Information on Malting and Growing Barley and Other Grains

Here is a list of the known sites, papers and books that I have read to compile some of my information on malting. I will update this post whenever I find useful information.

Websites:

Barley World, Oregon State University

Al Korzonas, “Malt Production: What makes Munich malt production unique” 

North Dakota State University

Brewer’s Market Guide

Castle Malting, Malt Descriptions

Absolute Homebrew

“Moisture-dependent physical properties of barley grains” International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Brupaks guide to Grains

Shut Up About Barclay Perkins Blog

The Perfect Pint Blog

Milk the Funk Wiki Grain

Books:

Barley and Malt: Biology, Biochemistry, Technology.  Cook, A.H.

A Textbook of Brewing. Jean DeClerk

Malting and Brewing Science. Volumes 1 and 2. Briggs, Stevens, Young, Hough

Technology of Brewing and Malting. Wolfgang Kunze

Malts and Malting. Dennis E. Briggs

Brewing Science and Practice.  Briggs, Boulton, Brookes, Stevens 2004

Historical:

The London and Country Brewer 1736

The Compleat Dealer’s Assistant 1760

The Theory and Practice of Malting and Brewing. By a Practical Brewer. William Creech 1793

The Barley and Scotch Bigg Report Thomson, Coventry and Hope (1806) Papers published 1836

 Brewing and Distilling. With Practical Instructions for Brewing Porter and Ale. Thomas Thomson, William Stewart 1849

Malt and Malting an Historical, Scientific and Practical Treatise. H, Stopes 1885

American Handy Book of the Brewing, Malting and Auxiliary Trades Robert Wahl, Max Henius 1902

Treatises on Brewing. Baverstock, James 1824

A Philosophical Treatise on Malting and Brewing George Adolphus Wigney 1823

 A Practical Treatise on Malting and Brewing. Ford, William 1862

The Maltster: A Compendious Treatise on the Art of Malting in All Its Branches. Loftus, W.R. 1876

Saladin Box/Pneumatic malting Scientific American Supplement. Vol.XXVII 1884

A catalogue of perforated tiles from grain drying kilns and malt kilns P. Crew

Malt kiln tiles in Gloucestershire A. Patrick

Use of Coke for Malting The Coke Oven Managers Association

 A Systematic Handbook of Practical Brewing E.R. Southby 1885

Brasserie et Malterie  P. Petit 1904

Seeds Sources:

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/search.aspx?SearchTerm=barley

http://sustainableseedco.com/malting-barley/

Salt Spring Seeds

Growing Barley:

Idaho barley production guide

Nitrogen Fertilization of Winter Barley

Growth and Development Guide for Spring Barley

Understanding Malt Analysis Sheets Greg Noonan

Barley Disease Handbook Neate, S., McMullen, M. North Dakota State University. 2005

Growing Wheat:

A Comprehensive Guide to Wheat Management in Kentucky. University of Kentucky

Spelt:

Malting process optimization of spelt (Triticum spelta L.) for the brewing process  LWT – Food Science and Technology.  Volume 50, Issue 1, January 2013, Pages 99-109

Sorghum:

Improving the evidence base on aflatoxin contamination and exposure in Africa  Commissioned by the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) in collaboration with the African Union Commission – Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA). Okoth, S. (2016)

Aflatoxins in Sorghum, Sorghum Malt and Traditional Opaque Beer in Southern Malawi (Abstract only) Matumba, Limbikani & Monjerezi, Maurice & B. Khonga, Elenimo & D. Lakudzala, Deliwe. (2011)

Determination of Improved Steeping Conditions on Sorghum Malt  Dewar, Taylor, Berjak. (1996)

Effect of Germination Time, Temperature and Moisture on Malting of Sorghum Morrall, Boyd, Taylor. (1986)

Influence of Malting Conditions on Sorghum (Abstract only) Hassani, Zarnkow, Becker. (2013)

Current Developments in Malting and Brewing Trials with Sorghum in Nigeria: A Review A.C.Ogbonna. (2011)

Characteristics of African traditional beers brewed with sorghum malt: a review  Lyumugabe, Gros, Nzungize, Bajyana, Thonart. (2012)

Guide to Floor Malting Sorghum and Millets – University of Nebraska  Taylor, J. (2008)

More about Malting Sorghum – University of Nebraska  Taylor, J. (2010)

Malting of Sorghum: Further Studies on Factors influencing oc-Amylase Activity By J. A. N. Obeta, J. Okungbowa and L. I. Ezeogu (2000)

Alternative Cereal Processing Technologies- Sorghum Malting Lewis Iheanacho Ezeogu (pg 61) (2008)

Oats:

Optimization of the malting process of oat (Avena sativa L.) as a raw material for fermented beverages  A. Muñoz-Insa*, M. Gastl, M. Zarnkow and T. Becker (2011)

Brewing with 100% Oat Malt  Journal of the Institute of Brewing
Volume 117, Issue 3, Version of Record online: 16 MAY 2012

Role of lipid reactions in quality of oat products Pekka Lehtinen, Simo Laakso Agricultural and Food Science 13(1-2):88-99 · September 2004

Optimization of Enzymatic Activities in Malting of Oat E. Hosseini, M. Kadivar and M. Shahedi World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Nutrition and Food Engineering Vol:4, No:7, 2010

Germination: a means to improve the functionality of oat Anu Kaukovirta-Norja, Annika Wilhelmson and Kaisa Poutanen Agriculture and Food Science Vol. 13 (2004): 100–112.

Papers and internet information:

Brumalt, Melanoidin Malt Honeymalt

Steeping: A Way of improving the Malting of Rice Grain

The Influence of Malt Storage on Wort Separation H. Rennie and K. Ball 1979

Malt Kilns and Dehydrators:

Large Capacity Food Dehydrator. Charles Sanders Backwoods Home Magazine

 

Finally, some beer!

Well that took awhile, almost a year! A christmas present that was well worth the wait. Even though it was supposed to be a porter, what came out was more like a pale ale. This was due to my lighter chocolate malt and a recipe that I just pieced together, but honestly, (I know I’m biased) it tastes amazing. It’s dry not sweet like a porter should be with lots of caramel. It has a nuttiness that reminds me of roasted chestnuts, and as I said in the video a hint of black licorice. The bitterness is there but not in the aroma, it’s more of a subtle bitterness, kind of like chewing on an HB pencil. I think it’s very well balanced.

My brew day was epic. A lot of work for such a small batch (1.5 gallons) Conversion took 3 hrs at 154 F after a 30 min protein rest at 125 F. I used a single decoction and a little direct heat to get the temperature from  125 to 154. With a small batch this is easy to do since your using small pots. I steeped my roasted grains at 160 F and added this liquid to the mash.  My pH was 5.2. Nice!. O.G. was 1.045. Not as high as I would have liked but hell it was in the ballpark and that was something to celebrate. Pitching temperature was 18 C Fermentation was between 16-18 C The yeast I used was Wyeast Irish Ale.

Here’s the recipe (for 1.5 gal):

1. 2 lb    74.1%   Pale malt
2. .2 lb   7.4%   Caramel 40L
3. .2 lb   7.4% Chocolate caramel 60L
4. .2 lb   7.4% Acid malt
5. .1lb    3.7%  Roasted barley
6. .1lb    3.7% Raw barley
7. .1lb    3.7% Pale Chocolate malt

•  .1 oz Northern brewer approx. 8% 60 min
• .2 oz garden hops  (not sure what they are. Approx. 5%) 20 min
• .2 oz garden hops 5 min.