Growing Barley

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Anbrand

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Is it possible to restart the germination of barley that has been malted, or do you need to start with seed stock? What is the difference between the two?

Do any posters grow their own barley? Resources for growing your own barley?
 
When barley is malted, it's kilned to stop the germination process. The length of the kilning process determines how dark the barley is roasted. Obviously a crystal 10L isn't going to be roasted as long as a dark patent or something like that.

That said, the metabolic processes are halted by the roasting process. So if you wanted to grow your own barley, you would need un-roasted barley seeds.
 
There is a good book on the subject, I think it is called The Homebrewers Garden. They explain how to grow barley on a small piece of land. I am contemplating growing my own barley. Good Luck
 
Before you commit to growing barley, make sure you are prepared to malt it. It's a rather involved process that takes several days and some specialized ability to keep the grain at certain temps and moisture content.

And no, malted barley will not germinate. Technically it already germinated, and the sprout has been removed (shaken off). So there's no germ left in malted grain to produce a plant. Does make excellent compost though (after you first use it to make beer)!
 
Its something that I've always wanted to do. Not neccesarily grow my own barley (dont have any land) but to malt my own. I got a free 10lb of 2 row from a farmer I worked for, and when I asked him how much he usually sold a 50lb sack for, he replied $3.

Can you imagine how cheap it would be to brew beer if your grew your own hops, malted your own barley, and washed yeast. You would be looking at like $5 for a 5 gallon batch. Not only the cost, but being able to say you made the beer from pretty much scratch.

Malting is a complicated process though, and real finicky to get right. It would definitely not be worth it if you are short on time.
 
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