DRYING KINETICS FOR PROCESSED MALT AND LOCAL CEREAL BASE FOR CRAFT BEER

Abstract

Introduction:
The brewing industry stands out as one of the main agro-industries globally. Malt bagasse, the predominant residue in fermentation by-products, has high humidity, requiring drying for its reduction.
Objective:
To determine the drying kinetics and its parameters to analyze the behavior of processed malt and local cereal base for craft beer through the use of dryers with and without air flow at different temperatures.
Materials and Methods:
Random experimental methodology with three repetitions per process. Malt samples from beer fermentation were dried at 45°C and 55 °C, with/ without airflow, based on diffusion as the main mechanism and Fick´s Second Law.
Results and Discussion:
It was found that the best result to reduce humidity during drying was obtained in the equipment with air flow at 55 °C. Obtaining uniform values in the kinetic curve,  therefore a diffusion mechanism is suggested as a way to eliminate moisture. On the other hand, in the equipment without air flow the results diverge from the first ones since a capillary drying mechanism is described, due to the adhesion of the material to the bottom of the trays of the drying equipment.
Conclusions:
It is concluded that the type of drying equipment directly influences the drying kinetics for processed malts, depending on the initial amount of moisture and the temperature used in the process.