sorghum malt source (not extract)

anyone one know a source for sorghum malt? not the extract...thx. jt.

The only sorghum malter (not on this forum) in North America is the one that only sells to Bard's Tale.

You could contact Bard's Tale (although word is they don't divulge much info to requestors), or do some internet sleuthing and see if you can find them and then if they can send you a couple of bags (I'd buy one).

I think Bards is part owner of the malt house.

Barry Farm is suppose to carry sorghum berries (groats, grains). However I have been waiting for 3 months for them to ship them. Note that malting (sprouting) sorghum produces significant amounts of cyanide in the root and sprout. The grain must be dried and then tumble dried to remove the roots and sprouts. Search the web for details.

The malt is much simpler. If you want to add flavor and color, roast the unsprouted berries (I have not try it since Barry's has not shipped me any).

There should be some decent information in this thread here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f164/malting-gluten-free-grains-135919/

I haven't made any real updates to it lately but others have added some things.

As an aside, I think a lot of grains create cyanide as a byproduct when they are sprouted (malted) but not all of them are used in foods which is why there isn't a lot of attention. I also thought I read that the cyanide would be denatured, or at least reduced to acceptable levels for consumption, during the brewing process...

Hey Lcasinova, did you ever get to try the batch you made from the the twin valley malt? How did it turn out?

I haven't gotten around to it. We were throwing around some ideas for the mash and what not, but I just never felt like I had a good process to put on paper to use. That was a while back and I stored it nicely but who know if it is still any good...maybe some weekend I'll give it a whirl- who knows since it's my busy time until April 15th now.

Lcasanova said:

I haven't gotten around to it. We were throwing around some ideas for the mash and what not, but I just never felt like I had a good process to put on paper to use. That was a while back and I stored it nicely but who know if it is still any good...maybe some weekend I'll give it a whirl- who knows since it's my busy time until April 15th now.

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I never got to my buckwheat beer last week. I spent too much of my vacation working on the house. I'll get to it eventually and if I figure something out you'll have a sample, access to my notes and even my equipment if you want to use it.

By the way, I really like your beer with the ginger in it.

BBBF said:

I never got to my buckwheat beer last week. I spent too much of my vacation working on the house. I'll get to it eventually and if I figure something out you'll have a sample, access to my notes and even my equipment if you want to use it.

By the way, I really like your beer with the ginger in it.

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I'll gladly put a 6 pack together for you. I'm not a fan of it for some reason.

It has a lot of ginger flavor, which I liked. It isn't something I'd want to make 5 gallons of or drink several bottles in one sitting, but I can see pairing it with the right meal.

Sorghum definitely creates dangerous level of cyanide as it sprouts. Interestingly, the cyanide is largely destroyed due the brewing and fermentation of the beer. A web search will pull up the scientific paper covering this.