Use of sorghum malt in brewing: review

Abstract Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is the main cereal used in beer production, but is imported in most of the tropical and subtropical countries. This increases the production costs, without satisfying the market demand for gluten-free beverages. Sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is one of the cereals that can also be used in brewing, and, unlike barley, is gluten-free and hence recommended for celiac patients. Thus interest in the use of sorghum malt to replace barley malt in beverage production has increased recently. However, the main difficulties encountered in the production of fermented beverages using sorghum malt have been the low level of hydrolytic enzymes and high gelatinization temperature. Hence the objective of this review was to evaluate the main factors affecting malting processes (drying and germination, steeping time and temperature) and mashing with sorghum malt (pH and temperature of the enzymes and methods used) in gluten-free beer production.