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Brewing without malted grain / Diastatic power of amylase enzyme powder

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srburrito

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Mar 2, 2011
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I was hoping to get some advice from you all for brewing with unusual constraints. I live and work in a place where I can't get malted grains because they aren't sold there and the mail system is unreliable or expensive. I could bring a small amount of supplies with me, but it would be limited to additives and/or a small amount of grain. As I see it, I have two options:

1. A partial mash of unmalted grains (toasted oats in particular) and a small amount of specialty grains (was thinking less than 1lb each of crystal 120 and Munich 20) along with added table sugar or honey for the yeast (safale us-05) to eat. In this case, do you suppose I could get away with no enzymes at all and let the unmalted grains provide flavor, mouthfeel, and sweetness?

or

2. Do a full mash with something like corn, rice, or unmalted wheat, plus specialty/unmalted grains. The question is how to calculate the amount of enzyme to add. What is its diastatic power?

I'd appreciate any input you guys have for me. Am I missing something? Is there a better option? Just keep in mind that it's not possible to use any significant amount of 2row/6row or to abandon the project :) Thanks!
 
Neither sounds like particularly attractive options. #1 probably won't taste very good and #2 is likely to result in a fairly high percentage of unfermentable sugar.

You can malt your own grains though. That would be my #1 option if I was desperate for a decent beer with limited ingredients. Some home malted grain and some DIY candi sugar can make a fair number of styles. If you experiment toasting the grains in an oven, the style possibilities are endless.

https://byo.com/stories/item/1108-malting-your-own-techniques
 

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