My interest came from the annual planting of Japanese Millet that our wildlife department does on a local lake. This is to draw waterfowl onto the lake later that winter for public hunting.
My plan is to do 4 separate mashes that would compare both the raw grain flavor profiles of Japanese Millet and White Proso Millet, as well as the malted grain profiles of Japanese Millet and White Proso Millet.
MASH #1 - Raw Japanese Millet
MASH #2 - Raw White Proso Millet
MASH #3 - Malted Japanese Millet
MASH #4 - Malted White Proso Millet
Last week, a 50 pound sack of Japanese Millet and 50 pound sack of White Proso Millet randomly showed up on my porch (what I told my wife). After calling the farm that sold the seed, I verified the seeds were untreated and contained no pesticides or herbicides. These is grain is meant to seed, so the hulls were still intact.
Below is what the grain looked like out of the sack. The Japanese Millet is the darker colored grain.
MASH #1
• 12.5 Gallons Water
• 25 lbs Raw Japanese Millet (milled)
• 1 tsp Citric Acid (pH correction)
• 8 tsp High-Temp Alpha Amylase
• 4 tsp Gluco-Amylase
• Handful of Oyster Shells
• 2 oz Bakers Yeast
MASH #2
• 12.5 Gallons Water
• 25 lbs Raw White Proso Millet (milled)
• 1 tsp Citric Acid (pH correction)
• 8 tsp High-Temp Alpha Amylase
• 4 tsp Gluco-Amylase
• Handful of Oyster Shells
• 2 oz Bakers Yeast
In both Mashes, I did the following:
1) Mixed citric acid into water and brought to a boil
2) Added milled raw grain to boiling water and let cook for 2 hours
3) Brought temp down to 175°F and mixed in 8 tsp High-Temp Alpha Amylase. Let rest for 2 more hours.
4) Brought temp down to 110°F and added 4 tap Gluco-Amylase. Let sit un-insulated for an hour.
5) Brought temp down to 85°F. Added oyster shells in a tied cloth and pitched yeast.
Starting SG’s for both are below:
MASH #1 - Raw Japanese Millet - 1.051
MASH #2 - Raw White Proso Millet - 1.057
Both took about 5 days to ferment dry.
Final SG’s for both are below:
MASH #1 - Raw Japanese Millet - 1.000
MASH #2 - Raw White Proso Millet - 0.998
Using paint strainer bags, I squeezed both ferments into separate buckets for clearing. The White Proso was an easy strain. The Japanese, however, was an absolute pain and will likely take a while to clear. Will let sit for a bit to clear, then post results of stripping runs.
While MASH #1 and MASH #2 were fermenting, I decided to start my malting process for MASH #3 and MASH #4
I weighed out 25 pounds of Japanese Millet and 25 pounds of White Proso Millet. The Japanese millet is less dense than the White Proso, thus took up more physical space.
The following was my process. This was my first time malting millet, and there was plenty of room for future improvement.
1) Placed the grain inside of paint strainer bags in 5 gallon buckets. Filled buckets with 77°F water, drained, rinsed, and repeated.
2) Once grain was rinsed, I filled the buckets with 77°F water and let soak for 8 hours.
4) After the 2nd 8 hour soak, I pulled the bags for another 2 hour rest.
5) Following the 2nd 2 hour rest, I soaked a final time for 4 hours.
6) After the 4 hour soak, I weight both grains to calculate approximate moisture content. The only info I could find online regarding moisture content referenced a target content of 35%. Below is where I ended up.
Japanese Millet - 40.5%
White Proso - 37.1%
7) With small chits emerging, I spread the grain evenly onto my malting table and covered with a cheesecloth. The grain bed was 2-3 inches thick. From here on, I rotated, flipped, spread, sprayed, and covered the grain every 12 hours.
