt Industry

Abstract Malt is the major cereal grain used in beer processing. It results from the transformation of Barley along the three main steps of the malting process: steeping, germination and kilning. The malt quality is strongly correlated to the set-up of the steeping phase. The later consists of 2 or 3 sequential cycles of wet steeps and air rests. In this work the steeping program durations which optimise the malt quality, expressed as friability, are determined. In order to perform this optimisation, a mathematical model is constructed using an iterative experimental design. Both model and the resulting optimal steeping conditions are experimentally validated.