Effect of malting temperature and mashing methods on sorghum wort composition and beer flavour

The effect of temperature of malting and mashing methods on sorghum wort composition and beer flavour was studied. Malting was carried out at two different temperatures of 20 and 25°C for 5 days. Mashing methods adopted included infusion at 65°C, decantation at 80°C and decantation at 100°C. More than 80% of the sorghum wort constituents showed a correlation between time and temperature of malting and sorghum wort composition (P = 0.01). Wort composition and development of flavour compounds were higher in sorghum malt mashed with either decantation at 80 or 100°C than infusion at 65°C. Decantation at 100°C gave the best results. Infusion mashing was better for barley malt when compared with decantation mashing. In contrast, decantation mashing was better for sorghum malt than infusion mashing. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.