Malt exhibiting low friability or excessive glassiness can cause problems during the lautering process, wort clarification, fermentation, beer clarification and filtration. Crop year and barley variety are known to influence friability.
The friability of malt kernels is determined through an abrasive treatment in a device called a friabilimeter.
The method is suitable for all commercial malts produced using two-rowed summer barley and for samples collected during the malting process using this type of barley, as long as they can be dried to a specific moisture content beforehand. Due to its high husk content, malt produced using winter barley can yield results which vary from those of spring barley.
Malt intended for use in beer brewing or elsewhere in the food industry.
The malt is placed in a stainless steel wire sieve drum. For a designated time period, the kernels are pressed against the rotating wire sieve drum by a roller, whereby the friable portion of the malt falls through the sieve, while the glassy portion is retained in the drum.