Your own Malt, how?

[CiderJoe]

Ihave a friend who's a baker, and plans on starting to brew, which seems like a great partnership to me, since he's familiar with yeast and also got lots of barley, wheat and other assorted grains laying about. He wants to know how to make is own malt? Are there any online resources for that? How to soak/boil/roast/toast or whatever you need to do?

Sorry to sound like such a moron, but I really don't know other than it's "cooked" somehow and smells great.

Thanks,

Cider

[BrewDog]

The second paragraph in this section in Palmer's online book is about Malting (http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter3.html).

Basically, you need to let the barley sprout first, then it's dried, kilned, etc.

Here are some other links:

Malting Process (http://brewery.org/brewery/library/Malt.html)

Another Malting Process link (http://www.crc.dk/flab/malting.htm)

Click here and scroll to the section on "Scratch Brewing" (http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1994_December_January/The_Quest_for_Homebrew#Scratch%20Brewing)

[CiderJoe]

Thanks. I've been reading bits and pieces of the Palmer book. I even printed it out to read on the train. So I'd already read that bit. The other links were very informational. I've got the basics now to explain to my friend. Oddly enough he's german... Think he'd already know, no?

[danno]

every time I read up on this stuff, I think to myself: "self, you can buy 55 lbs of Maris Otter for about $40, and Rahr 2-row for about $27 for a 55lb bag. why bother?". then, I don't bother...

[Tweek]

Originally posted by danno
every time I read up on this stuff, I think to myself: "self, you can buy 55 lbs of Maris Otter for about $40, and Rahr 2-row for about $27 for a 55lb bag. why bother?". then, I don't bother...

amen brotha Danno!

[BrewDog]

I couldn't agree more.

[CiderJoe]

Tis true. Even most breweries I've been to don't bother. Unless they're huge like Guiness or Beamish or something...

[zoom6zoom]

Malting can use a lot of space, too... an interesting historical note is that the original Star Spangled Banner which flew at Fort McHenry was sewn in a borrowed or leased malting floor because they needed such a large area.

[CiderJoe]

Interesting, didn't know that. I'll have to look that up here in a sec. online. Isn't the internet grand?

[zoom6zoom]

My documentation says that the flag was pieced together in the malthouse of Brown's brewery in Baltimore. (The flag was 30' x 42')

This is from The Dawn's Early Light by Walter Lord.