Grains

Confused about acid malt? You won't be after you post your malt-related questions here!
Post Reply
Martin the fish

Grains

Post by Martin the fish » Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:51 am

Are these treated in any way? Can i plant some and grow my own?

Like, take a good big handfull of MO and plant it out. Wait and the harvest a few kilo's?

Or is it a bit more complex than this?

steve_flack

Post by steve_flack » Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:53 am

If you grow your own they need to be malted before you brew with them.

Martin the fish

Post by Martin the fish » Tue Feb 05, 2008 11:19 am

Can i plant the grains i buy?

How do i 'malt' them?

I bet you know SF 8)

steve_flack

Post by steve_flack » Tue Feb 05, 2008 11:31 am

Actually I don't for certain but here's my guesses

1)Can you plant malt you've bought?

No, It's been germinated to make a baby barley plant but then it's kilned to dry it so my guess is it's now no longer viable.

2) How do you malt grain?

There was an article in the CBA's 'Brewer's Contact' recently about home malting. The process involves steeping the grain in water whilst aerating it, you then drain it then blow moist air through it for a bit - this causes germination of the grain. You then stop aerating it anf allow the CO2 to build up which prevents further seed growth but starch modification still takes place. You then kiln the grain which dries it and gives it the desired colour. Obviously there's a lot of info missed out there but I think that's the basic process.

Martin the fish

Post by Martin the fish » Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:18 pm

Sounds like i'm better off buying the stuff.
Shame cos i like growing stuff. I'm one of those lucky people that seem to be able to grow anything without thinking about it too much.
Can't wait to get stuck into hop growing.

There must be a way to buy the 'seeds' to grow it though. That will be the easy part i guess. Malting sounds like it would be hit and miss for a while till you got it right.

oblivious

Post by oblivious » Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:29 pm

Malting barley is very specific and is not the same stuff used for feed, if they are selling sack of it its most likely grain feed

Martin the fish

Post by Martin the fish » Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:43 pm

I would try to get the right stuff or i wouldn't bother. It won't be difficult to grow. All a plant wants to do is grow, it has to. It's it's life.

I would love to organically grow some grain and hops to make my own full organic beer. Tis bound to be better than chemical laced stuff.

Post Reply