Homemade Malt
Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2016 8:36 pm
This is a batch of malt made recently from barley grown locally and available here for sprouting or food use. It is most probably a 6 row variety and costs roughly $8 per 50 lb bag. There is a small amount of chaff and a few weed seeds but it’s not difficult to wash/pick those out during the malting. My process is: Begin by steeping (soaking) the grain in water for 8 hours. Next you drain it and place on a for 14 hours. Then steep again for 7 hours, followed by draining and then traying for 12 hours. And lastly a quick soak for two hours then the final traying. The rootlets should have already started showing during the second steep. I try to be careful once they show, not to physically damage them while handing. It’s dry in my state so I like to spritz the sprouts every couple hours or alternately cover the trays for the night. Stirring is advisable a few times daily to keep the roots from growing into tangled masses. One advantage of malting in trays is you can simply dump from one tray to the next. Depending on the temperature of your room the acrospires will reach .75 to 1x kernel length in 3 to 5 days. My basement is around 17c and so takes about 4 days for the acrospires to reach where I consider done, about 0.5 to .75 of kernel length. 1 or more is considered fully modified but the main reason I make my own malt is that anymore one cannot buy under modified malt. Only rootlets can be seen in the photos as the acrospire grows within the husk until it gets to the full length of the kernel and emerges. The last steps are drying then kilning. Commercial maltsters use heat ~43c and forced air to dry. I prefer the outdoor sun, breezes to wilt the roots and halt modification. To kiln, it’s into the oven set at 76c for 4 hours for a good approximation of Pils malt, or alternatively 3 hrs @ 76c and 1 @ 82c. You see in the last photo a color comparison of Bestmalz pils on top and my malt below. If you’re wondering, yes working with selbstgemacht malt is very interesting in a decoction mash. All the old rules apply and things just come out better, or if you will, like they are supposed to.