The Malting ProcessThe malting process starts with raw barley grain, harvested from the field. The grain is dry when brought into the malt house, but the first step is to immerse the grain into water to raise the water content up enough to get the barley seeds to sprout.Within a day or so the barley

The main difference between stout and porter is that stout is a dark beer made with roasted malt or barley, while porter is a dark beer made with smoked malt. Both are brewed with hops, yeast and water.

Most source water has a pH reading of between 6.5 and 8.5, making it more alkaline than the generally agreed upon optimal mash pH range of 5.2 to 5.8. Yeast grows and multiplies much more rapidly at a pH higher than 5.0 (5.5 is optimal), but fermentation is more efficient if the pH reading is below