30 lbs of Regular Barley

[bluesparks12]

I ended up with 30lbs of regular ( not milled or malted) barley and I'm trying to figure out how I can use it. I've got a 5 gallon brew set up and a 9 gallon still. Any suggestions?

 

[DBhomebrew]

@bracconiere

 

[MaxStout]

You could use it as an adjunct, but you need to mash with some base malt (the latter provides the enzymes to convert it all).

 

[balrog]

Yes, like @bracconiere , you could malt it. Then it would have enzymes to convert itself.

But I be lazy, and agree with @MaxStout , just throw in some 2row or base malt and then use the barely. You'll have to do a wee bit of math to get enough ratio of 2row with known diastatic potential to know how much you need to have overall batch of at least 30 I think (see for instance this)

 

[MaxStout]

If you were to mash 50/50 proportions of pale malt and the unmalted barley, you should have plenty of enzymes to convert both.

Unmalted barley does produce a lot of beta glucans, which will can lautering tricky. Add some rice hulls to the mash to help the process.

 

[bracconiere]

if it's still got the husk on it, i'd malt it....it only takes a couple days, and not much work or fancy equipment needed to do it.

i'd imagine you'd get enough malt for 2 5 gallon batches out of 30lbs barley...

 

[Dr_Jeff]

if it's still got the husk on it, i'd malt it....it only takes a couple days, and not much work or fancy equipment needed to do it.

In the bathtub, right?

 

[bracconiere]

In the bathtub, right?

i do. but that's just because it's convenient. a storage tote, with a lid you can put on it, and prop up on it's side to function as a drain will work too, that's what i do for smaller batches.

a box fan for drying at room temp, then a low over over night for kilning. for a one time fun project just use said box fan blowing in front of a couple buckets and pass the malt back in forth to deculm....

 

[Bramling Cross]

[QUOTE="bracconiere, post: 9192101, member: 251801"
i'd imagine you'd get enough malt for 2 5 gallon batches out of 30lbs barley...
[/QUOTE]

Cripes! No wonder you're perpetually pickled!

 

[bracconiere]

[QUOTE="bracconiere, post: 9192101, member: 251801"
i'd imagine you'd get enough malt for 2 5 gallon batches out of 30lbs barley...

Cripes! No wonder you're perpetually pickled!
[/QUOTE]


just saying i get 20lbs of malt, from 23lbs barley. which is enough for a 1.060 10 gallon batch?

 

[Bramling Cross]

I'm just giving you *%$&%.

You're my hero.

 

[bracconiere]

You're my hero.

you just got my evening radio tunes rolling! thanks! going to be the mood for the rest of the night

 

[Bramling Cross]

You were my hero.

 

[bluesparks12]

i do. but that's just because it's convenient. a storage tote, with a lid you can put on it, and prop up on it's side to function as a drain will work too, that's what i do for smaller batches.

a box fan for drying at room temp, then a low over over night for kilning. for a one time fun project just use said box fan blowing in front of a couple buckets and pass the malt back in forth to deculm....

So you're saying the malting process is no more than soaking until the barley germenates then drying it out?

 

[bracconiere]

So you're saying the malting process is no more than soaking until the barley germenates then drying it out?

pretty much! but after drying it needs to be kilned in a low oven to taste good, otherwise it'll taste green, but has to be pretty dry before the low dry heat otherwise the enzymes will be to mobile, and denature.

but a box fan blowing room temp over the barley for a day gets it dry enough to go in the oven....i use sweater drying racks for that....

malt is basically just sprouted barley.

 

[bluesparks12]

pretty much! but after drying it needs to be kilned in a low oven to taste good, otherwise it'll taste green, but has to be pretty dry before the low dry heat otherwise the enzymes will be to mobile, and denature.

but a box fan blowing room temp over the barley for a day gets it dry enough to go in the oven....i use sweater drying racks for that....

malt is basically just sprouted barley.

Do you happen to know what temperature and how long it needs to kiln?

 

[bracconiere]

Do you happen to know what temperature and how long it needs to kiln?

i put in the oven at 170f and just let the oven time out after 12 hours...sometimes it creeps up to 200f in that time, make a more like munich malt..YMMV. but 160-200f will make a pale to munich malt that has plenty of enzymes to convert stuff along with it's self.

when you soak it, just soak it for like 2-3 hours, drain and make sure it breaths otherwise it will get bacteria. and IF YOU EVER GET A GUSHING BEER DON'T EVEN TAKE A SIP! DUMP IT!

it's really rare but mold can grow on it. and it's bad for you. just needs to breath while sprouting.

and you want to let the grain sprout until, the little plant thing, acrospire, is peaking out from under the husks on most of the grains..that's when it's ready to be dried.

 

[bluesparks12]

Thanks for sharing your experience. You've clearly been here before! I appreciate it.

 

[bracconiere]

Thanks for sharing your experience. You've clearly been here before! I appreciate it.

i'm the malting equivalent of some one who was eating raw chicken for 2.5 years...telling you to be sure to cook thoroughly!

and yeah i malt all my own barley, it costs me around 30 cents a pound for homemalted barley, and the prices at the home brew stores are going insane! over $2 a pound now....and when i use 20lbs for a batch that's a huge difference!


but really, just grab a storage tote with a lid, fill it up with say 15-16 lbs of your barley, let it soak for 2-3 hours, then slap the lid on it. put it on it's side so the water all leaks out, take the lid off mix it around a bit, then give it another soak for just like 30 seconds the following day...drain mix it around so it can breath..same for the third day. then it's usually ready for drying after that on the fourth day. easy peasy! (deculming was the only that i found a PITA, but thanks to the help of other people on this forum, i've got an old clothes dryer for that now! way easier then the bucket to bucket method)


15-16 lbs of barley should yield about 12 or so lbs of finished malt...

 

[jerrylotto]

If you were to mash 50/50 proportions of pale malt and the unmalted barley, you should have plenty of enzymes to convert both.

Unmalted barley does produce a lot of beta glucans, which will can lautering tricky. Add some rice hulls to the mash to help the process.

An extended (at least 1-hoir) acid rest at 95F - 105F will allow peptase to break down the beta glucans. This will also acidify the mash so make sure your water is well buffered. And DON'T kiln it as peptase quickly denatures irreversibly above 110F.

 

[superiorsat]

, it costs me around 30 cents a pound for homemalted barley,

After a little googling I haven't found much in the way of cheap unmalted barley. Where would a person locate cheap barley to try this out. Thanks.

 

[Jayjay1976]

After a little googling I haven't found much in the way of cheap unmalted barley. Where would a person locate cheap barley to try this out. Thanks.

Try a feed store, or reach out to @bluesparks12

Of course, if you don't want to commit to malting a full sack or just want to experiment, unmalted barley is around $2/lb at most LHBS.

 

[bracconiere]

After a little googling I haven't found much in the way of cheap unmalted barley. Where would a person locate cheap barley to try this out. Thanks.

as @Jayjay1976 said, i get mine at the local feed store...$13 a 50lb sack..in my experience barley and oats are fine from the feed store, but wheat and corn taste horrible...

if they don't carry it regularly, ask them if they'll order you a bag or two...they probably will...you want "whole barley"

 

[bracconiere]

And DON'T kiln it as peptase quickly denatures irreversibly above 110F.

most enzymes are pretty stable as long as they're not wet and mobile....so if it was dry, i doubt the enzyme would denature at kilning temps...