From grain to beer help...

[Mr Majik]

Hi all, looking for a pointer..

Real basics for AG. Where i am its hard (apart from internet orders) to get what i need.

However i know where some hops are growing and i'm going to take a cutting of these to grow in my garden next year.

Now on to the malt... Nothing near me but i have found a farm that sells barley grain at 0.31€ the kilo.

I'm not intending to buy any new kit (mash tuns etc) for the time being so can someone point me to an istructible on how to make beer from grain without specialised kit.

this is how i understand it so far from what i have read...

Germinate (no problem there, i can geminate, i'm quite pleased with my germinating skills. At school they Called me the "germinator"... This is of course a lie, they didnt.)

Remove the sprout.. That im not sure how to do but im sure i'll fugure something out, if i left it on would it cause a problem for flavor? .

Dry*.. Well i'm gussing that means dehydrate, that i can do.

* or bake for different maly types voir caramel, choc etc

Then crush. I dont have a mill but i do own a lump hammer and have some paving slabs to hand.

Then we come to steeping..

I've seen some fantastic kit out there but in not really willing to invest until im sure im going to realy get in to this full on. So i'll make do,if possible, with my 15L aluminium cooking pot, gas hob and thermometer..

Steeping, putting mostly pail malts with a smattering of speciality malts (made from baking germinated barley) in water and, starting with a relativly low temperature, raising the temperature to activate different groups on enzymes for cirtain periods of time to brake down the starch to sugars ending up with a wort ready for fermenting (possibly with the addition of other fermentables)

Then the rest is as if following a kit.

Any way thats what i have understood, can anyone shed any more light on that or point me in the direction of a "brewing from grain the ye olde fashioned way" instruction.

Much appreciated

Mr Majik

 

[PD]

a lump hammer and paving slabs......... hmmmm good luck to you.

There's a member on the forum who lives in Turkey, he malts his own grain outdoors in the sun ( roof of his house ) I'm sure he will drop by and give you some tips...

 

[artyb]

check out brew in a bag on tinterweb, and you tube.. :thumb:

 

[TRXnMe]

I can't help with the malting, but as said we have a member who can and probably will :)

As to kit, take a look at the back to basics threads, a few of us made small brews using only very basic equipment, stockpot, thermometer, scales and a fermenter being the common items used.

You can buy a malt mill off the internet if you're determined to malt and cruush your own.

Where abouts are you? The site sponsors all do courier deliveries and will quote for non UK mainland if asked.

 

[Mr Majik]

Marvelous, found some gold info thanks for the pointers.

I will eventually invest in specialist equipments but really want to get hands on to start with.

Any way, i now have enough info to play with. To succeed? Well thats something to find out.

I'm taking my son to the farm tomorrow where the nice man sells "Grain d'orge" that he also sells to some micro breweries. At 0.31€ the kilo even if this is a total failure €3.10 is still cheeper than the local petting zoo so its a nice day out for the boy.

If this works out well, expect a potentially over detailed write up. If it fails expect the same.

Merci !

 

[Mr Majik]

Oh, sorry forgot to ask. Can anybody provide the name of our roof top malter???

 

[abeyptfc]

Oh, sorry forgot to ask. Can anybody provide the name of our roof top malter???

I'm sure it's 'screamlead'.

 

[PD]

yes its screamlead.

Have a look at his latest post

viewtopic.php?f=31&t=32181

 

[screamlead]

LOL beat me to it PD yep done have a look :

 

[TRXnMe]

Marvelous, found some gold info thanks for the pointers.

I will eventually invest in specialist equipments but really want to get hands on to start with.

Any way, i now have enough info to play with. To succeed? Well thats something to find out.

I'm taking my son to the farm tomorrow where the nice man sells "Grain d'orge" that he also sells to some micro breweries. At 0.31€ the kilo even if this is a total failure €3.10 is still cheeper than the local petting zoo so its a nice day out for the boy.

If this works out well, expect a potentially over detailed write up. If it fails expect the same.

Merci !

Don't forget the pictures :)

All brew day posts need pictures, especially if they are the 'simple' variety that will convince others this is not a horribly complex hobby :)

 

[TRXnMe]

PS, where about en France est Vous?

I have friends near Limoges and also in Le Puy en Velay, the latter runs his own bar / hotel there :)

I've toured France for years on motorcycles and have a semi reasonable idea of the geography, although mainly between the west coast, the central massiff and the south coast.

 

[Mr Majik]

Dont you worry TRXnMe, pictures will come. I've got a bit of a workload on so brew day probably wont be until next weekend.

I live in Bavent in Calvados, just up from the landing beaches and next door to the first town liberated during WWII. Its all cider round here, not my favorite drink... Limoges i know of vagley, t'other one i've not a clue.

One more question on all this, maybe you can help with is screamlead (read your post btw, just what i was after!)

After i have germinated and dryed/slow baked my grain, does it "have" to be cracked/crushed/milled or can i just pop it in my brew pot and "mash" or bring the temp up at intervals.. Will the sugars find a way out?

 

[TRXnMe]

Dont you worry TRXnMe, pictures will come. I've got a bit of a workload on so brew day probably wont be until next weekend.

I live in Bavent in Calvados, just up from the landing beaches and next door to the first town liberated during WWII. Its all cider round here, not my favorite drink... Limoges i know of vagley, t'other one i've not a clue.

One more question on all this, maybe you can help with is screamlead (read your post btw, just what i was after!)

After i have germinated and dryed/slow baked my grain, does it "have" to be cracked/crushed/milled or can i just pop it in my brew pot and "mash" or bring the temp up at intervals.. Will the sugars find a way out?

You have to crush the malt to get any decent amount of sufar out of it, if you leave it in the shell your beer will lack flavour and alchohol.

Clavados!! One of my favourite tipples The ultimate cider :) Nice place to live.

 

[oldjiver]

You might like this for a grain mill.
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=28994

I have a brand new unboxed one for £20, but the postage to France might not be worth it.

 

[Mr Majik]

Thanks oldjiver, i had a look at yours then had a think and hunted through some french kitchen sites. Found one for 17€ ! The hopper is a bit small but i'll bodge something on to it..

http://www.mathon.fr/cat-ustensiles/mou ... 43304.aspx

I'm quite partial to the calvados myself, funnily enough my father in law he, um.. Absolutly nothing to do with *cough, distilling his own :whistle:

So my mini mill is on the way and yeterday i went to pick up 10kg of barley from a local(ish) farm who sells is to breweries. Turns out it was so cheep that i came home with 40kg plus another 10 as a present he offered me. Nice chap.

All being well i'll start germinating this weekend and have a brew day next sunday.

 

[oldjiver]

Just make sure you "crack" the grains and dont end up with flour, too fine will result in a set mash only suitable for chickens. A bigger hopper can be made by cutting one of those 5lt water bottles in half and using it as a funnel.

 

[Mr Majik]

I was thinking about a water bottle, i'l find something when it gets here. Quite excited!

Apparenly it has an adjustable "technical word for grindy bit" to make all from cracked to milled grain. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[screamlead]

See my grain mill in my post on grains - thats the dogs! electric and takes about 20 mins to rattle through 5kg i use a chopped up 5ltr water bottle to act as a bigger hopper too.

 

[Mr Majik]

I saw it yesterday actually, looks the business! When i start getting in to bigger batches ill look in to something along those lines!

I have a question while your here screamlead. My first batch of germination is a bit higglypiggldy...
A have one 2kg worth,most are ready and have their nice 3 hairs, a few here and there have the actual sprout (not the 3 fine ones but the thicker one, i forget its name) And a fair few have just the first signs of the little white tip. And very few show no signs of anything.

In your exp should i go ahead and start drying, i have a wood stove that is about 35° just in front of it.

 

[screamlead]

Sounds like most are ready for drying, dont worry too much about the odd few that sprout the acrospire (shoot) You wont get it perfect every time. So just start the drying process once the roots turn brown you need to rub them off, then you can roast or toast to what ever you want. :thumb: