Breaking the Malt code

[Mike Rousseau]

I have an unmarked sack of malt that was donated for our charity raffle and after a week of trying to chase down what type it is, I give up? Thoughts on how to determine what type of malt it is? The stamped numbers on the bag are smeared out. Chasing down the shipping label information proved to be a dead end. How to solve the Mystery?

 

[Jag75]

Post a pic let the guessing begin lol. Maybe take some in to your LHBS and try and match it up with looks and taste.

 

[madscientist451]

Gives you a reason to brew a SMASH beer and see what it tastes like.

 

[IslandLizard]

Try to find out from the charity organizers who donated it. Then contact them. They should know.

Most sacks have markings. I'm with @Jag75, post a picture of the identifying area(s). Let us take a stab at it. Most if not all sacks that are donated are simple base malts, and rarely Munich or Vienna.

 

[Lefou]

Time to do a mash experiment!
You can do a simple home Congress-style mash to check whether you have a base malt while getting a rough idea of the color and general gravity of the grain. Hydrometer or refractometer, flask, 1L container that can hold a 145F-150F temp for 15-30 minutes, 50gram of ground grain, and a filter.
Mash away, decant, and measure. Steeping isn't recommended as it will net you a low efficiency.
http://blog.brewingwithbriess.com/malt-sensory-methods-you-can-perform-in-your-own-home-or-brewery/

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Time to do a mash experiment!
You can do a simple home Congress-style mash to check whether you have a base malt while getting a rough idea of the color and general gravity of the grain. Hydrometer or refractometer, flask, 1L container that can hold a 145F-150F temp for 15-30 minutes, 50gram of ground grain, and a filter.
Mash away, decant, and measure. Steeping isn't recommended as it will net you a low efficiency.
http://blog.brewingwithbriess.com/malt-sensory-methods-you-can-perform-in-your-own-home-or-brewery/

Here is the Briess blog post where they have the steps for the "Hot Steep Method" that you describe (the other one just has a protected link): http://blog.brewingwithbriess.com/the-hot-steep-method-step-by-step-instructions/

 

[IslandLizard]

Maybe it's as simple as this.
What does the malt look and taste like?
Can you tell who the maltster is by the bag?

 

[FatDragon]

Dude hasn't responded since the OP, but my assumption is that he's involved in the raffle, not the winner of the bag, so he can't really open it to check the grain. Otherwise, yeah, look at it, taste it, Congress mash it, brew with it.

It's probably just 2-row, as @IslandLizard suggested, and almost certainly some kind of base malt. After all, who's going to donate 55 lb of Special B to a homebrew raffle?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

It's probably base malt, but could be some random specialty malt that a brewery didn't want to use and sat around for a few years, so they donated to charity. Is there anything printed on the bag - brand name, colouring, pictures, logo etc?

 

[IslandLizard]

Dude hasn't responded since the OP, but my assumption is that he's involved in the raffle, not the winner of the bag

Doh! I never read it that way, but now you said it, and rereading it, that's most likely the case.

Is there anything printed on the bag - brand name, colouring, pictures, logo etc?

There must be something on it, right? Is it still stitched?

Now isn't it that mystery items tend to fetch higher bids generally? With the right amount of hype attached to it, possibly even more desirable... You're not raffling off just a mere sack of grain, there's a history to it.

 

[grampamark]

I wonder if the bag was donated because the contents couldn't be identified from the packaging. The donor might have decided that it was easier to donate the grain and claim a charitable deduction than to deal with the hassle and cost of returning it.

 

[Hammer Malt]

If you can break a single kernel with your fingernails with little effort, its safe to say its a base malt (pilsner, pale if it is light in color) if you can break them in half with a blade and see that less than 10% have a glassy appearance, chances are it may be a munich (it should smell biscuity when you open the bag) anything darker or glassier or harsher smelling will indicate some sort of specialty malt like caramel or crystal. Hope that points you in the right direction. If you really must know exactly what it is, send a sample off to a Malt Analysis Lab. It will cost a pretty penny, but it will tell you exactly what you have. Good luck

Cheers