Converting pearled barley

Production methods from starch to sugars.

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the pure drop
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Converting pearled barley

Post by the pure drop »

Hi all. I have checked the forums and have not yet stumbled upon information regarding mashing of pearled barley. I have done a few 5 gal batches of all barley malt mash and have enjoyed it, but the cost is a but higher than I want to keep up with. I can get large amounts of pearled barley and am wondering if I can use about 80% pearled barley in my mash, and about 20% malted barley for their enzymes to be able to convert the starches in the pearled barley to fermentable sugars? Any thoughts, experience or ideas?
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Dnderhead
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Re: Converting pearled barley

Post by Dnderhead »

just like any other grain, grind it,cook it and convert it. barley is not a grain you have to cook the hell out of like corn/maze.
add some of the malt then cook about 140-150f (60-66c) for 1/2-3/4 hour and then add the rest of your malt.
the pure drop
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Re: Converting pearled barley

Post by the pure drop »

Thank you dndrhead. That is good to know. I've just never attempted to convert pearled barley, and wasn't sure if it would work. I understand that you can't malt pearled barley, just wanted to see if anyone has mashed with it. Ok, so I am planning a 5 gallon batch. I was figuring about 2 pounds of barley per gallon...more like about 7 pounds pearled barley, our 8...1 pound of malted barley for cooking the grains....then about 2 pounds more of malted barley for the conversion/enzyme rest. Does that sound about right?
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Dnderhead
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Re: Converting pearled barley

Post by Dnderhead »

there is different pearled grain, ,,just a bit about it first,,the grain is put into a tumbler with aggregate then rumbled until the halls are removed.now some they just remove part of the halls.this is what you buy for grinding into flour and can be malted,some they remove all
and is used in soup,etc.this cant.
rubber duck
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Re: Converting pearled barley

Post by rubber duck »

Yep, that will do just fine. Add you malted barley when the temp on your pearl barley is cooked and at about 150- 152f, that should give you a proper mashing temp.

The way I would do it is cook your 7lb of pearl barely a little with 3 gallons of water,( you don't necessarily need to cook it but it's nice to do as it makes the starch available to the enzymes faster) 150- 155f for a half hour should do it. Then add your malted barley and use the additional 2 gallons of water to help cool it down after mashing.
Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. John Steinbeck
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