How does the malting process work? Enzymes are formed in the barleycorn which means the fermentable malt sugar can be extracted from the barley starch. Without this important stage, beer wouldn't be so easily digestible. The first step is to steep the grains in water, letting them soak for one to two days until they reach the right water content (on our scale: 40). Next, the grains are turned and loosened in the germinating box producing "green malt" once they are well aerated. The green malt is then dried in hot air in a process called kiln drying which releases the typical malty aroma.
Right from the word go, the Bitburger Brewery has run its own malthouse, processing brewing barley from local sources. From 1879, malt from the highlands of the Eifel and Thuringia diversified the regional supply and ensured that only the highest quality beer was produced. To this day, the brewery continues to source its malt from selected suppliers who process the brewing barley from the best growing areas in Germany and the Champagne region of France.