For brewers to be able to use larger quantities of Kernza in a grain bill, the grain would need to be malted, but its small kernel size can make it hard to work with in the malthouse. “Some of these perennials that have been shown to us simply don’t have the kernel size that’s adequate to even perform inside our machines,” says Dave Green, CEO at Skagit Valley Malting.
While Green had some challenges with Kernza, he had much better results with malting another perennial that was developed just a few blocks away from his facility.