Chitting is the initial growth phase of the acrospires and rootlets right after the rupture of the grain’s seed coat during the malting process. The seed coat consists of the testa and pericarp layers. These layers protect the kernel’s enzyme-containing aleuron layer, which, in turn, envelops the endosperm. See endosperm. As long as the testa and pericarp layers as well as the husks are intact, they restrict the exchange of gasses and moisture between the endosperm and the environment. Chitting, therefore, is an indication of the awakening of the siloed seed from dormancy and is the first step in the transformation of grain into malt. Chitting accelerates especially during the oxygen-rich ventilated air rests that the raw grain undergoes during the steeping cycle, and it continues into the initial phase of the germination cycle. See germination and malt. During chitting, the seeds rapidly take up water (hydration) and oxygen (respiration). See respiration. As the bursting of the testa and pericarp layers progresses, the seeds’ respiration accelerates and the temperature in the steeping vat rises. Proper chitting is essential, because it is a precondition for germination. Irregular chitting would decrease the germination rate and thus result in inhomogeneous malt.

While during normal steeping and germination, chitting is only one step in a lengthy steeping and germination process, on rare occasions, the chitted grain will be moved directly into the kiln after just 3 or 4 (instead of perhaps 7) days in the germination chamber. The result of this short cut is called “chit malt.” Such malt is produced primarily in Germany as well as in several other countries, where legislations such as the Beer Purity Law forbid the use of raw cereals in beer making. See reinheitsgebot. Because chit malt is modified just enough to be technically called “malt,” it can serve, in essence, as a legal functional substitute for unmalted or roasted barley, which are important elements in the grist composition of many Belgian and British beer styles. Chit malts contain mostly high-molecular proteins and sugars and retain many of the green, grassy characteristics of raw grain. One of its main purposes is to improve the finished beer’s body and foam stability. Chit malt is usually only lightly kilned and thus pale; only rarely is it roasted like color malts.