[chumley]

A friend of mine is a farmer, and has been contracted with Coors to grow their Moravian strain barley for malting. He gifted me about 40 lbs. from his grain silo when I was out hunting a couple of weeks ago.

Anyone have the definitive link to how to malt this at home? I see lots of sites on a Google search, but can't find one that matches my climate (the chilly north) or equipment (I have an kitchen oven, a Nesco roaster and a food dehydrator).

[majorvices]

Appedix d in the "Malt" book by John Mallet has an "Introduction to Home Malting" that was previously published in Zymurgy.

[Richard]

I bought a few pounds of raw barley and tried my hand at malting it last year. It was an interesting experience, but not one that I really want to repeat. My kitchen oven was not up to the task at all: it turns off if the door is closed so I had to tape over the switch. Even then it would not go low enough in temperature so I ended up with something like Munich when I was aiming for pale ale malt. The hardest part, though, was separating the rootlets once the germination was complete. I never found an easy way to do that without taking a lot of time and making a mess. I recommend trying small batches of a pound or so before trying 40 lbs.

https://byo.com/article/home-malting/

Here are the instructions I followed for my first, very small, batch:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15_wEky3cw4REdVfFzFsBR3dQooWGMUrQ/view?usp=sharing

[goose]

I wish you the best of luck with trying to malt barley at home.  This is something that I personally would not attempt to do because, 1) it is very labor intensive and 2) because you may not be able to achieve repeatable results.  But if you are curious as to how malt is produced, have at it.

Just my .02

[chinaski]

This blog (https://brewingbeerthehardway.wordpress.com/) has a lot of info.  The writer also has a book available.

[fredthecat]

I wish you the best of luck with trying to malt barley at home.  This is something that I personally would not attempt to do because, 1) it is very labor intensive and 2) because you may not be able to achieve repeatable results.  But if you are curious as to how malt is produced, have at it.

Just my .02

true. i mean, 40lbs? its a nice gift, but i cant even imagine spreading out 40lbs of grain on the ground. thats about a whole basketball court? maybe ask a malster to do you a favour or donate it to a brewery?

[majorvices]

I once had a guy give me about 40 or 50 lbs of raw malt at my brewery and it sat in the box he gave it to me in. Wish I would have at least sprouted it but just so darn busy never had the time.

I have heard of homebrewers using an old clothes dryer as a kiln to dry out the malt (in a pillowcase IIRC). Seems like you could do several pounds that way.

[Visor]

I bought a few pounds of raw barley and tried my hand at malting it last year. It was an interesting experience, but not one that I really want to repeat. My kitchen oven was not up to the task at all: it turns off if the door is closed so I had to tape over the switch. Even then it would not go low enough in temperature so I ended up with something like Munich when I was aiming for pale ale malt. The hardest part, though, was separating the rootlets once the germination was complete. I never found an easy way to do that without taking a lot of time and making a mess. I recommend trying small batches of a pound or so before trying 40 lbs.

https://byo.com/article/home-malting/

Here are the instructions I followed for my first, very small, batch:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15_wEky3cw4REdVfFzFsBR3dQooWGMUrQ/view?usp=sharing

   I had the opportunity to visit a hobby/semi-pro maltster in Knoxville a few years ago. He used a de-bearder he'd built that basically was a 2' length of 5" or 6" black iron pipe, inside of which was central shaft to which he'd welded a dozen or so pieces of ~1"x2"x 1/8" flat stock at regular intervals. The shaft was turned by a motor and the whole thing was fed from a hopper on top. Crappy description, but the point is as the malt makes it's way through the pipe all the rootlets are knocked loose. I don't know if Chumley is an ice fisherman, if so and he has, or has access to an ice auger, it might be possible to employ that in an appropriately sized piece of PVC to use as a de-bearder.

[chumley]

Thanks everyone for the discouraging words!

As winter has arrived here, I think I will revisit this topic next summer.

[RC]

I can certainly appreciate the impetus to malt at home. But when I need medical care, I turn to an expert, i.e. my doctor. I don't try to do it at home. When I need malted barley, I also turn to an expert, i.e. a maltster.

[fredthecat]

I can certainly appreciate the impetus to malt at home. But when I need medical care, I turn to an expert, i.e. my doctor. I don't try to do it at home. When I need malted barley, I also turn to an expert, i.e. a maltster.

nice analogy. somewhat related, but i tried country-style malted barley that's intended purpose was for a primitive korean malted beverage (primitive as in the instructions, even online are "hot enough water so you cant stick your hand in for long"), it was nearly pulverized, and i got very low efficiency, and it didn't taste very good. it was significantly less than expected OG, can't remember the numbers.