Green Malting for Amylase Conversion

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Cu29er
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Green Malting for Amylase Conversion

Post by Cu29er »

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Sharing a few notes on Green Malting.

I had followed along with the interesting thread http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... t#p7478260 and I could see the drying process is long, potentially problematic for my work zone, and just more than I wanted to get into. I had found this old research document on green malting linked in this thread http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 9#p7478289 (document: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 1930.x/pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow) and thinking through the steps of the traditional malting process is really to produce malt that can be stored, transported, and easily ground.

Sure, you can malt and then roast for flavor in your beer, I'm not worried about rootlets because the quantity is small relative to the starch converted in the mash, and I am only looking at green malt for the amylase conversion.

I have malted wheat (because it's handy) and corn. The wheat malts a lot faster and easier. The wheat is easier to drown and kill off the malting process than corn while corn takes longer and is thus more likely to get other problems such as molding or off-flavors. I have completed several ferments with successful starch to sugar conversion doing this. In the future I'm working toward efficiency of conversion, higher conversion, but it makes sugar for the yeast to snack on so I know I have this part working.

A colander and bowl it fits in.
colander and bowl
colander and bowl
Soak the wheat for 6 hours. Corn can go 12. Soak and then drain for 24 hours. Wheat I drench (no soak) and then let drain for another 24 and it's growing fast. Corn you can soak for another 12.
watered wheat
watered wheat
End up with this that goes in the mill hopper
malted wheat
malted wheat
I had tried several different grinding operations. Burned up a blender trying to make a slurry, tried a regular dry-mill for making flour and that just did not work, researched and remembered that corn for tortillas is ground wet (the corn is soaked with lime water so the shells are softer and then ground damp) ... and the inexpensive corona-type mills work. So that is what I am using now. Hand cranked.
However, a tamper rod is necessary because the grains don't naturally fall down by gravity -- having those rootlets that hook together. A smaller tamp is better to plunge down. The technique is to press it down until the tamp hits the auger then push some more grain down. If you just try to stand on it then the grain creates a plug and you won't get anywhere.
corona mill tamper
corona mill tamper
Here's the grind after. Kind of a paste good for tortilla chips, maybe. My mill didn't come with a grinding shield so I made one out of the bottom of a milk jug. Eventually I'll mount the whole thing on a bigger bin/bucket rather than clamping to the counter top.
ground malt
ground malt
Then I put 2 of these trays with 3 gallons of gelatinized cracked corn (boiling water pour-over and blanket wrapped since the day before inspired by http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =3&t=65703), split into 2 3gallon buckets, that I add hot water to bring up to 150degF and stir/rest/stir a few times until it feels like I'm stirring a bucket of sea-shells and the white starch has turned clear/mud-puddle colors and then let sit all day until the temperature drops for the yeast pitching that night.

It's all pretty simple, which is what I have been pursuing. I'll work on accurate measurements and efficiency next.

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just sayin
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Re: Green Malting for Amylase Conversion

Post by just sayin »

Thank you Cu29er, very interesting post! I look forward to your updates! Very nice write up! Also book marked Wiley On Line Library. Tons on brewing and distilling. I really miss Harry's library. Well done!
dukethebeagle120
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Re: Green Malting for Amylase Conversion

Post by dukethebeagle120 »

i only use green malt for conversion also.
grinding is a bitch though.
what i do is malt it.
after it is malted i throw the bag in the freezer.
when they are froze hard i grind them to the consistancy of ground malt when brewing beer.
one pass is usually enough.
it grinds as if it was dried
they are so hard they grind like nothing.
i did learn on my last batch though that you need to let the ground grain warm a bit because it can drop mash temps fast.
but if you spread them out thinly on a tarp etc and let warm up all is good
maybe with a small heater blowing on them would speed the process up
i get 100lbs bags of wheat for 15 dollars canadian
100lbs bags of barley for 18
and 50 lbs bags of rye for 22
so buying enzymes and having them shipped is out of the question
a pound of alpha and beta amylase at brewhaus is 30 dollars us for me
couple that with 40 dollars us shipping
thats 70 dollars us
then add 30 percent exchange ur up to 90 dollars canadian
i think i did well to learn how to malt my own grain
and it makes a pure drop :thumbup:
no chemicals shit added
like the old timers did it :clap:
its better to think like a fool but keep your mouth shut,then to open ur mouth and have it confirmed
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Kegg_jam
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Re: Green Malting for Amylase Conversion

Post by Kegg_jam »

dukethebeagle120 wrote:....
grinding is a bitch though.
what i do is malt it.
after it is malted i throw the bag in the freezer.
when they are froze hard i grind them to the consistancy of ground malt when brewing beer.
one pass is usually enough.
it grinds as if it was dried....

Gonna have to try this. Pretty much had smoke pouring outta the blender when I tried that approach.
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thecroweater
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Re: Green Malting for Amylase Conversion

Post by thecroweater »

I use to like the flavours from green malt, the are quite distinctive from dried. Less nut type flavours and more earthy hey notes but due to the gristing headaches I gave up on it, I have since bought an antique food grinder for grinding wet grain but have yet to get back into it.
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