Has anyone had any experience of 'naked barley'..?
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Vossy1
Landlord.
Farmbrew
Regular.
Naked barleys are those without a husk or "hull". This hull is the shriveled looking skin/coat of the barley or malt grain. Wheat and rye are both naked grains.
There are a few things that you'll have to be aware of if you want to malt it: It's probably not low nitrogen (most malting barleys are grown to be low nitrogen) so it will darken the wort, increase mouthfeel and probably throw a haze in large amounts; as its hulless it will mat together during germination and needs to be turned more often than normal barley; if it's been dried by the producer for feed then the drying temp may have been too high and killed off the germ/enzymes - so you won't be able to malt it.
You can use the raw grain as an adjunct in the mash - the first point above re: nitrogen levels will apply. It's good for getting colour and traditional mouthfeel for biere de garde and saison etc.
There are a few things that you'll have to be aware of if you want to malt it: It's probably not low nitrogen (most malting barleys are grown to be low nitrogen) so it will darken the wort, increase mouthfeel and probably throw a haze in large amounts; as its hulless it will mat together during germination and needs to be turned more often than normal barley; if it's been dried by the producer for feed then the drying temp may have been too high and killed off the germ/enzymes - so you won't be able to malt it.
You can use the raw grain as an adjunct in the mash - the first point above re: nitrogen levels will apply. It's good for getting colour and traditional mouthfeel for biere de garde and saison etc.
screamlead
Landlord.
I am just starting off a new 5kg batch of barley. I did in the past have a batch -25kg, that was full of cr*p including dirt,rubbish, peas, wheat and naked barley.
I did a few brews with it but it was a bugger to clean and sort.
I got the majority of naked barley out of it and the wheat but got fed up of picking individual grains out so fobbed it off in the end. But as stated elsewhere i did end up with a hazy clouded beer as it didnt clear at all, plus i forgot to stick in the irish moss at 15mins from end of boil too.
But tbh the beer is fine and tastes ok too.
I am supposed to be getting 70kg this time but it aint turned up yet (turkish promises!) so got a 5kg batch to be going on with. Its just begining to sprout too after 2 days soaking - i do it outside on my roof. Air dry on a big screen and soak in a massive bowl, i also leave mine half a day in water and half a day in the sun on the screen. Works for me rather than 2 hour soak and 8 hour dry and its generally ready to dry after 3-4 days.
I did a few brews with it but it was a bugger to clean and sort.
I got the majority of naked barley out of it and the wheat but got fed up of picking individual grains out so fobbed it off in the end. But as stated elsewhere i did end up with a hazy clouded beer as it didnt clear at all, plus i forgot to stick in the irish moss at 15mins from end of boil too.
But tbh the beer is fine and tastes ok too.
I am supposed to be getting 70kg this time but it aint turned up yet (turkish promises!) so got a 5kg batch to be going on with. Its just begining to sprout too after 2 days soaking - i do it outside on my roof. Air dry on a big screen and soak in a massive bowl, i also leave mine half a day in water and half a day in the sun on the screen. Works for me rather than 2 hour soak and 8 hour dry and its generally ready to dry after 3-4 days.
Farmbrew
Regular.
screamlead said:
Yes, when I get barley straight from the farmer it usually is full of rubbish - not so much other grains just stalks, dirt and the usual stones and dead bugs.
As the naked barley has no husk it will need a shorter time to steep as the water has better access to the working part of the seed.
I tend to use an air stone for steeping and germinating and air dry using an old bin and a fan heater.
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