Editing Malt (section)

==Malting==
{{Main|Malting}}
[[File:Highland park malting floor.jpg|thumb|Barley is spread out on the floor of a malthouse during a traditional malting process.]]

Malting is the process of converting barley or other cereal grains into malt for use in brewing, [[distilling]], or foods, and takes place in a [[maltings]], sometimes called a malthouse, or a malting floor. The cereal is spread out on the malting floor in a layer of {{convert|8|to|12|cm|frac=2|abbr=off}} depth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Malting – Whisky.com |url=http://www.whisky.com/information/knowledge/production/details/malting.html |website=www.whisky.com}}</ref> 

;Drying
:The malting process starts with drying the grains to a moisture content below 14% and then storing for around six weeks to overcome [[seed dormancy]]. 
;Steeping
:When ready, the grain is immersed or [[Steeping|steeped]] in water two or three times for two or three days to allow the grain to absorb moisture and to start to [[Sprouting|sprout]]. 
;Germination
:When the grain has a moisture content of around 46%, it is transferred to the malting or germination floor, where it is constantly turned over for about four to six days while it is air-dried.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UK Malt, the Maltsters' Association of Great Britain {{!}} How malt is made |url=http://www.ukmalt.com/how-malt-made |access-date=24 February 2019 |website=www.ukmalt.com}}</ref> 
;Pre-toasting
:The grain at this point, called "green malt", is then dried and toasted in an oven (or [[kiln]]) to the desired color and specification.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Malt is Made |url=http://www.ukmalt.com/howmaltismade/maltmade.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717150131/http://www.ukmalt.com/howmaltismade/maltmade.asp |archive-date=17 July 2011 |access-date=26 March 2011 |publisher=www.ukmalt.com}}</ref> Malts range in color from very pale through crystal and amber to chocolate or black malts.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Michael Lewis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cr9Pv0gefCQC&q=pale+malt+chocolate+malt&pg=PA204 |title=Brewing |last2=Tom W. Young |date=31 October 2002 |publisher=Springer, 2002 |isbn=9780306472749 |page=204 |access-date=26 March 2011}}</ref>
;Smoking
:The sprouted grain is then further dried and smoked by spreading it on a perforated wooden floor. Smoke coming from an [[oast]]ing [[fireplace]] (via smoke channels) is then used to heat the wooden floor and the sprouted grains. The temperature is usually around {{convert|55|C|F}}. 

A "maltings" is typically a long, single-storey building with a floor that slopes slightly from one end of the building to the other. Floor maltings began to be phased out in the 1940s in favor of "pneumatic plants", where large industrial fans are used to blow air through the germinating grain beds and to pass hot air through the malt being kilned. Like floor maltings, these pneumatic plants use batch processes, but of considerably greater size, typically 100-ton batches compared with 20-ton batches floor maltings.

{{Anchor|Malteurop}}{{As of|2014}}, the largest malting operation in the world was Malteurop, which operates in 14 countries.<ref name="ap2015jan">{{Cite news |date=4 January 2015 |title=Bad barley crop probably won't affect beer prices |work=[[Frederick News-Post]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=http://www.fredericknewspost.com/public/associated_press/bad-barley-crop-probably-won-t-affect-beer-prices/article_61aece21-88b7-5481-bbaf-3690ecbedbca.html}}</ref>