Cereal Adjuncts

Making the wort with nothing but barley malt and hot water is the standard method in Germany, and in many U.S. microbreweries. In most large breweries in the United States and elsewhere, unmalted “adjunct” sources of carbohydrate—ground or flaked rice, corn, wheat, barley, even sugar—are commonly added to the liquid to lower the amount of malt needed, and so the brewer’s production costs. Unlike malt, they contribute little or no flavor of their own. They’re therefore mostly limited to pale, mild brews like standard American lagers, which may start with almost as much adjunct grain as malt.