how i make all my own malt

[Clementine]

mainly its because im crazy. i love to make everything from scrach myself and not just a once off. hence the fact i make my own yogurt, soap, beer spirits, i blacksmith, grow my own veggies and hops, have chooks and grow quail.

i love the fact that im making what i call "farm house beer" just about every household made their own beer (ok that was 500 years ago, but dont tell anyone that ) and i love the fact that i have my own.

Reading this thread and watching your videos made me home sick (I'm a displaced Aussie living in America) I laughed so hard when I saw the word chooks, I don't know if Americans know what that is, my wife didn't, we went to visit my parents on their farm and stood there with a blank look when asked to feed the chooks.

Love the info you have here, I'm in the middle of trying my first batch of feed barley. Have you played with making Crystal Malts, I have read about it and I'm trying to find more info on heat, air flow and times.

Clem

 

[Absinthe]

i think the fan would be a problem yes, but you could do what i do to make crystal malts, simply block up the door so you get no air flow through the malt. i set the temp at about 65°C when making crystal malt block the door up and use green malt straight from the blue barrel adding no water just the green malt.. i think i will do an update vid soon about the changes i have made and how i make crystal

 

[jamesseth]

Sounds like a good plan, thanks for the help!

 

[Absinthe]

that could also be an issue but you could block the door, and it only needs to turn for 15 seconds every 2-3 hours

 

[hector]

I'm also trying to make crystal malt at Home using the Oven . I've made some batches , but the result was not satisfying .

However , my malting technique has improved a little .

I watched recently your first Video and something made me wondered .

It seems that you just left the seeds on the Ground and didn't do anything to keep them moist !

Is it really so ?!

Hector

 

[Absinthe]

that is a really big YES i do not add any more water. commercial malt houses dont add any and i found no matter how hard i try if i add water the malt goes moldy. i have also never had any problems with the malt stopping and it means you start with a lower % of moisture in the grain for the kilning/drying process.

i have found that it is a really BAD idea to add water while malting, i just use the "hole in my bucket" method untill the chits show (normally about 3-4 fills of the bucket over 36-48 hours) then put them in my blue malt roller (has made the malt consistent, easy, and almost fool proof) and then about 5-7 days later when the agrospire is the length on the grain on about 80%+ of the malt she gets kilned

 

[JeffOYB]

My first post! This is the only thread I found that mentions the kind of barley used to make your own malt. But this subject isn't really covered much. So it's "feed barley," right? I've heard that's a lower grade than brewer's barley. Also, is there a concern with chemicals like pesticide, herbicide? I was thinking of buying a bushel off of a local crop farmer but don't know anything. I also saw mention of "2-row" barley here in the Grain Brewing section. Mainly, I was thinking that most of the cost of my small batch brewing is in the malts and grains. I grow my own hops. So I thought it might be fun and thrifty to just go buy grains direct and malt them myself. Does this make any sense? (Since this is an old thread I think I'll also start a new thread about this in the Grain Brewing section. I hope that's OK!)