malt help?

[Bootleg_rick]

hello brewers forgive my grammar and lack of punctuation I never took linguistics class. anywho i have a question for thouse who use home malt.. ive been malting for maybe 3 months now and i always run into the trouble of half the sugars fermenting then it comeing to a halt. now ive been brewing for years and know alot of the tricks and im tginking the reason its onlu half fermenting is the drying methods im useing to dry the grains and im woundering if i can skip the drying step for the lot of the grain and just mill it in and brew it as is.. the only real thing that is stopping me is the rootlettes, will this impart unwanted characteristics into my brew? or is it not important to remove them. that's really the only reason i dry the grain im not looking to explore roasted malt till i figure out why the grain wont ferment out completely

 

[Toga]

From what I understand the rootlets will dry up and pretty much just fall off after you kiln the grain (bake in your oven). BYO magazine had a good article on home malting you should check out if you have not already.

 

[Bootleg_rick]

i should have mentioned my drying metgod is my oven ill prop the door open and have it set to 170 flip every hour or so and dry till i feal no moisture in my hand while holding it and the rootlettes fall off i also make sure the grain stays below 130 as to keep the enzymes in the best condition possible. the problem i face is half the sugars wont ferment im pretty sure its my drying method its almost as if the sugars are registered unfermentable ive waited tried different yeasts and nutrients. i use a 6 row barley pounds to the gallon and all i get is a 5% abv which i would expect something way higher. I would obviously dilute the wash down if it were to go above 6 i have large fermenters but small cookpots just a 5 gallon SS pot so i gotta make due with what i got. i also pour the hot water on the grain i have no brew bags ive used them they dont agree with me anyway ill cut this before it gets to long

 

[neverfadeaway86]

how coarse are you cracking the grain ? perhaps you need a better crack in order for the water to get into the grain fully

 

[Bootleg_rick]

at the time i was just useing a coffee grinder and it would be a little more broken up then really desired by most brewers i just got a new grain mill. i will have to use it on this next batch of malt im currently sprouting. would it be possible to stick the malt outside and freeze the grain so i can remove the sprouts and not have to cook it so long for now? im working on building a kiln out of a old dresser but i dont have all the materials or time so i kindof need to make due with what i have