During this treatment root sprouts emerge, but not the stems. For making beer the dried malt is crushed between rollers, mixed in proper proportions with slightly warm water, and held under rigidly controlled temperatures. The starch is converted by enzymatic reaction into maltose and dextrins. Proteins are also broken down by enzyme action. Upon completion of this process the solids settle out, the extract is filtered, then boiled with hops to add flavor, then cooled.
Yeast is added to ferment the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Keg beer is similar but is not pasteurized or bottled. Barley for human food is made into pearl barley by using abrasive disks to grind the hulls and bran off the kernels. At this stage the remaining kernel part is known as pot barley. Two or three additional pearlings produce pearl barley, in which most of the embryo is removed. These later pearlings also produce barley flour.