Moldy malt.

[Moezart]

Hello everyone,
I am an all-grain brewer. I live in a country where homebrewing supplies (of any kind) aren't available anywhere, therefore I resort to malting my own grains. For the past three years, I haven't had any issues as far as malting is concerned.
Today, I took my malt out of homemade grain-dryer and I see pockets of mold scattered around as shown in pix below. Not all of the Malt is moldy, but still many pockets of it. I have never experienced such a thing before so I am not sure how to deal with it. My gut tells me to toss the whole thing out (about 20 lbs), but I figured I should get your opinion first. Maybe there is a way to salvage this thing.

Factors to consider:

-Barley was bought about 7 months ago and kept in a plastic bag in an aerated area.
-My homemade dryer may not be large enough to hold 20 lbs, grains were sitting on the drying screens in thick layers( but I have done the same before with the same method and never had such issue)
- At temp of 90F it took about 5 days straight to get the 20 lbs bone dry.

Any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.

 

[bleme]

Just tagging @bracconiere to make sure he sees this post. I don't see many malters on here.

@COLObrewer might be able to answer also, but they haven't been around lately.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17727998

 

[lump42]

I've worked with fusarium plant disease quite a bit. The species and strains that often infect grains often have a pink caste/ tint to the mycelium and kernels. This looks suspiciously like fusarium which can often produce mycotoxins as Gila alluded. I wouldn't risk it. The fusarium mycotoxins are heat stable and won't break down from boiling.

In the future, turn the layers more often or force air through it the grain beds to dry them quicker. Once dry then store away in a cool and dry space.

 

[bracconiere]

definitely dump it! some seriously bad stuff grows on wet grain, aflatoxin mold, and fusarium...


5 days at 90f would be the cause, i believe... i've shown you my method for drying before...Box fan and sweater drying racks.....

that is what will be 20lbs of pale malt....this system will dry the malt sufficiently for kilning, in a day....(but i give it two, so that i can kiln it all at once)

edit: and i was drinking gushing beer from a keg, thought it was just over carb'd...two days later, i woke up with serious pain in my liver, had to cut back to just a 12 pack a day for a month to help it heal... (that and, sunflower seeds, rice bran, flax seeds, beans, yeast)

 

[bracconiere]

And another safety tip for malting at home. It wououldn't hurt to get a UV Flashlight, check it in the dark. If anything glows, it's alfatoxin...doesn't work for fusarium though...

 

[Moezart]

Just tagging @bracconiere to make sure he sees this post. I don't see many malters on here.

@COLObrewer might be able to answer also, but they haven't been around lately.

Thank you.

 

[bracconiere]

I believe @November , also used to malt....

 

[Moezart]

definitely dump it! some seriously bad stuff grows on wet grain, aflatoxin mold, and fusarium...


5 days at 90f would be the cause, i believe... i've shown you my method for drying before...Box fan and sweater drying racks.....View attachment 618481

that is what will be 20lbs of pale malt....this system will dry the malt sufficiently for kilning, in a day....(but i give it two, so that i can kiln it all at once)

edit: and i was drinking gushing beer from a keg, thought it was just over carb'd...two days later, i woke up with serious pain in my liver, had to cut back to just a 12 pack a day for a month to help it heal... (that and, sunflower seeds, rice bran, flax seeds, beans, yeast)

That's funny!! Actually for liver health nothing beats milk thistle seeds if you can get them where you are! They work wonders for liver. Otherwise, the extract is OK!!! All the best to you. I am gonna try drying half of the amount next time. Thanks

 

[bracconiere]

I just go by what CRON-O-Meter tells me....

 

[bracconiere]

i think i asked this before, but i'll ask again...what do you do for air flow in your hot box? mold usually grows in stale air...

 

[Moezart]

i think i asked this before, but i'll ask again...what do you do for air flow in your hot box? mold usually grows in stale air...

Actually, that is a good question. (I forgot to mention this in the original post) I have a fan installed inside the dryer, but It capped out last tine, and I think it may have happened in the beginning of the drying period. So what I have done was I opened the dryer every 8 hours or so and ratated the trays just to get some evenness going and to introduce fresh air. Being the batch was so big for the dryer, maybe that wasn't enough to avoid the mold.
Now I am in the process of malting a smaller batch (13lbs) and I am going to use your box fan method before kilning.
Thank you sir!

 

[bracconiere]

Actually, that is a good question. (I forgot to mention this in the original post) I have a fan installed inside the dryer, but It capped out last tine, and I think it may have happened in the beginning of the drying period. So what I have done was I opened the dryer every 8 hours or so and ratated the trays just to get some evenness going and to introduce fresh air. Being the batch was so big for the dryer, maybe that wasn't enough to avoid the mold.
Now I am in the process of malting a smaller batch (13lbs) and I am going to use your box fan method before kilning.
Thank you sir!

i think you'll like it! it was a huge improvement for me over my food dehydrator....(and a lot easier on the elec bill!)

 

[Moezart]

i think you'll like it! it was a huge improvement for me over my food dehydrator....(and a lot easier on the elec bill!)

Going for it this weekend!!!

 

[deadwolfbones]

Just out of curiosity, what country are you in?

 

[bracconiere]

Going for it this weekend!!!

remember it doesn't need to be 'bone' dry to kiln, just firm/hard to a squeeze...it can finish drying in the oven...

Just out of curiosity, what country are you in?

tunisia i believe, north afircan...mostly muslim, probably why it's hard to homebrew...we'll get him drinking on the cheap though!

 

[bracconiere]

@Moezart What's the status of your malt? curious to get an update!

 

[Moezart]

@Moezart What's the status of your malt? curious to get an update!

Hello. I tossed that questionable batch and started again with a 10 lb batch. Used a fan for 36 hours, then turned the light bulbs on my homemade kiln for about 3 days (along with the fan going) I used that batch 10 days ago, so I am about to bottle it in a few days, it looks, smells, and tastes great... And that is a good start... Thanks for all your support

 

[bracconiere]

glad to hear about the success! (what temp did you kiln at? what was the color of the beer?)

 

[Moezart]

glad to hear about the success! (what temp did you kiln at? what was the color of the beer?)

My kiln only goes up to 120f (4,light bulbs and a fan) not sure if that is hot enough though!.
This time I opted for a straw color IPA with a touch of amber Belgian candy sugar. I also added some local organic honey... Definitely looking forward to this o e! Thanks dude!

 

[bracconiere]

My kiln only goes up to 120f (4,light bulbs and a fan) not sure if that is hot enough though!.
This time I opted for a straw color IPA with a touch of amber Belgian candy sugar. I also added some local organic honey... Definitely looking forward to this o e! Thanks dude!

i'd say use your oven instead of the light bulbs...set it too 150f at least...and it'll be done in 12 hours, not 3 days at that temp, should be easier on the electric bill

 

[Moezart]

i'd say use your oven instead of the light bulbs...set it too 150f at least...and it'll be done in 12 hours, not 3 days at that temp, should be easier on the electric bill

Sounds like a plan!

 

[Hammer Malt]

Looks like my time to shine. So what you have is mycotoxin (DOM) This can occur from extremely poor storage conditions of even your best malt. However, the issue you are having is from lack of air flow when entering the kilning stage. If you heat it up without forcing sufficient airflow (or grain beds too thick) your malt will develop this mold. That batch must be disposed of (and not fed to livestock either). If it makes you feel any better we have lost 1500 lb batches due to power outages of no more than 2 hours. A simple fan setup or thinner beds will be your best bet. Hope this helps, if you guys have any other questions feel free to shoot me a message!! Good luck and happy brewing!

 

[Moezart]

Looks like my time to shine. So what you have is mycotoxin (DOM) This can occur from extremely poor storage conditions of even your best malt. However, the issue you are having is from lack of air flow when entering the kilning stage. If you heat it up without forcing sufficient airflow (or grain beds too thick) your malt will develop this mold. That batch must be disposed of (and not fed to livestock either). If it makes you feel any better we have lost 1500 lb batches due to power outages of no more than 2 hours. A simple fan setup or thinner beds will be your best bet. Hope this helps, if you guys have any other questions feel free to shoot me a message!! Good luck and happy brewing!

Thank you so much Hammer Malt.
I really appreciate it. Sorry for that big batch you lost too.