Does anyone malt their own barley?

[BearsWickedBrew]

I picked up a book over the weekend called Homebrewers garden because I have pre-ordered 4 hop rhizomes for the spring. The book not only covers hops, but it also talks about growing & malting barley w/ the help of a 2 5gal bucket system, airstone, oast (or maybe oven) in order to kiln dry. I was wondering if anybody at homebrewtalk has any experience with this...and could share some insight or some pictures?

Edit: BTW- the book said even if you don't grow your own barley...you can find places that sell unmalted barley for "pennies a pound".....& then you would malt it yourself using the system they describe.

 

[Evan!]

That's a part of the process I'd never try at home. Even if you were to get it so that it was beer-worthy (IOW, properly sprouted and malted), I can guarantee with almost absolute certainty that the product will be vastly inferior to that of pro maltsters. They have perfected their process over hundreds of years. I'd venture to guess you'd end up with grain that yields very low efficiency and tastes substandard. But if you wanted to try just for sh*ts and giggles, go for it. I know some dude around here tried it once...not sure how it ended, though.

 

[john from dc]

make your own malt.

people definitely do it. the thing that's kept me from giving it a shot is the kilning, rather than the malting. the grain needs to be held between 100 and 125F for about 24 hrs, and then slowly brought up to 140-160 until it's dried. i don't like the idea of leaving my kitchen oven on for that long.

i've thought that it wouldn't be too hard to design a low temp kilning oven (perhaps out of a broken minifridge or keezer and a light bulb or two) but that's a lot of effort to go through when i don't know what the final product would be like. as evan said, it's unlikely that anything i produce will be better than what i get at the store, and quite possible that it'll be much worse.

however, the idea that it CAN be better is what got me started homebrewing in the first place. home malting isn't near the top of my list of next steps, but i'm not ruling it out for the future.

 

[fifelee]

I raise barley and have been doing a bit of malting research on and off. Someday I want to do a true homebrew. Just have to get my hops producing a little more.

Check these out:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/home-malting-wiki-bound-61712/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/home-malting-kilning-56640/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/anyone-want-raw-malt-quality-barley-seed-home-malting-62693/ (personal plug)

 

[BearsWickedBrew]

Does anyone have any info or links on how DME is made? I imagine this even more difficult than even malting barley to begin with. I'm just curious.

 

[EdWort]

Does anyone have any info or links on how DME is made? I imagine this even more difficult than even malting barley to begin with. I'm just curious.

I founds this online

The whole malted grain is crushed through a six roller to produce a grist.
This flour, together with hot water, is fed into a Mash Conversion Vessel (top) where the temperature is carefully controlled to ensure that the starch is converted into sugars which dissolve in the water.

The mash is then transferred to a Mash Filter (opposite) where the liquid, called wort, is separated from the remaining malt husk.

The wort is fed into a series of evaporator steps to concentrate it into to a viscous liquid. Evaporation takes place under vacuum in order that lower temperatures can be used. This enables the full flavor and characteristics of the malt extract to be retained.

The resultant product is liquid malt extract. This is either packed for dispatch to the customer, or fed to the drying plants and turned into various types of dried malt extract.

 

[BearsWickedBrew]

hmm ...looks like in order to make DME you need to make LME first. Thanks for that post EdWort.

 

[Revvy]

hmm ...looks like in order to make DME you need to make LME first. Thanks for that post EdWort.

It basically comes down to, if you want to make your own LME or DME, then you are doing all grain brewing anyway...

 

[mnadamn]

You do... In an old Basic Brewing Podcast they talk abou this... That is why DME is more expesive, they heat it longer then the LME to get all the moisture out. The episode is 08-25-05 and the episode is all on extract production. It is kinda intresting...

 

[BearsWickedBrew]

Based on some of the info in this post.... I think I'll be dedicating my homebrew gardening efforts towards growing hops. I think im light years away from malting barley.

 

[bob1852]

It basically comes down to, if you want to make your own LME or DME, then you are doing all grain brewing anyway...

wouldn't that suck if you went through the all-grain process and boiled for a long time to make LME just so you could then add more water to make "extract" beer

 

[The Pol]

Yeah, um LME and DME are just malt extract that comes from someone doing an AG mash, then concentrating it or drying it... where else would you think DME comes from?

 

[BearsWickedBrew]

Yeah, um LME and DME are just malt extract that comes from someone doing an AG mash, then concentrating it or drying it... where else would you think DME comes from?

I thought it was smuggled into the country. The stuff looks a little suspect.

 

[RevRon]

I picked up a book over the weekend called Homebrewers garden because I have pre-ordered 4 hop rhizomes for the spring. The book not only covers hops, but it also talks about growing & malting barley w/ the help of a 2 5gal bucket system, airstone, oast (or maybe oven) in order to kiln dry. I was wondering if anybody at homebrewtalk has any experience with this...and could share some insight or some pictures?

Edit: BTW- the book said even if you don't grow your own barley...you can find places that sell unmalted barley for "pennies a pound".....& then you would malt it yourself using the system they describe.

I make my own wheat malt. It's really very simple if you know what you're doing. I have pictures posted of all the different stages and processes on my profile. I buy the wheat at my local feed store. I can buy a 50 pound bag for $7.00. Just make absolutely certain you buy NON-TREATED GRAIN. Some Seed distributors treat their seeds with pesticides and fertilizers. Just ask the guy working the counter or check the side of the bag. Also look out for the occasional morning glory and soybean seed. The soybeans turn into soy sauce and the morning glory seeds contain LSA (similar to lsd) which can make you trip balls. If you would like to know more you can P.M. me.

 

[giligson]

Based on some of the info in this post.... I think I'll be dedicating my homebrew gardening efforts towards growing hops. I think im light years away from malting barley.

And grow apples for cider.