Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2  (Read 6047 times)

Offline davidgzach

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1698
Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« on: July 12, 2012, 02:20:17 pm »
So, what should I do with the remaining 40 pounds of Pale Ale Malt that is not crunchy?  It's not bad, and I transferred it to my sealed container so it should not get worse, I guess.  Start brewing a ton of double IPA's ASAP?

Dave
Dave Zach

Offline saintpierre

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 407
  • Augusta, ME
    • www.malthomebrewclub.org
Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2012, 02:28:50 pm »
Dog treats... You could try to make beer with it but, I'm not sure how that would taste.
Mike St. Pierre, P.E.
Maine Ale & Libation Tasters (MALT)
BJCP Certified
[719.4, 74.1] AR

Offline morticaixavier

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 7781
  • Underhill VT
    • The Best Artist in the WORLD!!!!!
Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2012, 02:59:09 pm »
So, what should I do with the remaining 40 pounds of Pale Ale Malt that is not crunchy?  It's not bad, and I transferred it to my sealed container so it should not get worse, I guess.  Start brewing a ton of double IPA's ASAP?

Dave
You could toast it gently in a warm oven til crispy again. Keep the temp under about 100f
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
-A Einstein

"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce

Offline jeffy

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4222
  • Tampa, Fl
Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2012, 03:26:05 pm »
Soft malt could be damp from humidity, which is fine unless it starts to get mouldy, or soft because insects have been eating it, which, from experience, will cause a drop in efficiency.  Once you use some and find out how the efficiency is, you can adjust your recipes accordingly.
Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)
Homebrewing since 1990
AHA member since 1991, now a lifetime member
BJCP judge since 1995

Offline davidgzach

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1698
Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2012, 03:35:12 pm »
Soft malt could be damp from humidity, which is fine unless it starts to get mouldy, or soft because insects have been eating it, which, from experience, will cause a drop in efficiency.  Once you use some and find out how the efficiency is, you can adjust your recipes accordingly.

I would say it's soft from humidity not insects.  Just took my refractometer reading for this batch and I'm at 67% off from a consistent 80%.  Looks like I just made my first light beer...... :-[

Dave
Dave Zach

Offline tschmidlin

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 8198
  • Redmond, WA
Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2012, 02:13:17 am »
If it's picked up a bunch of humidity it's going to be heavier than it used to be - so a pound of humid malt is actually less grain than a pound of dry malt.  You can adjust your recipes to account for it, I think 40 lbs is too much to dry in the oven but that's me.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline davidgzach

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1698
Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2012, 05:56:29 am »
If it's picked up a bunch of humidity it's going to be heavier than it used to be - so a pound of humid malt is actually less grain than a pound of dry malt.  You can adjust your recipes to account for it, I think 40 lbs is too much to dry in the oven but that's me.

Tom, that's a great point!  Never occured to me..... 

I was thinking of taking my container outside and leaving it in the sun (or in the shade in 90F heat) for a couple of hours.  Bad idea?

Dave
Dave Zach

Offline jeffy

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4222
  • Tampa, Fl
Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2012, 06:39:29 am »
If it's picked up a bunch of humidity it's going to be heavier than it used to be - so a pound of humid malt is actually less grain than a pound of dry malt.  You can adjust your recipes to account for it, I think 40 lbs is too much to dry in the oven but that's me.

Tom, that's a great point!  Never occured to me..... 

I was thinking of taking my container outside and leaving it in the sun (or in the shade in 90F heat) for a couple of hours.  Bad idea?

Dave

It's a bad idea if you live in Florida.  It'd probably pick up more humidity here.
Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)
Homebrewing since 1990
AHA member since 1991, now a lifetime member
BJCP judge since 1995

Offline davidgzach

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1698
Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2012, 06:43:50 am »
Yet another good point.  I'm in Philly, but will check weather.com.  I may just leave it as is and make 10G of IPA today and Sunday...

Dave
Dave Zach

Offline davidgzach

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1698
Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« Reply #9 on: July 13, 2012, 06:55:54 am »
So the humidity is supposed to be 43% this afternoon.  Should I go for a little sun bake of the grain?
Dave Zach

Offline jeffy

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4222
  • Tampa, Fl
Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« Reply #10 on: July 13, 2012, 07:54:01 am »
So the humidity is supposed to be 43% this afternoon.  Should I go for a little sun bake of the grain?

Sounds good to me.  Maybe you can set it on a window screen.
Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)
Homebrewing since 1990
AHA member since 1991, now a lifetime member
BJCP judge since 1995

Offline morticaixavier

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 7781
  • Underhill VT
    • The Best Artist in the WORLD!!!!!
Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« Reply #11 on: July 13, 2012, 08:48:21 am »
So the humidity is supposed to be 43% this afternoon.  Should I go for a little sun bake of the grain?

i was reading this great old book (1900's) on malting science and there used to be a school of thought that malt that had gone slack (what you are describing is slack malt) that was then redried made for better beer. The author felt this was bunk but at the time a lot of folks disagreed with him.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
-A Einstein

"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce

Offline davidgzach

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1698
Re: Stale Pale Ale Malt #2
« Reply #12 on: July 18, 2012, 03:12:50 pm »
So I put about 20# in a aluminum wine bucket and put it in the oven.  Heated the oven to about 110F and let it sit for a couple of hours.  It's already crunchier, but not toasted so I think I'm on to something.  Was considering an experiment between the humid and dried out malt, but will probably just dry it all out and see how it tastes.

Had the other 20# in my container in the sun on my driveway until the thunderstorms forced me to take it in......

Dave
Dave Zach