Diastatic power

hmm not sure if this is the right channel for this thread but does anyone know if/how you can estimate diastatic power / units from hot and cold water extract potential?

I'm not sure I understand the question. I've only heard of diastatic power in terms of different malted grains.

e.g. 2-row barley is rather high in diastatic power and makes it a common base malt. however CaraPils has no enzymes and must be mashed with other grains to extract any sugars out of it.

It sounds like you're asking about the enzymatic power of malts acting below the amylase's ideal temperature range. There must be some conversion at these temperatures, if only because of ancient spontaneous beers. I don't know where you can find out about this, but I'm curious, so I'll keep an eye on this thread.

I suppose that timing the mash could give you an estimation of DP. More reliable would be to contact the shop you got it from or the maltster that made it. If it is home malted you could mix it 50/50 with unmalted grain and see if there are sufficient enzymes to convert in 30, 60, 90 minutes. It might give you a better idea than the all malt mash.

Hmm never mind so much, I was just trying to get a little help on my course work but its done now. To clear up the confusion i was asked to estimate diastatic power (the activity of the alpha and beta amylases) from 2 common malt assays. Cold water extract is were a known quantity of malt is mashed at 20C for 3 hours and the gravity of the mash is taken from which you can calculate the % of extract you can gain just from sugars produced during the malting process. Hot water extract is similar but mashed at 65C for an hour. The difference of the two values gives you some idea of the enzymatic activity. I was looking for some fudge factor to convert to diastatic power but i dont think there is one, I ended up having to look through some common malt specs and trying to estimate from those. Thanks anyway though guys.