Malting and roasting your own grains

I am talking to a farmer about buying 6 bushels (about 360#) of wheat this summer, and I want to malt it and roast it myself for later use, is there anyone who does this here? If so are there any things I should consider, like how much should I malt and roast at a time, what temps for certain colors, any equipment that could make this easier, anything really. Also would larger tupperware containers work for storage or should I buy a vacuum sealer? Thanks in advance.

nothing to say about the matling and roasting, but if you are buying 360# of wheat, I would definitely make sure I had a vacuum sealer (and freezer!) to store it in.

Yeah that's probably what I'll do. Is there any way to delete a thread you start? I made this one and found COLObrewer's thread minutes later and it answered most of my questions.

Yep, you can delete the thread.

Walker said:

nothing to say about the matling and roasting, but if you are buying 360# of wheat, I would definitely make sure I had a vacuum sealer (and freezer!) to store it in.

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Why? Farmers store thousands of bushels in non-airtight steel bins for more than a year if necessary. As long as it is dry and free of bugs, at least the live ones, it will be fine.

Ok, but you agree that it can't sit around indefinitely, right?

He's buying 360# of wheat. I don't know his brewing habits or what he likes to drink, but I suspect that 360# of wheat will last the average homebrewer much MUCH more than a year.

My parents kept a *lot* of wheat at the house, with a mill, for 'disaster preparedness.' I think it keeps quite well for years if stored in a cool, dry place.

but if he malts it all at once, it probably won't last as long. please keep updated with pics of your process, sounds like a chore!

They've discovered wheat in ancient Egyption tombs that germinated. Keep it cool and dry and it will last longer than you. Malting it probably lowers the shelf life but I've had malted barley around the house for over a year and it made good beer when I finally got around to using it. Malt it in small batches. Use mylar bags and oxygen absorbers if you're really paranoid.

artyboy said:

They've discovered wheat in ancient Egyption tombs that germinated. Keep it cool and dry and it will last longer than you. Malting it probably lowers the shelf life but I've had malted barley around the house for over a year and it made good beer when I finally got around to using it. Malt it in small batches. Use mylar bags and oxygen absorbers if you're really paranoid.

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Agreed. We have kept wheat on the farm for 10 years and it is fine. Cool and dry is the key. Five gallon buckets with lids would work good. Not sure about the shelf life of malts, but I doubt he wants to malt 360lbs at a time anyways.

artyboy said:

They've discovered wheat in ancient Egyption tombs that germinated. Keep it cool and dry and it will last longer than you. Malting it probably lowers the shelf life but I've had malted barley around the house for over a year and it made good beer when I finally got around to using it. Malt it in small batches. Use mylar bags and oxygen absorbers if you're really paranoid.

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Well I'll probably store it unmalted then. Just in a cool dry closet. And I'll just malt it 25lbs at a time. If you guys want pics of malting you should check out COLObrewers thread he is more into than I am, and I won't even have my wheat until June or July.