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Sorghum Seed Standard 1 (draft): Today's Process

The standard Gluten Free Brewer uses today, and the one we'll keep using: external enzymes do the converting, so the job is to make the best of the sorghum that exists. Thirteen properties decide whether a cultivar makes good gluten-free beer: the grain has to be safe, sound, gluten-free, full of extract and good to taste, with enough FAN for the yeast. The enzymes don't count.

Status: proposed, draft v0.3, never ratified by anyone. It's written for brewers and maltsters, and covers non-tannin (Type I) sorghum in this site's process, where external enzymes own conversion. The future specification, a sorghum that could replace barley in the same process, is Seed Standard 2. The properties belong to the cultivar; most are confirmed on each lot, on the malt certificate.

The standard​

#PropertyWhat it does in the beerAsk forBasis
1Tannin classTannin binds the enzymes and brings astringencyNon-tannin (Type I), confirmed. "Pericarp color is not the test"Tannin and non-tannin sorghum
2ExtractHow much grain the recipe needs for its gravityFine-grind extract, dry basis, with the grind stated. Bard's production malts ran 66.8–76.8%; set your floor from your recipe's costingHartwick 2019
3Protein"Every point of protein is a point not available as starch"9–12% d.b., ideally 9–10.5%GFB-MSS, Profile A
4FANThe yeast's food. Too little, and the beer shows stress characterReported in mg/L, with its method. Bard's production malts ran 46–87 mg/L against a yeast requirement of 130–150 mg/L, so plan the nutrientHartwick 2019; GFB-SDP
5ColourWhere the base sits before any roastMalt colour with its unit (°SRM or °L). Pale sorghum malt ran 0.9–2.1 SRM across six lab reports; white read 1.0 and red 1.77 in one lab's panelReading a certificate
6Gelatinization temperatureWhether the starch opens in your mashDeclared, with its method. Sorghum starch gelatinizes across 154–178°F (68–81°C); four K-State hybrids began at a DSC onset of 61.75–65.51°CCraig's Hybrid; K-State results
7Haze and filtrationHow the mash runs off and how bright the beer getsLab filtration "normal" and wort clarity "clear", as the certificate reports them. One of Bard's 2019 reds filtered slow and ran hazyHartwick 2019
8Grain conditionSound, dry grain stores and malts evenlyUSA No. 1 grade; test weight ≥ 56 lb/bu; moisture ≤ 14%; malt moisture on the certificateGFB-MSS, Part 3
9GerminationThe one property malting can't add≥ 85% within 3 days by a seed-lab warm germination count; Bard's target was 90%, with a premium at 92% or betterWhat makes good malting sorghum
10MycotoxinsA lot over the limit can't be corrected afterwardsDON ≤ 0.5 ppm; aflatoxin ≤ 5.0 ppbGFB-MSS, Part 3
11Gluten statusThe claim on the labelA gluten test on each lot, with its method and threshold, kept separate from the malt certificateLot Reporting Standard
12Identity and supplyTies the result to the grain, and keeps it available next yearA named hybrid and crop year, identity-preserved from seed to malt, on sale and worth a farmer's while to grow. Bard's used Ivory 7 for roughly fourteen years before, in Craig's account, it was discontinuedBlue Milo #4 and Ivory 7
13FlavourThe grain character the beer is built onJudged in a trial, in sensory lexicon terms. Bard's chose its red, Blue Milo #4, for flavour over Ivory 7's better starchBlue Milo #4 and Ivory 7

Barley numbers to ignore. A malt certificate built for barley reports diastatic power, α-amylase, the soluble-to-total protein ratio, friability and β-glucan. External enzymes own conversion, so there's no enzyme requirement here: "Do not reject a sorghum malt for low DP". The soluble-to-total ratio is read against other sorghum malts rather than a barley scale (reading a certificate), and sorghum's β-glucan measured 0.0–3.3 mg/L (Montana 2019).

How it's judged. On production malt: Bard's germinated at 82°F (28°C) and kilned to 185°F (85°C) (kilning and roasting). Read the lot's certificate, then prove it in a brewhouse trial. The outcome is one of three: buy, trial, or pass.

Gelatinization and your mash. The site's 190°F (88°C) liquefaction step clears the whole range, so under the reliable mash the number is a declaration. It starts to matter when a mash runs cooler.

How it differs from Standard 2​

Standard 1: today's processStandard 2: the barley process
ProcessExternal enzymes and a 190°F (88°C) liquefaction step: the process Gluten Free Brewer uses todayA standard single-infusion mash, as barley malt is brewed, with no added enzymes and no cereal cook
GelatinizationDeclared; the liquefaction step clears the whole rangeInside the barley-malt zone, about 136–149°F (58–65°C)
EnzymesNot required; listed with the barley numbers to ignoreEnough, of the right types, to convert that mash on their own
ExtractFine-grind extract, as the certificate reports itExtract from the malt's own enzymes
Protein9–12%, ideally 9–10.5%, for extractDeclared; protein digestibility is the research direction
Malted howProduction malt, judged on the certificate and a brewhouse trialA declared reference micro-malting, kilned cooler to keep enzymes
OutputBuy, trial, or passA rank against named check cultivars, and a line to breed toward

Using it​

Ask the seed dealer or maltster for all thirteen, in these words. Ordering sorghum malt turns them into an order note, and cultivars for malting holds the named-cultivar evidence behind them.

What would move this to v0.4​

  1. Craig's review of the thirteen properties.
  2. The North American cultivars scored against them, so each named hybrid shows where it meets, partly meets, or has no data.
  3. A gelatinization value, with its method, for each cultivar on that list.
  4. Review by a brewer and a maltster who have bought sorghum on a specification.

Version history​

  • v0.3 — 2026-09-28. Named for what it is: the standard in use today, with external enzymes. The comparison with Standard 2 now shows the process and gelatinization differences.
  • v0.2 — 2026-09-28. Checked against what brewers and maltsters specify for barley malt. Added colour, grain condition and gluten status; merged identity and supply; moved enzymes out of the numbered list into the barley numbers to ignore; reworded extract, FAN, haze and germination into certificate terms.
  • v0.1 — 2026-09-28. First draft. Twelve properties for brewers, drawn from GFB-MSS Profile A, Bard's grain purchase specification and production record, and the site's cultivar pages.