Malting Gluten Free Grains

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Lcasanova

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I haven't seen another posting that referred to this, but for those of you not part of the Gluten Free Brewers group on here, this is a post I just made on that forum.

Okay, not tried to malt anything YET, but I got curious during work after I saw a post, it may have been by Kontreren, that said something along the lines that "sorghum is referred to as millet often"- can't we malt that?! :drunk:

Anyways, I ran across these two posts from a blog and thought it was helpful:

Life's a Garden...Dig It!: Malting Gluten-free Grains

Life's a Garden...Dig It!: Malting Gluten-free Grains - Part 2

This guy shows pictures of the malted/toasted "wort" left behind after steeping- very cool- AND he gives a short blurb as to the malting time, roasting temp, smell and taste.
 
I am getting conflicting information about whether hulled buckwheat will sprout or not. I have some raw hulled buckwheat that I plan to attempt a malt with in the next few days. Does anyone know if hulled buckwheat will sprout or not?

Ammended: I ordered unhulled buckwheat, sprouted, and malted that. I've actually malted it and brewed a GF chocolate using the buckwheat, flaked corn, instant rice, and of course chocolate. Rule of thumb. If you sprout it and it stinks do not use it. I sprouted hulled millet but it smelled aweful so I think it needs more attention than I gave it. Will try again in 2012, year of the dragon.
 
Here is a message from bluffwallace who only posts in the GF Group. Some pretty good info in there. Apparently they make awesome GF beer, even real dark GF beer.

bluffwallace said:
I have never tried Amaranth please let me know how it works out. Here is an attachment I sent someone else for GF brewing. Hopefully it will help you. At the end is a cheap easy way of malting grains and roasting. Remember to malt you must have the seeds (husk). Make sure your grain and yeast are gluten free. With sorghum syrup you can use unmalted grains.
I have Celiac Disease and brew strictly gluten free. My goal is strong hopped dark beer which I always achieve. My gluten free beer is awesome. I have successfully malted Buckwheat and Quinoa grains. I use the red quinoa instead of the white because it adds more color to the beer. I use Red Quinoa (Ancient Harvest or Bobs red mill white quinoa) and both are gluten free. As for buckwheat, you canNOT use Kasha or de-hulled buckwheat. You need to use buckwheat seed with the husk. Make sure that the buckwheat is gluten free. Many brands of buckwheat are cross contaminated with gluten. I buy in 25 lb bags from the Birkett Mills. The Birkett Mills: America's #1 Producer of Buckwheat Products they have a phone number on their website. They are not expensive (about $25 and you only need about 1-2 lbs per batch).
I use the malted quinoa for flavor -- it smells sooo sweet when steeping like tea at 156 degrees prior to the boil. I use buckwheat more for color but flavor as well. The buckwheat really adds dark color. buckwheat adds lots of flavor as well but it is not as sweet as the quinoa. It is more bitter and nutty but adds fantastic depth and color to the beer. I would suggest 1 lb malted quinoa and 1/2 to 1 lb of buckwheat per 5 gallon batch. I use many other grains for color and flavor but I do NOT malt them. these include Sorghum grain, millet and buckwheat and quinoa as well. Just roast to desired color and grind. If you brew with Sorghum syrup, you don't need malted grains. Any grains will give color and flavor. You must roast all grain prior to brewing. I always use Sorghum Extract and/or Rice syrup for my base and add about 2 lbs of grain to the brew. The syrups have the sugar and enzymes needed so it allows you to add unmalted grains if you want to .
Here is my process: I usually malt 2 lbs at a time. I take a large piece of soft black window screen. tie it into a sack with wire and pour in the grain. I submerge the grain in a bucket of cool water for about 12 hours. I change the water once or twice. after the 12 hours, I rinse the grain and put it back in the bucket and put a towel over the top. This helps keep molds out but also keeps the moisture in. I take the grain out and rinse it about every 8 hours throughout the malting. After 1 or 2 days, you will see the seed sprout. When the rootlets are 1.5 times the length of the seed you are done. I take pizza pans and lay a towel on them. I spread the grain on the towels to dray-- usually about a day. then I take the grain off of the towels and spread on the pizza pans to dry 1 or 2 more days. The thinner you spread it the quicker it drys. A fan may speed up the process as well.I then bake the grain in the oven starting at 170 deg F. after 1 hour I increase the temp to about 225, and turn it up 25 deg about every 1/2 hour. The darker you roast the darker and more bitter the beer. be careful, it will start to smoke up a bit at temps above 375deg. I have even roasted at 400 deg charring it like black coffee and the beer was a bit bitter but was a great color and with sorghum syrup and a ****load of hops it was great beer. after cooking, cool and place grain in a paper bag for at least 1 week to allow the bad flavors to escape. Grind and brew. When brewing the grain you do not want the temp to get over 165 deg F. at higher temps the husk will release bitter tannins into the beer. Have fun. I just brewed two batches today.
 
I malted some hulled buckwheat over the weekend and had no problems. I can't say the same for the millet I tried malting.




picture.php
 
I thought the hull had to be intact in order to malt...what brand buckwheat did you use. I have ancient harvest but I don't think it will work for some reason.
 
I now have 2lbs sorghum soaking, we'll see how this malt turns out. I don't think I'll be mashing with this just yet- more like roasting then steeping...
 
I now have 2lbs sorghum soaking, we'll see how this malt turns out. I don't think I'll be mashing with this just yet- more like roasting then steeping...

I'll be interested to see if the sorghum will malt. I am attempting to 2 lbs of hull on buckwheat and 1 lb of hull off. What is the proper terminology for that anyway? Does the term hulled mean hull on or hull off? Is unhulled a word? Cognitive Dissonance this morning.
 
I now have 2lbs sorghum soaking, we'll see how this malt turns out. I don't think I'll be mashing with this just yet- more like roasting then steeping...

I'm curious as well. Have you posted a recipe of what you are planning on brewing with it?
 
I'll be interested to see if the sorghum will malt. I am attempting to 2 lbs of hull on buckwheat and 1 lb of hull off. What is the proper terminology for that anyway? Does the term hulled mean hull on or hull off? Is unhulled a word? Cognitive Dissonance this morning.

Hulled means the hull is removed.
 
This is interesting, keep us informed!

I like this guy, he's happy to be future beer.
3988231780_a9f05a8164.jpg


Keep on malting!:rockin: Oh yea remember at this stage to keep them moving as much as possible to keep the temperature consistent throughout so the rate of modification is as consistent as possible and don't let them dry out.
 
I am getting conflicting information about whether hulled buckwheat will sprout or not. I have some raw hulled buckwheat that I plan to attempt a malt with in the next few days. Does anyone know if hulled buckwheat will sprout or not?

Just answered this question for myself. Raw buckwheat w/o the hull will sprout. Naturally hull on buckwheat will as well. I have 2 lbs hull on and 1 lb hull off in the oven right now. My first malting process underway!!! Clearly I have to develop a more efficient method than what I did this time but its nice to see that I can do it successfully. Trying sorghum and millet next.
 
Just a little update, it's been about 30 hours into germination. I'll keep monitoring this until they are about 3-4 times the size of the grain. I'd say right now some are about 1.5-2 times the size. So maybe 2 more days. Then I'll set them out to dry on a towel and when I have a chance I'll put them in the oven on warm for 2 hours then into the dryer to break off the rootlets. Here's the most recent pic.

Malted_Sorghum_003.JPG
 
Just a little update, it's been about 30 hours into germination. I'll keep monitoring this until they are about 3-4 times the size of the grain. I'd say right now some are about 1.5-2 times the size. So maybe 2 more days. Then I'll set them out to dry on a towel and when I have a chance I'll put them in the oven on warm for 2 hours then into the dryer to break off the rootlets. Here's the most recent pic.

Malted_Sorghum_003.JPG

Just curious why wait until they are 3 to 4 times longer than the grain. My understanding of malting barley is to kiln dry when the sprout is 1/2 to equal the length of the grain?
 
Just curious why wait until they are 3 to 4 times longer than the grain. My understanding of malting barley is to kiln dry when the sprout is 1/2 to equal the length of the grain?

You're right, I looked back over my notes...they looked much longer this morning so when I get home from work I'll probably get these on their way to drying. Thanks for for pointing that out!!

To dry them I think I'll lay them out on a towel for a day then put them in the oven to dry tomorrow after work.
 
You're right, I looked back over my notes...they looked much longer this morning so when I get home from work I'll probably get these on their way to drying. Thanks for for pointing that out!!

To dry them I think I'll lay them out on a towel for a day then put them in the oven to dry tomorrow after work.

I think you fellows are talking about two different things, the acrospire(leaf/stem, green part) is what you want to be 3/4 to full length of the seed for full modification, the chits are the roots and typically will be 3-4 times the length of the seed when the acrospire is the correct length, . . . . . for barley anyway, I have no experience with GF.
Keep on Maltin!:rockin:
 
I think you fellows are talking about two different things, the acrospire(leaf/stem, green part) is what you want to be 3/4 to full length of the seed for full modification, the chits are the roots and typically will be 3-4 times the length of the seed when the acrospire is the correct length, . . . . . for barley anyway, I have no experience with GF.
Keep on Maltin!:rockin:

I took the grain out of the bucket tonight and put it on a towel with a fan blowing on it. Where did you get the mesh screens here?

3334670185_0096d08028.jpg


I need to get my hands on something like that so I can completely dry these in the oven tomorrow. My results are pretty inconsistent, some look great, some look over modified and some didn't do anything at all. I think they needed more room to spread out than what was in the bottom of a bucket. Anyhow, hopefully everything is all good until tomorrow when I can get these into the oven.
 
I made them from aluminum screen material, stapled the corners.

It's hard to get consistency without almost constant attention to move them and room to breath.

Keep on maltin!:rockin:
 
I think the best place to get the mesh is McMaster Carr. Although, I've also seen people selling it on amazon. How much grain are you going to be kilning? Also, what's the lowest setting on your oven?
 
I think the best place to get the mesh is McMaster Carr. Although, I've also seen people selling it on amazon. How much grain are you going to be kilning? Also, what's the lowest setting on your oven?

I actually got the mesh from Lowe's, they had a good amount for about $9.50 I just folded and stapled it into a screen resembling COLObrewer's. I am "kilning" about 2 lbs of grain, I am almost positive it's increased in volume and weight, so I couldn't tell you exactly how much is going into the oven.

As far as my oven goes the lowest setting is warm, I have no idea what temp that is, but the next one up is 200.

I turned on the oven while I was prepping the tray and then turned it off once I loaded the malt into it. Shut the door and left it. I'll probably agitate it every 20 min or so until the malt feels dry and the rootlets or acrospires have whithered nicely. Hopefully this all goes well :drunk:
 
Anything new?

Yes! I put them on the screen in the oven alternating from "warm" to off over night. In the morning I threw tehm in a pillowcase and into the dryer to tumble.

I just now put them back into the screen to sift out the dried broken rootlets, a ton came off and they all look pretty clean but I'll do the dryer screen cycle one more time before I roast them. I'll probably use these as a specialty grain and malt more another time and try a decoction. Pictures after I roast! :cross:

Thanks for the support!
 
Hi guys,

if you want to spend some time and build a germination and kilning box then have a look at this guys guides on malting and brewing with GF grains.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=11096&hl=gluten+free

He goes into great detail on how to steep, kiln, and roast GF grains. Then more detail on how to brew your first all grain GF beer.

This guy runs a commercial GF brewery in Aussie so he knows his stuff.

I've built the box that he shows, and my first batch of buckwheat is almost ready to kiln as we speak, hope to have a beer on pretty soon.

Colm
 
Hi guys,

if you want to spend some time and build a germination and kilning box then have a look at this guys guides on malting and brewing with GF grains.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=11096&hl=gluten+free

He goes into great detail on how to steep, kiln, and roast GF grains. Then more detail on how to brew your first all grain GF beer.

This guy runs a commercial GF brewery in Aussie so he knows his stuff...


I've actually looked ad the two PDF's he has on there and got some good ideas. For my process I used a mix of his advice plus some I found on here AND just some on the spot decisions. But the box he uses looked pretty sweet, I'm thinking about making that but I need a lot more room.
 
I made them from aluminum screen material, stapled the corners.

It's hard to get consistency without almost constant attention to move them and room to breath.

Keep on maltin!:rockin:

Figured I would aim this question at you, I posted it in a different thread but...

I gave this a shot last night with the sorghum grain I have, I used about 1 lb in the aluminum screen I made hoping that the screen would allow more even roasting. My grain did not get nearly as dark as the rice you pictured and I think this is for 1 or 2 reasons... 1- my oven may not be calibrated and I need to get an oven thermometer and 2- perhaps rice darkens a lot easier/quicker than grains do... Not sure here. I did notice that I had some good smoking around the 20-40 minute mark and after 40 minutes there was not very much smoke and I could close my screen door.

Any thoughts on this...maybe I need to use a regular pan and forget about the airflow I get from the screen?

You think the reason I can't get a deep enough color is because I need to use a regular roasting pan?

EDIT: Oh, the rice I was referring to above is found here http://chibebrau.blogspot.com/2008/12/brew-day-folsom-prison-gluten-free.html
 
Figured I would aim this question at you, I posted it in a different thread but...



You think the reason I can't get a deep enough color is because I need to use a regular roasting pan?

EDIT: Oh, the rice I was referring to above is found here http://chibebrau.blogspot.com/2008/12/brew-day-folsom-prison-gluten-free.html

You could always try it, I have no experience with either rice or any GF grains. Just watch it closely the first time and try to keep a consistent temperature while turning the grains about every 5 minutes, this is one reason I've decided all aspects of malting are better served with some sort of "automatic" turning of the grains. That is my next step.
 
Can't remember if I mentioned it, but I threw the grains into a pillowcase and into the dryer on air fluff to knock it around and break off the acrospires after everythingwas nice and dry. Once I did that for a few hours I put it into the aluminum screen I made and sifted the broken ends out. The grains look pretty clean now, I'll try to take a picture tonight.

Not sure what I'll do with them since I only malted about 2lbs...maybe roast them 2 weeks before the next brew and use as a specialty grain...or get some iodine and do a small decoction to see what happens...not sure- but hey, I'll be the guinea pig!
 
Not sure what I'll do with them since I only malted about 2lbs...maybe roast them 2 weeks before the next brew and use as a specialty grain...or get some iodine and do a small decoction to see what happens...not sure- but hey, I'll be the guinea pig!


Don't use it as a specialty grain. That would be a waste. Either save it and make enough for all grain batch or do a mini experiment and see if you can convert it.
 
I really need to start my malting experiments again. I've got 8 lbs of quinoa that I know I can malt, 6 lbs of buckwheat that I know I can malt and a few lbs of millet that I need to give another run at.
 
Just answered this question for myself. Raw buckwheat w/o the hull will sprout. Naturally hull on buckwheat will as well. I have 2 lbs hull on and 1 lb hull off in the oven right now. My first malting process underway!!! Clearly I have to develop a more efficient method than what I did this time but its nice to see that I can do it successfully. Trying sorghum and millet next.

How is the malting coming along?
 
I have malted a small test batch of quionoa, and that works pretty well. A couple things that I noticed when I did my experiment:

There are different kinds (colors) of qionoa with different qualities. I used the approach that the "Life's a Garden" author used and it worked pretty well. But the quinoa I used was a blend of the red and white quinoa, and they sprouted at different rates. Next time I will only use a single color.

The quinoa seemed take a while to sprout, not sure if that is a trait of the quinoa or if I had them in too cool of a place.

Quinoa is a pain in the butt to toast in the oven because they are so small. Using a screen may help with this, I used a sheet tray and a silpat.
 
I have malted a small test batch of quionoa, and that works pretty well. A couple things that I noticed when I did my experiment:

There are different kinds (colors) of qionoa with different qualities. I used the approach that the "Life's a Garden" author used and it worked pretty well. But the quinoa I used was a blend of the red and white quinoa, and they sprouted at different rates. Next time I will only use a single color.

The quinoa seemed take a while to sprout, not sure if that is a trait of the quinoa or if I had them in too cool of a place.

Quinoa is a pain in the butt to toast in the oven because they are so small. Using a screen may help with this, I used a sheet tray and a silpat.

I don't know if a screen actually helps in the toasting. When I toasted some grains with my screen it seemed to take a lot longer to get close to the color I wanted. If I use a plain roasting sheet they get darker and in a shorter amount of time, but YMMV.

Nice job though, I need to get around to malting some more. I have all this sorghum just sitting around.
 
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