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Amalt drink is afermented drink in which the primary ingredient is the grain orseed of thebarley plant, which has been allowed tosprout slightly in a traditional way called "malting" before it is processed.
By far the most predominant malt drink isbeer (naturally fermented barley sugars flavoured withhops), of which there are two main styles:ale andlager. A lowalcohol level drink brewed in this fashion is technically identical to "non-alcoholic beer". Such a drink may be prepared by using a slightly altered brewing process that yields negligible alcohol by volume (technically less than 0.5% by volume). These are calledlow-alcohol beers or "near beers".
In the United States, the term "malt beverage" may be used bytrade associations of groups of beerwholesalers (e.g. Tennessee Malt Beverages Association) for the sake of a professional image by using brewingcraft related terms, for political or legal reasons, or to avoid potential negative connotations that may be associated with beer in a region.[citation needed]
Additionally, the term malt beverage is applied to many other flavoured drinks prepared from malted grains to which natural or artificial flavours (and sometimes colours) have been added to make them taste and appear similar towines,fruits,colas, naturalciders, or other drinks. This subcategory has been called "malternative", as inSmirnoff Ice (US and French version).[1]
Marketing of such products in theUnited States has increased rapidly in recent years. In mostjurisdictions, these products are regulated in a way identical to beer, which allows a retailer with a beer license to sell a widerproduct line. This also generally avoids the steeper taxes and stricter regulations associated withdistilled spirits.
Media related toMalt-based drinks at Wikimedia Commons
