Malting

[dadndave]

As I mentioned in the hop growing thread, I have an opportunity to acquire some malting barley at $1 per kilo (25kilo bag for $25).

 

The malting process seems straightforward enough. The practicalities seem more of an issue than the technicalities if you know what I mean.

 

I'm proposing to malt a small batch - just enough to do a single AG brew in the first instance to keep the practical problems to a minimum.

 

If anyone has any ideas or experience with the malting process, I'd be happy for your input.

 

I'm not terribly concerned if I make mistakes, I can always feed it to the chooks. The price is pretty similar to what I pay for chook feed anyway.

[Otto Von Blotto]

No ideas as it's not something I've ever looked into doing but, I'll be following the thread with interest to see how you go with it.

 

The closest I've come to malting my own grains is making my own crystal malt from Maris Otter. It was used in a brew recently which is due up next in the FV.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[dadndave]

Yes, I remember reading your posts with photos of the method you used to make crystal malt from pale malt. It may be something I try with some of my experimental batch of pale malt although, if I have interpreted some of my reading correctly, it seems I can kiln some of the batch straight through to Crystal without first making the finished pale malt. If I can't be confident that I've understood this correctly, I'll probably just copy your method.

 

The Barley is paid for and will arrive on Wednesday. I've found a plastic box in the shed that's about 1000 x 450 x 200. (200 being the depth) I'm gunna line this with a voile bag which Mrs dadndave has kindly offered to make up for me (along with a brew bag and some hop socks) so that I can alternately steep and aerate the grains.

 

I'm planning to use the same container as a mini malting floor.

 

 

[ben 10]

it seems I can kiln some of the batch straight through to Crystal without first making the finished pale malt.

 

I would think not.

Crystal has been mashed in the grain. You need to go through the malting process to release the enzymes that work in the mash in order to caramelise the sugars.

 

Good luck with the project BTW.

[dadndave]

Thanks Ben.

 

I didn't explain myself properly. What I meant was I would malt the whole batch in the usual way but reserve some of the pale malt at the appropriate point and continue to kiln it until the desired colour changes etc occur rather than re-steep finished pale malt like Kelsey did.

 

If you think I don't really know what I'm talking about, you'd be right.

[ben 10]

reserve some of the pale malt at the appropriate point and continue to kiln it until the desired colour changes

 

Nope. That will make a darker base malt like Munich.

The grain needs to be mashed. Only then is sugar available for the crystal process.

[dadndave]

Thanks Ben. The light bulb has finally lit up. I will copy Kelsey's method.

[ben 10]

Thanks Ben. .

 

All good, and I am certainly no expert.

[dadndave]

OK so Friday night I took the plunge, or at least the barley did.

 

Ended up making the box liner out of knitted shade cloth. Put 5 kilos of barley into the liner and plunged it into water in the plastic box. Left about 5 cm of water over the grains. Scooped out bits of chaff and other floaties with a strainer and then let it soak for two hours before lifting the liner and grains out of the water and sitting the bag of wet grain on an old oven shelf on top of the water bath (plastic box) and covered the whole lot with a cotton table cloth so that the humidity would still be fairly high and no bugs could invade. Left it like that for 8 hours overnight before changing the water and plunging the grains again for another couple of hours and then repeating the cycle for the next 12 hours.

 

By Saturday evening the grains were showing tiny shoots (rootlets) so another quick plunge in clean water and again left to aerate overnight. By Sunday morning it was time to dispense with the liner and turn the water bath into a mini malt house floor by emptying and cleaning it and tipping the sprouted grains into it, turning it by hand every couple of hours to stop the roots matting together and keep it aerated and cool. (Heat builds up surprisingly quickly in germinating grain). Every couple of hours or so, I mist spray the sprouts to keep them nice and moist

 

So far it all looks healthy. No off odours or discolouration evident.

 

So far so good. Will put some photos up later.

[headmaster]

Sounds like you are malting like a champion, well done dadndave! Hats off to you for giving this a crack.

 

I have only known the basics of malting so following your progress here with great interest. With my limited knowledge I guess next you will halt the germination when the shoots reach a particular length, by somehow drying out or kilning the grain at 60 something degrees in a dry environment. Can you simply spread the grain out in the sun I wonder, then cook in the oven at that low 60 something temp?

 

Then the grain needs to be tumbled once dry to break off the shoots from memory, I guess putting it in a voile bag in a tumble dryer may be an option.. :-)

[dadndave]

I seriously doubt that I'll take out any championships with this first attempt.

 

The grains are now being kilned in the oven at 32 C to dry them out. I did wonder whether it would be a good idea to put them out in the sun, maybe under a cloth, to achieve the same thing but wouldn't you know it, after the weekend heatwave it's now only 26 C outside and pretty humid. Anyhow, it seems that a 24hr initial drying phase at this low temp is required to avoid enzymatic degradation (as much as possible). This arvo, the temp will be raised to 50C and held for another 12 hours before being finished to a pale malt at around 85C according to my research. (Anyone feel free to ring alarm bells here - I'm flying this by the seat of my pants).

 

Hey, that's not a bad idea about using the tumble dryer. I wonder if Mrs dadndave's tolerance will stretch that far. If not, apparently you can just rattle the grains around in a sieve and the culm (dried rootlets) fall off pretty readily.

[headmaster]

Thanks for the update there, sounds like all going to plan.

 

Where did you get hold of the malting barley by the way? Not that i'm thinking of trying this myself.. but maybe one day.

[dadndave]

I got the barley from Grainland in Moree, NSW. The very friendly manager, Robert, very kindly bagged me up 25kg at the tonne rate, so it cost me $1 per kilo.

 

BTW, I thought more about your tumble dryer idea and a doubt crept in about what sort of mess it might make. Sure enough, stirring the grains by hand in a sieve proved that the culm (dried rootlets) mostly turn to a fine dust so I don't think Mrs dadndave would have been at all pleased if I'd gone ahead and chucked the whole lot into a voile bag in the dryer. A spell in the doghouse averted..

Anyway, the malt is now finished and cleaned of culm. The question now is if it's any good.

[dadndave]

Photos:

 

 

Barley sitting in the liner within the plastic box

 

 

 

Barley covered with water.

 

 

After 2 hours steeping, the liner is raised and left to sit above the water bath for 8 hours overnight. (After this photo was taken, the whole shebang was covered in a cotton tablecloth to keep humidity high and bugs out). This step is repeated several times.

 

 

Signs of life!

 

 

Kilned grain with culm still attached.

 

 

Cleaned malt (culm removed)

 

The culm from about half of the batch.

[headmaster]

Fantastic stuff. Looks like about 5 kg's? Couldn't be any fresher! Glad to hear you avoided those potential issues that my suggestion would have caused.. glad to hear the culm is easily removed.

 

We will wait with anticipation to hear your mash efficiency number :-)

[dadndave]

Yep. 5 kgs.

 

HM wrote: We will wait with anticipation to hear your mash efficiency number :-)

 

Ah, now there's the rub. I know bugger all about AG. I was thinking about maybe handing the malt over to an experienced AG brewer who would be able to assess such things. Any volunteers in the Sunshine Coast/Brisbane area?

 

I'm thinking if I try this malt as my first AG brew, there are so many variables that I'd never figure out what went right or wrong.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I'll give it a crack (excuse the pun ) if you like, would be interesting to see how it goes first hand a brew.

 

[dadndave]

Hi Kelsey,

 

I was secretly hoping that you would stick your hand up for this.

 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Might pair it with my home grown Cascade hops in a pale ale; I have enough of them (100g) for at least two batches worth (I probably won't dry hop the flowers as they'll block the FV tap), with more on the way maturing on the bines. Would be a pretty cool recipe with home malted grains and home grown hops!

[dadndave]

It would indeed!

[Otto Von Blotto]

Sweet, well we'll have to organise a way to get the grains here and I'll chuck em into a batch!

 

[dadndave]

What's the protocol for posting contact details on here?

 

I'm in Beerwah so I can easily drop the malt down to you. Should I make a kilo of crystal to go with it?

[Otto Von Blotto]

No idea mate i am on AHB as well though which allows private messaging. Up to you if you want to make some crystal as well, I have plenty here though.

[dadndave]

Bugger it.

 

Here's my email addy.

 

(edited out)

(Graham being my real name)

 

Shoot me an email when you get a spare moment and we'll organise delivery.

 

I already started another kilo of barley for the crystal so I hope to have it ready by early next week. Maybe the weekend after next for delivery? Seems a shame to use a "commercial" crystal having gone to the extent of using your home grown hops and a home made malt.

 

It's crash or crash through now don't ya think?

[Otto Von Blotto]

No worries mate, I've begun an email so if you want to edit your email out of the post, it's all sweet.

 

That's a fair point on the crystal, might as well make the whole lot of it home grown, I'll have to break out the bottle capper and do some bottles up so you can have a taste of it too.

 

I'm putting my batch of an English style ale into the fermenter on Tuesday, which was brewed with my home made crystal malt. I'll be interested to see how it turns out.