Malting Gluten Free Grains

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I also don't use a screen. I just mix the grains up every 10-15 minutes.

My experience with quinoa is that it malted very fast. I have only done it during the summer, so it might have been the result of higher temperatures.
 
Any suggestions on quick ways to remove the acrospire?

I just soaked 2lbs of quinoa that I bought from Costco overnight and the next day, it was already about 3/4 sprouted. I drained it and laid it out to dry until I could toast them in the oven later that evening.
 
Any suggestions on quick ways to remove the acrospire?

I just soaked 2lbs of quinoa that I bought from Costco overnight and the next day, it was already about 3/4 sprouted. I drained it and laid it out to dry until I could toast them in the oven later that evening.

I've seen others post on here that they put them in a pillowcase, secure it and then put it in the dryer. I haven't had an opportunity to try this yet.
 
Yeah, quinoa sprouts FAST. I like malting it at the same time as buckwheat or amaranth because there's enough of a lag so I can get quinoa in and out of the dehydrator before the next grain needs to go in.

The pillow case and dryer works. Just make sure the pillow case is tied tight and use the no heat setting.
 
Yeah, quinoa sprouts FAST. I like malting it at the same time as buckwheat or amaranth because there's enough of a lag so I can get quinoa in and out of the dehydrator before the next grain needs to go in.

The pillow case and dryer works. Just make sure the pillow case is tied tight and use the no heat setting.

+1 on that. I tied a knot, used a zip-tie below the knot, then tied another knot below that just in case...tumbling really knocks them around- just make sure you dry them in the oven first.
 
Yeah, quinoa sprouts FAST. I like malting it at the same time as buckwheat or amaranth because there's enough of a lag so I can get quinoa in and out of the dehydrator before the next grain needs to go in.

The pillow case and dryer works. Just make sure the pillow case is tied tight and use the no heat setting.

I am confused by the speed at which you guys are malting quinoa. I am new to the GF malting process so please excuse the questions but from what I have read most believe malting is considered done when the shoot, not the root appears. With quinoa and most grains (except Buckwheat) the root appears first and it can take 2-3 days before the real shoot appears. It becomes a real pain to keep the grain bed cool because as it germinates, a lot of heat is produced and the roots also tend to get so long they start developing root balls that you have to keep separated. After two quinoa malting attempts I had one good malt (took 4 days) and one that I ended up tossing out (after 6 days) because I didn't rinse often enough and it molded and spoiled.

So when is quinoa considered fully modified and what is the best way to test it to make sure you are getting a full modification?
 
I am confused by the speed at which you guys are malting quinoa. I am new to the GF malting process so please excuse the questions but from what I have read most believe malting is considered done when the shoot, not the root appears. With quinoa and most grains (except Buckwheat) the root appears first and it can take 2-3 days before the real shoot appears. It becomes a real pain to keep the grain bed cool because as it germinates, a lot of heat is produced and the roots also tend to get so long they start developing root balls that you have to keep separated. After two quinoa malting attempts I had one good malt (took 4 days) and one that I ended up tossing out (after 6 days) because I didn't rinse often enough and it molded and spoiled.

So when is quinoa considered fully modified and what is the best way to test it to make sure you are getting a full modification?

I too think there is confusion here, I've only malted barley but the quickest I've done is 7 days start to finish. The acrospire is the leaf not the root, in barley the root grows first and is appx. 3 times the length of the seed when the acrospire gets to full modification (75-100% length of the seed).

I'm curious about buckwheat, has anyone ever malted it? I've grown it and it seems like it would be easier to harvest/separate/store than barley or wheat, although I haven't grown any other gluten free grains.
 
I too think there is confusion here

Yup, I was very mis-informed on the root/acrospire.

I toasted the quinoa last night and it looks/tastes/smells great (tastes just like barley malt). It reminds me most like "special B" barley malt or a high toast caramel.

I have a barley crusher but don't trust cleaning it. How else can I crush this stuff?
 
Yup, I was very mis-informed on the root/acrospire.

I toasted the quinoa last night and it looks/tastes/smells great (tastes just like barley malt). It reminds me most like "special B" barley malt or a high toast caramel.

I have a barley crusher but don't trust cleaning it. How else can I crush this stuff?

Ziplock bag + rolling pin
 
I too think there is confusion here, I've only malted barley but the quickest I've done is 7 days start to finish. The acrospire is the leaf not the root, in barley the root grows first and is appx. 3 times the length of the seed when the acrospire gets to full modification (75-100% length of the seed).

I'm curious about buckwheat, has anyone ever malted it? I've grown it and it seems like it would be easier to harvest/separate/store than barley or wheat, although I haven't grown any other gluten free grains.



BUCKWHEAT


QUINOA


AMARANTH


QUINOA & AMARANTH BEER


I have never tried malting barley, but there are lots of pictures of the process. My attempts at malting quinoa and ameranth do not look anything like like what I've seen of of the process for barley. If you look at the quinoa picture, what happens is the root unwraps from around the main portion of the grain and then that main part splits in half and begins developing into two leaves. So you can't really follow to same guidelines for barley to determin when to stop the malting process of these grains, not to mention the grains are so small that trying to split them open is difficult.

All this being said, I'm not sure myself when when the exact time to stop the malting process is.
 
My attempts at malting quinoa and ameranth do not look anything like like what I've seen of of the process for barley. If you look at the quinoa picture, what happens is the root unwraps from around the main portion of the grain and then that main part splits in half and begins developing into two leaves. So you can't really follow to same guidelines for barley to determin when to stop the malting process of these grains, not to mention the grains are so small that trying to split them open is difficult.

.
FYI. Dont see your pics.

Ah that makes sense now. I noticed the same thing with quinoa splitting in half after a while. It appears that if you wait too long you end up with a bunch of real small grains (halved) that are almost impossible to separate from the dried root pieces. My last batch is still in the pillow case because I have no idea how to separate the grain fragments from the root fragments, (pretty much the same size and weight). It looks like it was already crushed. Would it hurt to mash with the roots mixed in with the grains? I assume I would get off flavors but not sure.

So there appears to be a stopping point between the root showing up and the grain splitting in half. Is there is a good way of testing the PPG of the resulting malted grain in order to tell where it is best to stop the malt process and kiln?

If I did a double/triple decoction would malting even be required? Just wondering if it would be easier to just decoct the whole thing than to mess with malting. When I brewed with barley I did all-grain fly sparge so never done decoction. Sounds like a lot of work.
 
FYI. Dont see your pics.

Ah that makes sense now. I noticed the same thing with quinoa splitting in half after a while. It appears that if you wait too long you end up with a bunch of real small grains (halved) that are almost impossible to separate from the dried root pieces. My last batch is still in the pillow case because I have no idea how to separate the grain fragments from the root fragments, (pretty much the same size and weight). It looks like it was already crushed. Would it hurt to mash with the roots mixed in with the grains? I assume I would get off flavors but not sure.

So there appears to be a stopping point between the root showing up and the grain splitting in half. Is there is a good way of testing the PPG of the resulting malted grain in order to tell where it is best to stop the malt process and kiln?

If I did a double/triple decoction would malting even be required? Just wondering if it would be easier to just decoct the whole thing than to mess with malting. When I brewed with barley I did all-grain fly sparge so never done decoction. Sounds like a lot of work.

I can't say for sure since quinoa is so small, but I used a mesh screen to separate the rootlets from the grains and it worked pretty good, you might want to give that a try...or maybe take a hair dryer to them to blow away the rootlets?

From what I understand, a decoction mash would be best for home malting since the modification of the grains is a great unknown. If you didn't malt them the decoction would be pointless- you would have specialty grains and no sugars (at least not as much as you'd get from a malted grain) would really be present.

Also- from what I've read on the Aussie HB site, it is best to grind up the malted GF grains into a flour and mash that way...I can't really support it since I've done neither a decoction with my malted grains or even a mash with them.
 
. . . . If I did a double/triple decoction would malting even be required? Just wondering if it would be easier to just decoct the whole thing than to mess with malting. When I brewed with barley I did all-grain fly sparge so never done decoction. Sounds like a lot of work.

Malting is what releases/creates the enzymes needed to convert the starch to sugar (among other things), this can only be done by "growing" the seed to the point where it has the maximum enzymes and halting that same growing process before the plant starts using those enzymes to continue growing the plant.

So, you would still need some malted grain of some sort with enough diastatic power to convert its own starches as well as any starch from unmalted grains, I know some unmalted grains such as sorghum also needs to be "cereal mashed" (cooked basically) to gel the starch. If someone knew which gluten free grain has the most diastatic power when malted, you could concieveable use it to convert other gluten free unmalted grains if it has a sufficient quantity of enzymes.

If I remember right that's one reason malted barley is so good for beer because it has more than enough enzymes to convert it's own starch as well as the starch in other "adjunct" grains, alas that doesn't help progress the pursuit of gluten free beer.

Keep on malting my friends:mug:

Edit: Oh yea, I can't see the pics either.
 
I put links up instead. I'm not sure why the pics aren't coming up.
 
I actually haven't had time to use it, so I can't comment on the taste differences. As for brewing differences, you have to treat mashing differently. I think the temperature needed to gelatinize the starches is higher then the enzymes can handle. So you need to do a decoction, remove the enzyme filled liquid part of the mash, boil the grain to gelatinize the starches and then add the enzymes back in.
 
So what's the issue with the rootlets? After drying most will just fall off. Is there something wrong with them going into the mash?
 
The rootlets contain trace amounts of cyanide...and I think in general you wouldn't want them in the mash anyways. But after drying them, put them in a pillowcase in the dryer on tumble and the shoots will get knocked off.

Check this thread
 
How about buckwheat? Does it also contain cyanide? If so I guess I shouldn't have been tasting those little buggers. :)
 
If anyone else has some pictures of their GF home malting, please post them! I won't have time to malt anything until after tax season is over!

Sweet another gluten free accountant! :ban:

First post, but not new to homebrewing. Before I had the gluten thing I used to brew beer a lot.

I will start malting some buckwheat, millet, and rice this weekend with the info I got on this and other websites. I will definately post what I find.

My most successful gluten free beer thus far is an Esspresso Stout. If anyone is interested (and I can find the correct thread I will post the recipe).
 
Yes another accountant!

The espresso stout sounds delicious and I'd love to see the recipe since you've already tried it out. And please- keep us updated on your malting.
 
I don't know if malting rice would be the best way to go. Feel free to give it a try, but if you want sugars from rice, then I would look up some sake recipes or adjunct brewing instructions for the rice.

How to make Sake:
http://goo.gl/VLdG

I'm sure there's also some good tips on this site for how to use rice as an adjunct in beer. Basically, just boil it for awhile to gelatinize the starches, then add it to the rest of the wort.
 
Yes another accountant!

The espresso stout sounds delicious and I'd love to see the recipe since you've already tried it out. And please- keep us updated on your malting.

7lbs Sorghum Extract (I can only imagine how it would taste with malted millet and buckwheat)
2 lbs Molasses
1 oz Nugget (boil 60 mins)
1 oz Fuggle (boil 10 mins)
8 oz espresso (seep when water hits 150 degrees and leave in until 15 mins into the boil)
Yeast Danstar
1 lb dark roasted Buckwheat (crushed and roasted 30 mins in toaster oven 450 degrees- seep 20 mins prior to boil and 10 mins into the boil). I find that using the buckwheat definately gives the beer more head retention.

i also find that you can roast buckwheat and get a very good carmel/nutty flavor out of the seep. Buckwheat has definately added another dimension when using Sorghum Malt.

The stout definately gets very very very good after aging for about 4 months in the bottle.
 
I took advantage of the 3 day weekend and malted 5 lbs of buckwheat. It's kilning in the dehydrator right now. I'm trying to decide if I should try making mbege or just a 100% buckwheat beer.
 
I took advantage of the 3 day weekend and malted 5 lbs of buckwheat. It's kilning in the dehydrator right now. I'm trying to decide if I should try making mbege or just a 100% buckwheat beer.

I vote 100% buckwheat, I still don't know how I feel about bananas in beer. That's awesome that you malted that much...how large of a batch do you think you could make with that?
 
I heard that buckwheat only converts its starches at higher temperatures, so i was just wondering if anyone knows if you have to de-hull the grain after germination so that harsh tannins are not released into the mash when you bring its temperature higher than 165F?
 
I heard that buckwheat only converts its starches at higher temperatures, so i was just wondering if anyone knows if you have to de-hull the grain after germination so that harsh tannins are not released into the mash when you bring its temperature higher than 165F?

I'll have to see a source before I believe that.
 
Either will sprout. I have had better success though with raw buckwheat that has only had the outer shell removed. If you use the raw buckwheat, i recomend to steep it for 1 hour, then let it sit in a cool dark place for the next couple of days, rinsing the grain to resomve the starchy goo 2-3 times a day. Within a couple of days the little rootlet that comes out of the grain should be somewhere around twice as long as the grain itself. Then, after drying you should have a well modified base malt, or you can roast it for alternative malt characteristics. Soaking time for buckwheat with the shell removed is less than with it still on, due to the rapid absorbtion of water that occurs when there is no shell to penetrate. I suspect that i have been contracting tannins by using bukwheat with the shells, so i would recomend staying away from them, unless you have an efficient method for removing the shells.
 
Optimum steeping time for germination is 7-13hr for buckwheat. Hull-on, I believe...

With hulled buckwheat, optimized mash is 15min @ 35C, 15min @ 45C, 40min @ 65C, 30min @ 72C and 10min @ 78C . Grist/liquor ratio of 1:4

In the real world, I'd do 20min @ 40 and 60min@ 65 w/ a mashout at 72 or something.

Hopefully this helps someone, doesnt discuss tannins from what I read (skimmed)... so that might be a separate battle...

This info is by Wijngaard and Arendt, published in Journal of the Institute of Brewing, 2006 vol 112 No.1


I might have to make an all buckwheat pale and see what happens :) ...so much to brew, so little time... :mug:
 
Thanks for the info. Do you know the optimal steeping times for germinating hulled buckwheat, that is raw buckwheat with only the outer shell removed.
 
Thanks for the info. Do you know the optimal steeping times for germinating hulled buckwheat, that is raw buckwheat with only the outer shell removed.

I'm not sure... I just included any relevant info that I could find while skimming that article. I was actually looking at the article for an unrelated purpose and it got me thinking, so I searched the forum and found that people are experimenting with buckwheat. Wish I could help more--maybe I'll do another search tomorrow if I have time.
 
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