Home Malting and Kilning

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I understand now about thins. Some of my grains are fat and some of them aren't. In the below the two small piles on the right are 50 fat(?) grains each. The smear on the left is probably about another 150 grains.

So my fats are 100% germinated. My thins, I found one that didn't germinate.

New how to thread coming. Vid coming. Pic attached.

germrate.jpg


[YOUTUBE]vl9H1tjuU0s[/YOUTUBE]
 
Poindexter said:
I understand now about thins. Some of my grains are fat and some of them aren't. In the below the two small piles on the right are 50 fat(?) grains each. The smear on the left is probably about another 150 grains.

So my fats are 100% germinated. My thins, I found one that didn't germinate.

New how to thread coming. Vid coming. Pic attached.

germrate.jpg


[YOUTUBE]vl9H1tjuU0s[/YOUTUBE]

Yes thins where a problem last year. Just not enough rain for the seeds to plump. You should have seen it before we had it cleaned and sized. We started with 315 bushels and ended up with 240. There were 75 bushels of even thinner kernels that where screened out. It is still good quality grain and will make good malt, we just don't get to use everything we harvest. Thanks for the video.
 
I am thinking if all the grains are about the same size everything will come out fine. The bother is the thins germinating more slowly than the plumps.

Is plumps the right term?

Anyway, no complaints here. I have a pound of Crystal "something" in the dryer on the lingerie setting per Uncle Charlie (knotted pillowcase), and a couple more pounds coming out of couches that will end up as pale. It will be enough to use up my whole hops before they go stale.
 
Poindexter said:
I am thinking if all the grains are about the same size everything will come out fine. The bother is the thins germinating more slowly than the plumps.

Is plumps the right term?

Anyway, no complaints here. I have a pound of Crystal "something" in the dryer on the lingerie setting per Uncle Charlie (knotted pillowcase), and a couple more pounds coming out of couches that will end up as pale. It will be enough to use up my whole hops before they go stale.

Ideally they are all plump, but mother nature doesn't always cooperate. Plump is a kernel size measurement used by malt plants, but I don't know the actual dimensions. Malt plants usually want at least 70% plump. The barley you got was about 45% plump before we had it cleaned/screened. I am guessing it is right about 70% plump now.
The other thing malt plants look at is protein content. Typically the lower the better. The barley you received is about 13% protein which is a good level for malt.
 
Poindexter said:
I am thinking if all the grains are about the same size everything will come out fine. The bother is the thins germinating more slowly than the plumps.

Is plumps the right term?

Anyway, no complaints here. I have a pound of Crystal "something" in the dryer on the lingerie setting per Uncle Charlie (knotted pillowcase), and a couple more pounds coming out of couches that will end up as pale. It will be enough to use up my whole hops before they go stale.
I am at day five of malting #110 of feed barley from IFA. While turning the barley I notice that much of the grain has developed well and some not much at all. What has developed seems to mat. In a few hours I plan on screening out the matted with a 1/2' mesh screen and separate the modified from that which doesn't have rootlets dry the modified and continue malting the rest. Looking pretty good. Thinking if I waited for warmer weather I would have more uniformity but more chance of molding.
 
Wort*hog said:
I am at day five of malting #110 of feed barley from IFA. While turning the barley I notice that much of the grain has developed well and some not much at all. What has developed seems to mat. In a few hours I plan on screening out the matted with a 1/2' mesh screen and separate the modified from that which doesn't have rootlets dry the modified and continue malting the rest. Looking pretty good. Thinking if I waited for warmer weather I would have more uniformity but more chance of molding.

I find the seeds at the bottom of the pile on the floor grow the longest roots and mat together while the seeds at the tops of the piles lag bnehind.

When I turn my piles on the floor I kind of breakup the mats as I flip them so the seeds with the shortest rootlets end up at the bottom to sort of "catch up".

Just FWIW.
 
Poindexter said:
I find the seeds at the bottom of the pile on the floor grow the longest roots and mat together while the seeds at the tops of the piles lag bnehind.

When I turn my piles on the floor I kind of breakup the mats as I flip them so the seeds with the shortest rootlets end up at the bottom to sort of "catch up".

Just FWIW.
Did as you suggested.Got called off to work for two days. Wife turned the pile while I was gone. Most are just right now. a few under modified and a few over. Going to dry it in a few hours.

Also called Scoulor in Idaho. They have malt quality Harrington for $15.oo a hundred wt. Only about a 3 hour round trip. I could get a half ton and be good for a long time!:ban:
 
When I malted my barley I made a box 3'x5' out of 2x10s.I covered it with screen to keep rats ,mice and birds off of the grain.. My neighbor loaned me a carpet drying fan to dry the malt. Today I cut a slot at the end of the box for the fan and now have my malt drying on top of the screen. Like a giant hair dryer. It's all coming together!
 
Today I bought a countertop convection oven like the one in the YouTube video above. We also have plowed up our entire front yard. Planting day is rapidly approaching! Harrington matures in 98 days so we are talking mid July before I have anything ready to thresh. (It gives me time to sharpen my sickle anyway.) I am hoping for at least a hundred pounds of barley, twenty or so of which will become seed for next year, and the rest of which will be used in heinous experiments to try to replicate different types of malt in my little oven. I also need to brush up on the decoction malt since that is what I will be using. A Doppelbock is in my future. I'm thinking some special dark Crystal, some CaraAroma, a bunch of Munich, and some two row... and about twelve hours....
 
Here it is. The glorious barley. A few pounds of seed, a few hundred square feet, and a lot of potential beer. Since I took this photo the heads have actually emerged... it's so beautiful. I'll take more pics when it's ready to be threshed.

 
Hey there.
just joined the sites and was following this story with interest.
Im planning on growing some barley this spring. i've got 50 lbs of barley
from a co-op north of me. I dont know what variety of barley this is as it was the guy's last bag and he didnt have the paperwork. but he told me it was grown with other crops to protect them from the wind. Anyhoo I figured what the hell lets go for it. for 15 dollars im not out much if it fails and i get some nice bird seed.
i took ten lbs as a test batch ad malted it. bucket type germination with a hop oast for kilning. I'm going for base malt, to start with. im at the deculming stage and not really sure how to do it efficently. Im thinking about a pillowcase and clothes drier but am a little apprehensive. any other ideas?
 
Bringing this one back from the dead here. Any updates on the experiments. I am planning to start home malting, but have the advantage that I get already accepted grain from the malting houses, all I have to do is the malting. Luck that I can pick and chose varieties, and should be able to get the best of the best.
Fifelee, just a jab here, but you guys down there are lucky in your selection process for malt. Up in Canada, nothing is selected with less than 85% plump and more than 4% thins. And for what it's worth, plumps are anything that stays on top of a 6 slot sieve (2.38mmX19.05mm or 6/64in.X3/4in.) and thins are those that pass through a 5 slot sieve (1.98mmX19.05mm or 5/64X3/4)
 
Hi guys
I'm also going to malt some barley I just grew, harvested about 60 kg, this is the first time so I'm taking it slowly! :)

So I was wandering, has anyone discovered what dimension is a plump? I read somewhere malting plants want barley at least 2.2 mm diameter, can help? Do you use a filter to select grains of a same size before malting?

Cheers

Stefano
 
I just finished making my first beer with homemalted grains. I did 10gals of a hoppy honey rye with about 12lbs of homemalted pale malt and 1.5lbs of homemade 60L crystal malt. I had to buy several other specialty grains including the rye malt. Overall, it went smoothly and is happily fermenting away in the primaries. I put half on an American style ale yeast and the other half on a french saison... Should be exciting to see how everything turns out.

This has been a 9+ month endeavor....
 
Sooooooo have good things come? Just curious. I read the whole thread and WOW, what an undertaking. Surely you have had some "dirt to beer" home brew by now.?.?.?.

Subscribed...
 
Hi guys
I'm also going to malt some barley I just grew, harvested about 60 kg, this is the first time so I'm taking it slowly! :)

So I was wandering, has anyone discovered what dimension is a plump? I read somewhere malting plants want barley at least 2.2 mm diameter, can help? Do you use a filter to select grains of a same size before malting?

Cheers

Stefano

Stefano, that is correct. I work for the Canadian Grain Commission and I described the plump and thins a few post before you asked this. It is done by a maltsters request, something like no more than 4% thins, no more than 2% forign material, no more than 5% peeled and broken. Each maltster will have their own specifications to what they want. In Canada, this is pre selected on the farm before it is delivered to the shipper. That way anything that is entering the system is known to be malt quality before it ties up space. Also, it is possible to be selected, and because of poor storage, when it is time for delivery, another sample is taken and it can then be turned down,
As for sizing, it is actually a very simple procedure. The grain is passed over a set of sieves, and anything too small will fall through and the bigger plump seeds will stay on top.

As I write this I am looking at a boat headed to China, 10 000 tonnes of Copeland and 34 000 tonnes of Metcalf. These samples will be then taken home and used in my home malting.
 
@lurker18:
You're right, your post was just a couple before mine :D Thanks for the info anyway. You're lucky you get the best! And I know it's crazy at my level of malting, but now I'm thinking about getting a sieve and see what it happens to my barley! I don't think It's an easy task to build one, so I will search for one, the hard part will be finding one with the right size of holes.

@jesseking: very nice dryer! Is it a vacuum-cleaner you use to extract the air? I was wondering, how do you control the temperature inside the dryer? Is there a temp probe inside? Can you regulate the heat of the hairdryer? If the inlet air temperature changes, can you mantain the inside temperature constant?
 
@lurker18:

@jesseking: very nice dryer! Is it a vacuum-cleaner you use to extract the air? I was wondering, how do you control the temperature inside the dryer? Is there a temp probe inside? Can you regulate the heat of the hairdryer? If the inlet air temperature changes, can you mantain the inside temperature constant?

The hairdryer is used to blow air across the grain that is suspended on two screens. The one I found on e-bay had 3 temperature settings which gives me some control. I can also close down or open the vent holes on the bottom of the dryer with masking tape. The dryer doesn't get quite as hot as I would like, but I am able to sustain 95+ temps.

After spending a couple of days drying in the dryer I put all the grain in the oven to kiln it, that makes sure that all the moisture is gone and gives it a very light toast. We'll see how well it all worked here in a couple of weeks when the first beer is finished.
 
I am a all grain brewer and we malt our own barley
we get our barley seed from

Harrington Seeds Inc

2586 S Bradleyville Rd
Reese, MI 48757

(989) 868-4750
 
yo man! i'm in ann arbor, where you at? when you get your grains up and running, let me know. i'll buy some off of you for sure!
 
Johney's seeds sells two row in 1, 5. and 25 pound amounts. Harvesting and threshing by hand is time consuming. check out the brewers garden it has method for malting in 5 lb batches
 
HI Everybody
I'm a journalist working on a story about the micro-malting movement, and have already talked to, or are planning on talking to, small commercial outfits like Valley Malt and Riverbend, but was interested in talking to homebrewers who've attempted DIY malting. If anybody has, and would be open to talking before my deadline on Wednesday, pls email me at [email protected]. Thanks!
Lessley Anderson
 
Here's some rye and some oats (green) - could just as well have been barley. Does get me to thinkin'.
IMG_0122.jpg
 
I've just read this thread from start to finish and look forward to hearing how everyone's experiments have gone. I too have started to grow my own barley. Thanks to all who have contributed, I've learned a lot so far. I'm not completely sure what kind of seed barley I planted. The local AG seed supply store didn't know much about barley for malting. While I did specify 2-row; I'm not completely confident that is what I got. I'll attach some pictures and maybe someone here will know.

Ultimately what I'm striving for is something similar to Golden Promise or Marris Otter.

IMG_20120812_160715.jpg


IMG_20120812_160745.jpg


IMG_20130522_091915.jpg
 
If you have any of the seed left, it is very easy to tell the difference between 2 row and 6 row. On two row barley, the creases will all be straight, running from the tip to the germ end. 6 row barley will have a slight twist to the creases on 2/3 of the seeds. The twisted seeds are usually slightly smaller than the straight creased ones. The twist is caused by the seeds being lined up on the heads in opposing pairs of three, the two outside seeds will get twisted while the middle seed grows straight. On two row barley, the heads are lined up as single opposing seeds, so here will be no twisting.
 
I've got some on order, I plan on a smallish plot of something like 12 feet by 80 feet or so. Being that I have a 4 foot wide tiller on my tractor, 3 passes up the middle of my food plot which is over 100 feet long but surrounded by trees and not much grows (except clover) underneath the trees so I won't put barley there. SE Mich, south of Flint about 30 miles.
 
By July should have my own grain. I have 50 lbs., don't need it. Michigan guys please Help defray my costs. Contact me for seed.
 
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