Can you use Green Malt to brew?

Does anyone know if you can use Green Malt to brew or is it compulsory to dry it first. I have been making my own base malt and it would be much easier if I could just malt it and add it to a batch instead of drying it first. Anyone know?

Yes. I have done it. After the steeping cycle, I run the green malt through an old meat grinder into the mash tun. Make sure you do a protein rest. The rootlets have a lot of protein and you can't seperate the barley and rootlets without drying it. The drying and kilning is the hardest part of malting at home.

Like Heiney says you can if you do the protein rest but it's kindof a mess. You can dry your malt in the sun enough for very pale base malt and then you can winnow the rootlets/acrospires off, it's really easy that way. I'd still do a protein rest, you're probably doing a protein rest anyway with home malt?

watch out though there are several considerations to take first.

1. green malt has a much higher DP than any base malt I found some data from a study on green malt of various grains and found that green barley malt can have a DP of 1200! compare that to 6-row's 150. of course this was allowed to germinate for over a week to ensure over modification but still.

2. green malt contributes a very grassy, green taste which doesn't work well in some beer varieties but then again some may benefit from it for example a munich helles or any spring beer.

3. like an earlier poster said green malt will be very high in protein and WILL NEED a protein rest otherwise you will have a VERY cloudy beer. but again this may be beneficial with a hefeweizen or other wheat beer.

P.S. the other data from that study was that green wheat malt could have a DP of 800 oats 200 and corn 100