BrewingScience issue March/April 2026 out now

Nuremberg | In the latest BrewingScience issue 3/4 2026, the authors investigate strategies to identify and overcome challenges in scaling up malted rice for commercial malting and brewing. The brief article abstract below provides a good initial overview of the topic.

Identifying and overcoming challenges in scaling up malted rice for commercial malting and brewing (B. P. Guimaraes, H. Rani, S. Lafontaine)

Barley has long been the primary grain used for malting and brewing, but projected declines in barley yield, growing demand for gluten-free products, and interest in novel flavours are creating a market for alternative malts. Rice, a high-yielding, gluten-free crop with stable production forecasts, shows strong potential but remains underexplored at an industrial scale. This study evaluated the scale-up of malting for four rice varieties from laboratory batches (~0.5 kg) to pilot-scale production (~150 kg), with trials conducted across two malthouses and six breweries.

Compared with barley, rice kernels exhibited distinct morphological and physiological characteristics, including a slenderer grain shape, lower germination energy, and reduced water uptake capacity. These traits created handling challenges during steeping and transport, requiring equipment modifications. Despite these hurdles, pilot-scale malting produced viable malt with extract yields of 38–64% and free amino nitrogen levels comparable to barley. Enzymatic activity profiles revealed lower α- and β-amylase activity, but significantly higher glucoamylase and limit dextrinase activity.

Brewing trials demonstrated the potential of malted rice as an adjunct capable of contributing novel flavour and colour attributes. However, adequate malt modification or the use of exogenous enzymes was essential to prevent stuck mashes caused by starch gelatinization. Sensory evaluation highlighted cereal-like and nutty notes in non-pigmented malted rice, sake-like notes in aromatic varieties, and smoky characteristics in the pigmented variety, which also produced a purple-coloured wort.

Overall, this work provides the first industrial-scale assessment of malted rice, demonstrating its technical feasibility and its distinct enzymatic and sensory contributions to brewing. Although process adjustments are required, malted rice offers a promising pathway to diversify brewing raw materials, expand gluten-free beer production, and reduce reliance on barley under a changing climate.