Home Distiller

Should have double bagged them mate.

If you look around. There is a guy that Malta his own barley. Then has a dryer setup just for drying it. Uses a PID to control it. Replaced the window in the front with a screen. And lined the drum with screen. It helps separate the rootlets. It's a neat setup. If I had am extra drier. I would build one.

While your looking. There is a good video of someone trying to use a washer to separate grains from a ferment. Or from the wort. I can't remember. But it makes a huge mess. And funny shite.

If I lived in your town I would give you one just so I could use it. I would come out the better end of the deal. I would aslo require that you have the 55 gal drum to malt in like on utube that I would have to help donate to and help build. That would be awesome.

Mr shine you are a genius and don't know it. I know you messed your wife's dryer up on purpose just so you could put it in your still room. Now everyone is happy. That's so sharp I think Id vote you for President.

I have a 55 gal drum waiting to be made into a malting tank turner thingy. LOL I'm working towards a screen basket rotissery type of drier. I'm looking to do 50# bags at a time. It not a high on the list build.

craigs list for the dryer$50 and 12 volt windshield wiper motor and a computer power supply and a few 2x4s and screws and wheels and you are off to the races.

halfbaked wrote:I think id like to put my smoker to it and make me a smokey malted corn

check out this for drying grains on the smoker/grill ....gotta line the bottoms with stainless mesh or equivalent..but works a charm
http://www.amazon.com/BBQ-Innovations-L ... rotisserie" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I made a simple 3'x4' frame from 2x6 lumber, then lined it with a fine mesh metal screen. Don't staple the screen to the bottom of the frame, because your malt will find its way between screen and frame... Attache the screen to the top surface, and let it hang into the frame; this way, all your malt comes out easily.

Put some foldable legs on the thing, and you're done. I watch the forecast, and if it looks like dry, sunny days, I'll go ahead and malt my grain. When it's done, I just put the frame in the driveway, in full sun, and spread the malt in it. On very still days, I'll put a box fan under it, blowing upward. Stir the malt every half hour or whenever you think of it, and it'll be dry in a few hours on a hot day. If I get caught with a rainy day and the malt is ready, I'll setup the frame indoors and place the box fan under it, and another smaller fan above, blowing across it. Dries it completely in a day.

Or skip the whole drying thing, and just go ahead and use the wet malt as it is. Mash it!The rootlets don't bother me one bit.... For beer, yes, for whiskey, no.

These are a couple of my malting trays. Other than soaking the corn stays in the trays until the process is through the smoker but must be put in pillow cases for the dryer. Mold is never an issue.

Check your local lumber yard for 2x2 material they may have that they can't sell. May be a little twisted or bowed but makes great, cheap trays. Talk to the yard foreman. That's where you will get the best deal. 2'x4' size out of redwood so it will fit in my smoker. The redwood was a bargain at the time.

I did the corn malting thing again and was about half successful (fully to my own terrible sleeping schedule and laziness).

Anyway, had a cousin over to learn about AG beer, that was more than willing to separate the "good" malted corn, from the "bad" unmalted (or partially sprouted) corn.

Wound up being a bit more than half and half.

Took the "bad" half and decided to use it regular style using Jimbo's recipe, but still haven't decided what to do with the "goods." Maybe make an all corn mash at regular mashing temps.

My question is this...

Let's say I didn't separate the two and decided to pretend they were all "good" malted corn and mashed it all in the 140s. I know a lot of the starch in the "bad" corn wouldn't be accessible to the good corn malt, but I wonder...

How bad would it be?

Maybe a test for a next time I'm lazy, I guess.

My guess for now would be that the yield would be pretty bad.

Or maybe with a batch like that aim for a little higher temp for mashing.

Any thoughts?

Yeah me too! Got a 50 lb sack waiting on me to figure out what to do with it. Want to use this in 50% rye mash.
But hows the best way to remove the sprouts from the kernels?
Also, anyone ever try smoking the corn? I'm thinking that a little hickory smoked corn might taste nice in a whiskey.

Ferguson, there is info in this thread about smoking corn and a few other threads. Hickory comes across pretty nice but apple and pecan better. Apricot as well.
Also info to be found about removing sprouts. Smoking helps a lot.

Wow, I had too many tabs open... meant to post on another thread, actually hadn't read this thread yet. OK, note to self: dont drink and post on internet forums.
Ayway, thanks for the nice answer Woodshed. I guess you mean that that apple and butter pecan are the flavors that come out in the finished product if you smoke with hickory? How long do you smoke for? I imagine that it's real easy to over do it.

Hickory is not a bad choice, my preferences are apple or pecan wood. Apricot when I can get it.

toast860 wrote:a nice kiln link in this topic would be nice. I haven't found one yet but have a plan for one.

I was on youtube and thought this might qualify http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYIEQNJ-YqY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Is it removing the sprouts required ? If so, why

Take ya some corn, put it in a burlap sack. Stick it in a bucket and cover with water for 3 days. Take it out and lay it out on a big canvas tarp or a sheet or whatever ya got, just put your tarp on the ground and spread your corn about 3 inches thick and cover with another wet sheet or wet burlap sacks. 2-3 times a day rake it or hoe it to move it around, sprinkle it with water, keep this up for a couple of days until you get the sprouts out about 1-2 inches. At this point the starches have converted. Rake it out thin as ya can and let it dry out in the sun.

Once dry, pick up the 4 corners of your tarp and bounce the corn, the shoots will fall off, shake it down into a pile and remove the dry sprouts, they rise to the surface since they are lighter weight. Scoop out your corn and take it to your grinder. Grind it up so its about 4-6 pieces equal a kernel. We use 40% of the malted corn with 60% cracked corn. The enzymes in the malted corn do a good job of breaking down the unmalted corn. We also throw in some karo syrup since it is corn syrup that has been converted and we also add a small quantity of brown sugar. It works off in 6-7 days. Let it sit once it finishes, to settle a bit. Your ready to go.

Misflt wrote:Sorry, no definite measurements. We do this in large batches and we have marks on our paddles that tell us when there is enough corn. The rest is water and the rest of the ingredients and time and patience.

You're making this sound like you are making batch sizes beyond what we consider "hobby scale for personal consumption"... If that is the case, this is not the place for you... Perhaps you can clarify...

I'm here for the hobby alone. My family history has roots that go way back. I guess when your raised around it you tend to speak in the present tense. I haven't been in the woods in decades. Health issue's keep me from doing that, but, a small setup running personal quantities is all I'm here for. I apologize if I said something to raise red flags for you, was just referencing my past. It's who I am and I'm not ashamed of it.

I was tryin to give folks an idea of an easy way to malt some corn in larger quantities. Malting is a time consuming process. I have been reading a lot of different posts on here about people running 15, 30, 100 gallon runs. If you are going to malt enough corn for that, you arent gonna get it done in a plastic tub. Layin it out on a tarp is an easy way to manage enough corn for those size runs. So people aren't spending all their time doing the malting. Do a large batch and store it in those grain bins on casters with the lift up lids. They use them in bakeries to move flour and other dry ingredients around.

I'm just tryin to be helpful. I've got a lot of idea's and enough knowledge to get me in trouble as they say I really like this forum, seems to be a fairly tight knit community.

Thanks for the info Misfit.....

Good info MIsfit. Thanks for the contribution. You might not be a misfit after all.

Thanks guys! I'm not here to ruffle feathers. Lord knows there are enough people out there that frown on enough things. Can't believe I lived to see the day they are legalizin them left handed cigarettes but home distillery isn't acceptable, oh well, I digress. Thanks for the im's, you make a fella feel welcome and I look forward to getting to know you fella's. There seems to be a wealth of info here. I have read for 2 nights in a row and haven't made a dent in all the different threads I want to check out. So much knowledge!

halfbaked wrote:

toast860 wrote:a nice kiln link in this topic would be nice. I haven't found one yet but have a plan for one.

I was on youtube and thought this might qualify http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYIEQNJ-YqY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I built one off that guy's design. Put one light bulb on the bottom though so I can place a coffee can and a pie pan over it and use it for a cold smoker to smoke grains. Haven't tried to smoke with it yet but I've dried about twenty five pounds total of barley and wheat that I've malted. Works great.

That guy also has a video on a bucket on a roller to keep malt from molding while sprouting. I built that one as well (similar not exactly the same). Works great for barley and wheat. Still no luck with my corm though.

Misflt wrote:Take ya some corn, put it in a burlap sack. Stick it in a bucket and cover with water for 3 days. Take it out and lay it out on a big canvas tarp or a sheet or whatever ya got, just put your tarp on the ground and spread your corn about 3 inches thick and cover with another wet sheet or wet burlap sacks. 2-3 times a day rake it or hoe it to move it around, sprinkle it with water, keep this up for a couple of days until you get the sprouts out about 1-2 inches. At this point the starches have converted. Rake it out thin as ya can and let it dry out in the sun.

Once dry, pick up the 4 corners of your tarp and bounce the corn, the shoots will fall off, shake it down into a pile and remove the dry sprouts, they rise to the surface since they are lighter weight. Scoop out your corn and take it to your grinder. Grind it up so its about 4-6 pieces equal a kernel. We use 40% of the malted corn with 60% cracked corn. The enzymes in the malted corn do a good job of breaking down the unmalted corn. We also throw in some karo syrup since it is corn syrup that has been converted and we also add a small quantity of brown sugar. It works off in 6-7 days. Let it sit once it finishes, to settle a bit. Your ready to go.

I've also read that soaking too long can kill the grain/germ. I've tried soaks of one, two, three and four days, (usually doing eight hours submerged then eight hours drained alternating. I haven't had luck with any method yet though. Thanks for the info. Eases my fears about two days being too much if you've done three.

Ironically. If I throw a few grains of corn in with my wheat when I malt it the corn sprouts every time. I've tried using the same cycles with just corn and no luck. Very frustrating. Think my next attempt will be the two bucket method with an aquarium blower/aerator.

Luckily I got a pressure cooker/canner for Christmas so when a batch starts smelling too funky I just chop it up in the food processor and can it in half gallon mason jars. Kills all the nasty funk causing bugs and bacteria and I've got corn pre-gelled and chopped ready for my next mashing session.

Thanks again for the rundown misfit.