Does anyone malt there own barley?

[Chadupnorth]

I am new to the forum. Have made wine for years and a few extract batches. I'm starting to get real serious about all grain. Eventually I would like to produce all the ingredients on my farm and go as far as keeping a ongoing yeast strain. I was just looking for some opinions, tricks and tips.

 

[matt2778]

Try and find a copy of the byo (brew your own) January-February issue. They had a really good article on home malting. I might also recommend picking up a copy of The Homebrewer's Garden as well. I admire your desire to do it all yourself which is a direction I'm also trying to go but making little progress at.

 

[Chadupnorth]

Thanks for the info I've been doing some research and malting is looking a lot easier then I thought.

 

[excidium016]

my first time I hit my target gravity, I thought it was easy and a lot better than extract brewing. the only thing that you need to remember is that if you're trying to make a5 gallon brew you will need a 7-7.5 kettle. you want to try to get six and a half gallons from your mash. remember for an hour boil you'll probably lose about a gallon of water. also when you do your fast chilling of the wort you wanna leave all the protein at the bottom, about a half gallon will still be in the pot. also if you have too much water in your kettle from your mash you could just boil it off longer till you reach your volume/gravity. hope that helps u.
P.S. I won't go back to extract brewing

 

[CryoEng]

Malting is certainly one the foundations that would be great to have accomplished.

I thought about giving malting a try, but the long, cool germination stage is a bit difficult in So. AZ. Seems like you need a large surface for germination and drying as well, at least to do much grain.

Doing just enough for a batch, considering the time, number of steps and control for germination and drying, is a bit more than I can put into a brew.

I hope you'll post more, if you give it a go.

Cheers!

 

[ShootsNRoots]

I've malted my own barley, wheat and corn several times. It's a relatively simple thing to do and makes good beer.

There's several tricks of the trade which you'll get better at in no time. Knowing how much and how long to steep, when to stop malting and start kilning, how high a temperature to kiln, etc...

In fact, I'm drinking my last batch of home malted beer now. It's excellent.

You won't save time or money, but it's a neat experience and makes you realize why you're paying $1.50/lb or $30 - $50 a sack for malted barley.

You can take it to extremes with temperature control, water makeup, etc...

You say you're going to use your "farm" and grow barley, great! Make sure you get a malting variety.

The BYO article referenced earlier provides some good advice.

Good luck.