Safety Concerns using feed grade barley

[IcicleToes]

So I just purchased a 50 lb. sack of barley from my local feed store with the intention of malting it myself and/or roasting some for a stout. The product was labeled "malting barley" and it was produced by the Volkman Seed Company. I noticed, however, that it says "feed grade, not for human consumption", which leads me to question the safety of using this product for homebrewing. Perhaps that label is there because Volkman Seed Co. would have to get FDA approval in order for the product to be considered fit for human consumption. I do recall reading some posts about people who have malted feed barley with success, but I am curious what everyone thinks about it. Strange that they would label a product as malting barley if it's intended use is for animal feed. Anyhow, I'll probably give it a shot and see what happens. That recent article about malting wheat got me stoked on diy malting. While we are on the subject, anyone know of a place to get bulk raw wheat in the bay area?

 

[sandyeggoxj]

How much did the sack cost?

 

[IcicleToes]

$21. Not a great deal once you factor in the labor of malting, but it should be a fun experiment.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Awesome. Well you can buy meds from a vet thst have warning labels on them but work just fine for humans so I'd guess this is about the same.

You are right about it being fun. Wish I could see it first hand. Good luck!

 

[AkTom]

By the time it's malted, mashed and boiled... What's that line from the Hobbit, boil em, broil em, something or another. Any way you should be more than good to go.

 

[RM-MN]

$21. Not a great deal once you factor in the labor of malting, but it should be a fun experiment.

Here's another thought if you decide you don't want to malt all of that barley. Malted barley that you buy at your LHBS usually has a high diastatic power. It can convert itself and quite a bit more. Try a batch where you use 40% malted barley and 60% unmalted "feed barley". My LHBS sells 1 pound packets of 2 row for a bit over $2. Your unmalted barley cost you about 45 cents a pound. Hmmm...

 

[IcicleToes]

Now that's an idea! I am definitely going to give it a try. Thanks for the input and encouragement, amigos. I love these experiments.

 

[bbrim]

Malting companies carefully monitor the level of pesticide application on the grains they are purchasing. Growers selling to maltsters have to comply with these expectations or lose their contracts. Other barley producers apply HIGH levels of pesticides shortly before harvest which cause the grains to mature quickly, this provides even maturity levels across large tracts of land. This also causes the barley stalks to begin withering, making the threshing process much simpler. It is not uncommon for a field to be laying flat by the time producers come through with their combines.
There is no way to be certain the feed barley you purchased was grown this way but it is likely. I would avoid using that barley for beer production.

 

[sasky7777]

Do a small test, the pre-harvest herbicide application common in feed barley production will severely impact germination. Residues are less of a concern because they would be harmful to the animals as well.

 

[Bucky_Brewer]

My suggestion would be to contact Volkman Seed Company. They have a contact email address on their website.

They should be able to tell you exactly what's going on with the grain you purchased. Because there is definitely a discrepancy there.

Either it's "malting barley" or it's "not for human consumption". It can't exactly be both.

There is a real good chance it was rejected by maltsters/brewers because of undersized kernels, bugs, etc., and Volkman didn't pursue FDA approval because it's not their deal, you know.

Another possibility, however, is that the grain was rejected by maltsters/brewers because it was mildewed.

Mildew is a deal-breaker because you'll have low germination -- under 50% -- and any malt that you do produce will smell like a moldy bath towel after all is said and done unless you soak/rinse it in chlorinated water a few times along the way.

But check with Volkman. They should know exactly what the deal is.

 

[Malt]

Barley labeled as 'Feed grade' is not fit for human consumption.

Seed barley which has been treated with pesticides/herbicides is obviously also not fit for human consumption.

Seed grade and malting barley have been cleaned and graded as such.

You can order sacks of cleaned unhulled barley suitable for malting from these companies:

http://www.naturalwaymills.com/

219 Organic Unhulled Barley Berries - 50# 25.00
220 Organic Unhulled Barley Berries - 25# 13.13
220a Organic Unhulled Barley Berries - 5# 4.75

Because this is organic barley it may have low levels of fusarium and mold but nothing to the extent that should affect your malting plans. If you are concerned remove the red colored grains before kilning. Mold is generally not an issue unless an error is made during the malting process. Small amount of hydrogen peroxide can be added to the steeping water to help stem the mold issue.

The variety is normally Conlon which is generally used for lager type beers and very light pilsner type malts.

Handy Pantry and Joseph's Grainery also sell barley for malting. You'll have to call them on the variety but searching amazon for 'unhulled barley' should give you an idea.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NVYBP6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

If you insist on purchasing barley from your local feed supply store you'll want to ask for 'untreated seed barley'. This is barley that will be planted. It has been cleaned but not treated. They should also be able to tell you the variety of the seed. This is generally made available in the spring and fall.

Sometimes certain localities will have 'seed dealers' from which you should be able to purchase a sack of 'untreated seed barley'. Just beware that you'll pay a higher price because seed barley has been cleaned and is generally of a higher quality similar to that of malting barley.

 

[IcicleToes]

Thanks for the info! I appreciate the reply. I will have to investigate a bit further and see what Volkman has to say. Not too excited about pesticide residue.

 

[Malt]

If it's the Volkman Bird Seed company then there's a good probability that you'll want to avoid using that for malting. Generally, barley used for animals, horses, birds etc... is low quality and not suitable for malting.

Were you to post close-up pictures of the bag, it's labels and some of the barley it might be possible to confirm based on visual feedback.

Some of these companies should sell untreated seed suitable for malting barley:
http://www.howeseeds.com/ordernow.html
https://hancockseed.com/barley-seed-48-lb-bag-untreated-732.html (Atlantic Six-Row)

A google search reveals many other purveyors of seed across the country.

The American Malting Barley Association releases it's list of malting barleys yearly:

http://ambainc.org/media/AMBA_PDFs/Pubs/KYMBV_2014.pdf

 

[IcicleToes]

Malt, you are the man. Thanks again for weighing in. I spoke to a rep at Volkman who was very hesitant to give me any concrete answers, since they are not involved with the production, and they don't want to advise people to use the product for human use (for legal reasons). He did mention however that personally he would have no problem consuming it, and that many people do use the product for that purpose. He also mentioned that barley goes through a fumigation process in the silo, which sounds a little creepy. My instinct tells me it isn't a great idea to risk my health with this. Anyway, here's a pic of the packaging:

 

[Malt]

Fumigation is common practice when transporting grain by ship or storing grain in large bins or silos. Most of the fumigant is dissipated by transferring the grain from bin to bin and establishing a waiting period before it's released to the processors or consumers.

Food grade barley has been cleaned with a fanning mill. This is a device that will remove all of the straw, chaff, dead bugs, feces, stones, etc... that are in the grain.

Feed grade barley has not been cleaned and therefore contains a lot of those extraneous materials.

Malting and Seed grade barley has been cleaned with a fanning mill and has had the small seeds removed leaving the plumper, heartier seeds. That operation is sometimes also done by the fanning mill with different size screens (similar to sifting flour or sugar).

Soaking feed grade barley in water (the cleaning step before the steep) will produce pitch black water filled with all kinds of nasty stuff.

Soaking food grade, malting or seed grade barley in water (the cleaning step before the steep) will still produce dirty water but not to the degree of feed grade barley.

Were you to try and malt feed grade barley you would run into several problems:

1.) Low germination rate reduces extract and increases protein content
2.) Small seed size reduces extract

Try this, open your bag and attempt to "clean" some of the barley:

1.) Take a bucket and fill it with some of your barley (not too full or it will overflow, usually about 12.5lbs max in a 5 gallon bucket!)
2.) Cover the barley with clean, cool water
3.) Using your hands mix the water and the barley thoroughly
4.) Remove any floating seeds, debris, particles, foreign seeds, straw etc...
5.) Take note of the smell and color of the water (better yet take pictures and share!)
6.) Strain the dirty water from the barley
7.) Repeat steps 2 - 6. If the water does not clear in 6 - 8 cycles of washing and you still note a rancid smell then you know it's very dirty barley

It's ok, if after cleaning that the water is yellowish, but it should not in any way be brown/black. If you have a hard time straining the barley from the water then you know it's poor quality barley. The barley should be "light and fluffy" after washing and when submerged in the first steep water.

Be sure to thoroughly wash your hands and arms and the bucket/strainer you used when you're done handling the barley!

Be sure to continue the malting cycle with the steeping schedule if the cleaning works, do not let the malt air dry between cleaning and the first steeping! If it doesn't work just throw the barley away!

 

[IcicleToes]

Well then it's settled. I will do a thorough washing and see what I'm dealing with. I'll post my results as this project progresses. Malt, I can't help but notice that you may have joined the forum to respond to my post. Your input has been greatly appreciated! Sounds like you have some malting experience under your belt. On another note, it is a shame that we do not hold the same standards to animal feed production as we do human food. Sounds like there's some shady business in the feed game.

 

[bbrim]

The feed game may seem shady but there are a lot of factors to consider. If you don't use rigorous herbicide/pesticide treatments then the labor and cost for managing fields increases substantially. This in turn pushes meat prices through the roof and denies access to meat for a large portion of society. It also makes it very hard for people with a little more money to afford beef/pork etc. In the end we need to balance food safety and environmental concerns with affordability and access. It's a difficult calculus and I'm not sure what the answer is. Another thing to consider is that these chemicals tend to be carcinogens, with animals raised for slaughter we're not so concerned with long term terminal illness like we are with people. What would raise red flags is if there was residual pesticide compounds in the meat. I haven't seen evidence that this is the case, but I have not researched this extensively. Suffice it to say, the why's and the how's are very difficult questions to deal with. We do know its not wise to eat food with cancer causing chemicals in or on it.
Good luck with the malting, I am very curious to see what you come up with.

 

[Malt]

The feed game may seem shady but there are a lot of factors to consider. If you don't use rigorous herbicide/pesticide treatments then the labor and cost for managing fields increases substantially. This in turn pushes meat prices through the roof and denies access to meat for a large portion of society. It also makes it very hard for people with a little more money to afford beef/pork etc. In the end we need to balance food safety and environmental concerns with affordability and access. It's a difficult calculus and I'm not sure what the answer is. Another thing to consider is that these chemicals tend to be carcinogens, with animals raised for slaughter we're not so concerned with long term terminal illness like we are with people. What would raise red flags is if there was residual pesticide compounds in the meat. I haven't seen evidence that this is the case, but I have not researched this extensively. Suffice it to say, the why's and the how's are very difficult questions to deal with. We do know its not wise to eat food with cancer causing chemicals in or on it.
Good luck with the malting, I am very curious to see what you come up with.

Normally, crop spraying is not done after the plants' green stage giving plenty of time for residual spray to be dissipated. Though some fungicides may be applied later it's doubtful they propagate through to harvest as too much time has passed. Of course, if one chooses organic, that brings the risk of natural fungus poisoning (Fusarium (i.e. Vomi-toxin), etc...) which is also a carcinogen.

 

[Malt]

Well then it's settled. I will do a thorough washing and see what I'm dealing with. I'll post my results as this project progresses. Malt, I can't help but notice that you may have joined the forum to respond to my post. Your input has been greatly appreciated! Sounds like you have some malting experience under your belt. On another note, it is a shame that we do not hold the same standards to animal feed production as we do human food. Sounds like there's some shady business in the feed game.

That's the spirit!

Animal feed production is difficult to control. If one farmer has shiny new grain bins that keep out pests and another farmer has an old barn where he elevates the grain onto a pile on the barn floor... there really are no standards to tell the farmer what they have to comply with if they're feeding their own animals. Obviously the pile on the barn floor will receive attention from raccoons, mice and critters of the night. Inspections are normally limited to dairy buildings/facilities, which are kept and held to a standard well above the rest in order for the milk produced to be accepted by the milk processor.

 

[Maltsterbrad]

malting barley is carefully tested for DON - a product of fusarium head blight (fungus). DON is a deal killer, and while it's not exactly common, it's too common for how bad it is. We take many steps to avoid FHB & DON in malting barley. We grow it clean, keep it clean, fan it clean, test it. Any time barley won't qualify for malting, it salvages as feed barley. Some growers expect a 50% rejection rate - I think management can clean that up a great deal, but everyone farms differently.

I don't want to sound critical - I understand if you don't do this everyday it's foreign. Feed barley is worth $2.60 for 48# bushel or about 5.5 cents per pound + $.50 for bagging it as opposed to bulk. If I read the op right, the feed barley was about $.50/# - 2 row base malt is $.80. Beer making is cool partly because of live and learn and experimenting.

 

[IcicleToes]

Okay, here's what happened with this project. Thread resurrection time!

I went ahead and soaked the grains in a bucket, scooped off the chaff that rose to the top, and repeated that process a few times. Not much dirt or chaff present - maybe two cups worth. The raw barley smelled like dried hay or some other aroma you would smell on a farm. Not quite like the amazing aroma that malted grains have.
After the cleaning step, I steeped the grains in water several times over the course of a day (5-10 min per steep, followed by an extra long 12 hour steep). Signs of germination were evident later that day. These were some very healthy kernels - I'd say the germination rate was very close to 100 percent.

With germination underway, I transferred the grains to a few pyrex dishes. At this point, my strategy was to apply mist twice a day and mix them up periodically to keep the germination uniform.

As things progressed, the germinating barley gave off a sweet, candy-like aroma. Within a day or so, the smell started to remind me of cucumbers. At a certain point, the cucumber smell became very overwhelming and took over the house. There was also an impressive amount of heat being generated. It must have been 10-15 degrees hotter than the ambient temperature. Eventually, I took things too far and the rootlets became entangled.

I halted things at day five and began drying the malt by any means necessary. I made a roaring fire in the woodstove, set up the pyrex within a few feet of the fire, then set up a fan to get the air flow going. This really didn't do much to remove moisture, so I decided to put the malt in the oven on the lowest setting for short intervals in addition to using the fan method. That seemed to do the trick, though I doubt I got the malt down to 3% moisture content. It also took a long time. I was worried the oven would stew the grains and destroy enzymes, but as I later discovered, that was not the case.
I also made a bit of crystal malt by placing some green malt in the oven for a while. I can't recall the temp or duration, but it sure did work well. The result tasted and smelled quite similar to a commercial crystal malt.

As you can see, the rootlets really got cooked, which made it easier to separate them from the grains. I simply placed the crystal malt into a strainer, stirred it up, and the dry rootlets fell right through. Cool!

Unfortunately, the extra long rootlets of the my base malt were not so easy to remove. I suspect the base malt was not dried sufficiently, because those rootlets weren't going anywhere. I even tried using a flour sifter, but that accomplished nothing.

-----------
Just recently, I finally got around to brewing with this homemade malt. I should have used it when it was super fresh, but I am still curious to see what happens. I can't exactly remember the recipe, but the grist was something like:
(3 gallons)
4-5 lbs Homemade base malt (rootlets and all!)
1/2 lb. Homemade crystal malt

As for hop additions, I can't remember what I did, but I know Styrian Goldings, Styrian Aurora, or Columbus were involved. Usually I'm better with the documentation. My choice of yeast was Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire. The fermentation took off quite nicely, confirming that the malt did indeed have some diastatic power. Rad!! I am now planning on bottling in a week or two, and we'll see how the beer tastes.

Closing Thoughts:

This experiment has given me so much appreciation for what maltsters do. In order to produce a decent quantity of malt, you need a lot of surface area, and most homes are simply not going to be an ideal space for this kind of work. Also, you really do need a good method for drying and kilning, which is also not something most homes are set up for. I put a good amount of work into this project, and came out with like 5-6 lbs. of malt. I can't imagine producing more than that without filling up the entire living room with pyrex dishes and fans! I had a great time doing this, but I will be leaving the malting to the pros for now. They have the gear and the space to do a better job than myself, and when you consider how specialized the process is, the cost of malt is actually very reasonable. From now on, when I purchase a bag of malt, I will know the work that went into it, and I have a lot of respect for the process. What a luxury it is to have access to the amazing ingredients out there. Can you imagine if we had to malt our own grain for every batch?

Cheers!

IcicleToes

 

[IcicleToes]

Bo!

 

[Gameface]

So how'd the beer turn out?

 

[jonny24]

Bit late since you've already done it, but anyway.

My dad farms and works at a grain elevator and I've worked there at various times over the years, so I have a lite bit of experience in the grain production industry. Now, as the majority of barley is produced for beer, it seems to be very specially geared to what maltsters need (see the excellent posts above) compared to other grains, and no one grows barley around here.

But what the process is for wheat, is that when it comes in, samples are taken from the trucks/wagons and graded. This includes weighing how much chaff, foreign materials, sprouted, mildewed or fusarium kernels there are, and moisture testing. Based on the percentage of other crap it gets classified as Grade 2, 3, of Feed (basically Grade 1 is perfect and doesn't really happen). So up until that point the wheat used for food and the wheat used for feed is the same stuff, with the same pesticides/fungicides applied. From there it gets stored, dried if needed, sent to mills or ships or farms or made into feed.

Now, BIG disclaimer, I have no idea how different the process for barley is. But based on that experience I would have no problem using "feed" grade for this. In fact I'm planning on getting some wheat and rye and trying it out.

What was your OG? Close to what you'd expect from using commercially malted? How'd it taste?