Malting

[Nick]

Hi all,
There seems to be a core of very advanced home brewers here so I was wondering - has anyone malted their own barley? Maybe even grow their own malt?

Anyone considering it??

[James P]

We have discussed this in the CHCH group if you want to take a look in there, else

http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/Sanders/roasting.shtml

Pretty easy guide for roasting base malts as follows:

Ordinary Malts - pale malt as base

Dortmund 95c one hour
Vienna 100c one hour
Light Munich 105c one to two hours
Dark Munich 110c one to two hours
Amber malt 140c one hour
Biscuit malt 150 to 170c up to an hour (depends on type of flavour desired)
Brown malt 180c up to half an hour
Chocolate 200c up to an hour

I can see some massive experiments happening!! :)

[Nick]

Thanks for the link, the roasting tips will come in handy. I've dabbled with this before and got some success more or less.

I was thinking more about the pre roasting phases of malting in particular. Germination etc.

[James P]

I have an old neighbour who was very much into these steps of the brewing process until he got sick and would probably write it down, or at least discuss it. It sounded like a lot of work at the time, however I have only read a little about the steeping and germination steps. It sounds like a very simple process.

Some more links...

Brewing by Micheal Lewis has a bit of information.

BYO reference make your own malt? Tells you the basic process.

The how is malt made page.

Some more information on craftbrewer radio