Well it’s a bit cloudy. Could probably use a protein rest next time. But it’s beer and it tastes pretty good.
As long as you enjoyed the process, I would consider it a success! Did you also grow the grain?
I did grow some barley but I have not malted it yet. This is purchased barley that I got to practice with.
That’s pretty awesome, Mort. Looks like nice foam, too.
One more step of the process from dirt to beer. Good job.
Very cool! I have some organic barley that was givin to me last August. Unfortunately I have not found the time to try to malt it.
Very nice. How was the efficiency on your batch?
My brother is starting up a malting company in Philadelphia. Not much on the website yet http://www.keystonemalt.com/
He has a FB page that gives occasional updates - Keystone Malt.
Very cool! I just bought a farm, and am thinking about putting some barley and rye on it come spring. We’ll see.
I think the cloudiness looks quite nice m’self.
I’m working on a presentation on the cheap’n’easy (does Denny have that trademarked?) home malting process. still takes ~ a week per batch but that’s just overall time. active time is only about 60 minutes tops.
basically I use a half gallon mason jar with a sprouting lid for each 500 grams of barley. it yields ~ 450 grams finished. I run two or three at a time and kill, dry, and kiln in a dehydrator for base malt and the oven for specialties and higher kilned base malts.
I was going through some business cards the other day and found your brother’s business card and had a hazy recollection of meeting him at NHC last summer and talking about his malting company. Glad to hear he is still moving forward.
I’ll have to look back at my notes. It wasn’t stellar.
I just malted some barley, and did a separate half pound mash with that and some 2 row. The home stuff yielded 85% of the extract compared to the commercial. It took more effort than I’m willing to spend routinely, but it was cool to know the process at this level.
Thanks for sharing this Jonathon. I hope to have a decent harvest next year.
Better to have a tasty beer that’s not clear, than a clear beer that isn’t tasty!
I didn’t get a bumper crop this year but will brew some up soon. My first batch was fairly lackluster.
I read your process thinking it was different from mine - until I realized that 450 grams is fairly close to the 1# batches that I malted.
I only planted a couple rows of Maris Otter for the winter. Just too busy an autumn (A bit of a shame since the rye grew so well last year).
Good luck on the homegrown!
I’m kinda heading in the opposite direction. The only thing I’ve grown is hops and I’m tearing them out this year. Too much work and I just don’t enjoy it any more. Good on you guys who are growing and/or malting your own!
Its a wise move to accept that your not enjoying something that you thought you might or thought you “should”. I have been trying to remember to ask myself if I really want to or need to spend the time when I take on a new project. Right now I really do enjoy growing some of my own ingredients and will continue to. But I’m trying to remain open to letting go of those things that I don’t enjoy.
+1 - I’m wrestling with this with my whole garden in general right now. Without fail, by June it seems to turn into a beast of burden rather than a labor of love. I just can’t seem to make enough time for it. You can’t lose sight of the fact that a hobby is supposed to be fun and not an obligation.
Its a wise move to accept that your not enjoying something that you thought you might or thought you “should”. I have been trying to remember to ask myself if I really want to or need to spend the time when I take on a new project. Right now I really do enjoy growing some of my own ingredients and will continue to. But I’m trying to remain open to letting go of those things that I don’t enjoy.
I’ve grown hops for 12 years and for most of that time I really enjoyed growing, processing, and using them. But I’ve had so much yield from the plant the last few years that it’s become a chore rather than a joy. A hobby should never be a chore!