home malting

[lovenit]

Has anybody found a simple way to malt barley at home? I have tried four batches,two turned out alright and two did not.I malt about 15# of barley for a batch,I let it sprout in a plastic mortor mixing tub I bought at Home Depot.The problem I have is just about the time the sprout is the right size the grain starts to mold.I would really like to figure out a good way to malt my own barley.
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[corkybstewart]

Welcome to the site. How often are you changing the water, and what's the water temp? I've never malted grain before, but I think the key is getting the grain to germinate faster before mold can get a foothold, and then drying it pretty fast once it's germinated.
I'm pretty obsessed with brewing, I like to do as much as possible by myself, but I figured long ago that malting grain may be one of those things best left to the pro's.

[lovenit]

I soak the grain for 8 hrs. making sure it is covered with water,then I drain it and let it sit 8 more hours.I line the bottom of my mortor tub with paper towels or newspaper then pour in the soaked grain.The grain ends up about an inch thick on the bottom of the tub.I do not cover the grain with water,I don't even add anymore water.I think if the grain is submerged more than 8hrs. it will die.In a day or two little rootlets will start showing up,don't mistake them for the spourt.It usually takes 4 to 5 days for the spourt to show up.I usually let the spourt grow to about half the sizes of the grain.I finally put the spourted grain in an oven @110 degress and dry it. I forgot to mention that I put my motor tub in a big plastic bag and seal it up until the grain sprouts.
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[Thirsty in NY]

I'm pretty sure the latest issue of BYO had an article on malting your own grain. If I had enough land to grow barley, I would give it a shot.

[lovenit]

The main reason I want to malt my own barley is the cost.I can buy a malting variety of barley for about $7.50 per hundred pounds.This would drastically reduce my grain bill.
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[lovenit]

I think I am getting the malting thing down.Since I last posted I have malted the barley and made two 5 gallon batches.I have found that I need to keep the temp. between 60 and 65.I also have to turn the barley once a day without fail.
Malting barley really does not take alot of time or effort.I think I spent about $6.00 for everything I needed to malt .On my last two batches I did a crude form of decoction and I cannot believe the flavors that came out,I hope I don't lose these great flavors in the ageing.The total cost for a 5 gallon batch is running me just under $2.00.
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[darylM]

$2 per 5 gallons. That's makes for some cheap beer!

Do you have to buy a hundred pounds at a time or could you buy a 40 lb bag?

[lovenit]

I take an empty grain bag to the mill and they fill it out of their silo.The bags I use hold about 80lbs.I am sure some places will have pre-bagged whole barley in 50lbs. bags.
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[Spicoli]

Originally posted by Thirsty in NY
I'm pretty sure the latest issue of BYO had an article on malting your own grain. If I had enough land to grow barley, I would give it a shot.


Home Malting (http://byo.com/feature/284.html)

[lovenit]

That is a great article in BYO.
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[SirVeza]

Hi,

I've been home malting for a while now with good results. The secret to prevent mold during germination is to keep the grain cool and aerated. You have to keep the barley moving as it germinates. Some people use buckets with rotation devices but I have found a method that works even when the temps are in the 100s.

I use large terracotta pots (yes plant pots) and keep them in a basin of water. This is the only thing I have found to work in the tropics. The pot breathes and yet stays moist and the wicking effect keeps the barley cool. I have a big scoop and toss the malt around and rotate the pots every couple of hours.

Complete details can be found at my blog as I took photos and documents all the details. I also did an article for Bodenzatz.

Best wishes,

Dan Carol
Homebrewing In The Philippines (http://homebrewinghobby.blogspot.com/)

[lovenit]

I am curious what kind of barley you find in the Phillipines,and what the cost is? The one thing I like about home malting is that no two batches will ever turn out the same.This will most likely be a negative point to all the brewers who like to reproduce a beer they have sampled somewhere.
When I buy barley I have no idea whats in the silo,the only times I have been dissipointed is when I get the temps to high and the mold gets out of control.With me cost is the main reason I home malt.When I first started brewing I used extracts,the cost would be over $40.00 per batch.I went to whole grain and cut the cost in half.Now I have started home malting and I can make a 5 gallon batch for under $2.00 if I reclaim my yeast. I would sure like to hear from others who have tried home malting.
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[SirVeza]

Hi lovenit,

I get my barley from a livestock feed company here. It's two-row and that's all I can say as I know nothing more about it. Even the shop owners don't know where it comes from. Australia, US, Canada, Russia? Anyone's guess.

It's fairly viable and sprouts over 95%. It costs between 9 and 11 cents (US$) a pound dependending on exchange rate. I use about 12 to 15 pounds to do 5 gallons. So that's usually under $1.50 a batch.

I found a few important things about homemade malt...

1: You have to use more malt to make a batch than the recipe calls for. I overshoot by sometimes 20 to 40%. This depends on how well I think the malt is modified. My first couple of batches were really weak as I undermodified the malt and didn't use nearly enough in the recipe. My newer maltings are fully modified and I still like to use 30% more than the recipe suggests. Err on the side of higher gravity.

2: A longer protein rest is needed (with this barley anyway). I do 45 minutes at 50C (122F) before I start saccharification rest(s).

3: Longer rests gets better extraction. All up saccharification rest(s) in the 90 minute range are typical.

4: A longer boil is better. Usually 90 minutes. Long boils seems to help with wort clarity and particle separation.

So the cost comes in other areas like patience, electricity and gas for heating and kilning.

In all honesty, I'd be happy to buy base malt from my local homebrew shop and focus on making my own specialty malts. Unfortunately, the local HBS is is in Australia.

Gee, come to think of it, I have never made two batches of beer that turned out the same, even with extract.

As long as the beer is good, I am happy.

Cheers!

Dan Carol
Homebrewing In The Philippines (http://homebrewinghobby.blogspot.com/)

[BrewDog]

Dan-

All I can say is your dedication is incredible!

How exactly do you know when it is fully modified? Sprout length?
I'd love some more pics of under-fully-over modified malt.

[lovenit]

In the past I have let the sprout get to about the same length as the grain before I dried it.The batch I did yesterday I kept tasting it until I could taste sweetness in the grain. This batch had the highest s.p.(1.080) that I have got.This is with 14# of my own malted barley.
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[SirVeza]

Wow, it's super rewarding it is when you mash with your own malt and sample the sweetness.

I have to plan my brew days 2 weeks in advance because it can take that long to get through the malting process.

As for determining the level of modification, I wait for the acrospire (the leaf) to just start poking out on the most advanced grains. It's about when the roots are 2 to 3 times longer than the corn (grain) itself. If the shoot is visible it is past 100% modified.

What maltsters consider "fully modified" varies from 75% to 100% of the acrospire growth UNDER THE HUSK.

See my graphic below.
http://www.1netave.com/hblog/kernel.gif (http://www.1netave.com/hblog/kernel.gif)


If you see acrospire (leaf) grows under the husk before it pops out. The region of about 75% to 100% of the corn length is considered fully modified.

That is what you are trying for. If you let is go too far before drying, you are wasting the starch resources in the seed. If you dry to early, you are not activating enough alpha amylase to carry extra starches in your mash.

For the pro maltsters this balance can make or lose 1000s of dollars and of course they have all the systems in place for optimizing the process. I am just a homebrewer. I take a knife and cut a few of the grains open like below.

http://www.1netave.com/hblog/acrospire.jpg (http://www.1netave.com/hblog/acrospire.jpg)

Bear in mind that it takes two days or longer for me to dry the malt, so there is some minimal growth during the first day or two of drying.

Really homemalting gets fun when you start making crystal malt and toasting and roasting. I have an article on Bodensatz called Kiwi's Guide to Home Malting (http://www.bodensatz.com/upage/index.php?page=kiwibrewer_malting). Yes, I lived in New Zealand for years.

I have done a few different things with my home made malt and it's really a labor of love. Like I said, I'd rather just buy malt, or even malt extract and brew beer...but this is fun too. We do what we need to do.


Good luck.
Keep me posted.

Dan Carol
Homebrewing In The Philippines (http://homebrewinghobby.blogspot.com/):)