HOW TO MALT CORN FOR MOONSHINE & BEER - EASY! Part 1 

Don't say that about Hobbits. You're crushing my dreams!

Ahhhh Im sorry! Dont worry the legal distilling is still real though.

Well then, all is right with the world again:-)

@@BeardedBored You guts crack me up!!😂😂

@@BeardedBored i love following you and jesse. you guys have taught me alot, and keep me smiling all through my fun times with trials and errors, especially going into all grain.....beers. thank you for everything

Congrats on the successful malting!!! Glad I could help. I'll take honorable and reliable over somebody else's idea of respectability any day of the week. Good luck on your journey! :-)> p.s.-check out the Barley and Hops Brewing channel for all their great videos on corn whiskey.

What’s store in Tennessee man I need to go there

Thanks Jack!

Glad it's working for you!

Sounds awesome. Let me know how it turns out:-)

Couldn't have said it better. Thanks Big Ed!

Thanks. It's called Harmony by Robbero . If you like the music in any of my videos check the video description for info on the songs. I usually have the info down there:-)>

Thanks man. It just takes a little practice on the corn. One you get a successful batch done, it's way easier to keep producing good malt, unless you forget to turn it;-)

Glad it was helpful:-)

You're awesome! Thanks so much! Just watched your video. To anyone interested in distilling check out his very detailed video here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4ogQw1YtT7Y.html Great job getting all the details in there, and making the info so clear. Really glad you're doing this series!

Thanks man!

Experimentation is part of the fun:-)

I'm glad I could help:-)

@@BeardedBored I to are GERMAN. Thankful proud of you

Skol

Thanks!

@@BeardedBored It's cool to learn your Jedi ways

Thanks:-)

Thanks!

Thank you!

Interesting:-)

How’s your corn extract go? Can you post an update or info on how you did it and what you think? We also low carb a lot, but I’d never thought of the need for the extract. How are you using it?

Thanks:-)>

Thomas, you can absolutely use this method for barley. Barley doesn't need to sprout as much to create the amylase enzymes, so when you see a sprout on a barley seed that is about 3/4 as long as the grain, it's time to dry them out. Where as corn shoots need to be at least an inch long before drying. Let me know if you have any questions:-)>

Definitely keep me posted:-)

Thanks so much! I just checked out your channel and saw all the cocktail recipe videos. Aaaaaaand Subscribed:-)> Gonna try that mint julep first!

Thanks for sharing.... Sharing is caring... Cheers 😊😊

I will. That sounds like a cool thing to try! I've had a few beers with blue corn, but never brewed with it. Thanks for the suggestion. You might see that in an upcoming video;-)>

Good point. I'll get that into the video description, but here is the info. Soaking, air rest and germination temp range can vary from 50F to 75F plus or minus a few degrees.

Err..., feed store corn isn’t malted. So there’s that.

Thanks!

Fun:-)

The best thing to do is ask the breweries what they need before you invest any time or money into either. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

In terms of process, Amylase is foolproof and accurate, whereas malting your own grain is less predictable like it was when our ancestors did it. As far as the flavor difference, honestly it's kind of subjective. Some folks think it makes no difference, but I think it does. Maybe that's my own bias though. I'll have to test that. That said, I really enjoy the process and the "magic" inherent in malting.

70-75F or 20-23C, but I usually don't check the temperature. I just use cool or room temperature water for the soaking.

Yep, 8 hour soak, 8 hour air rest. Total of 4 soaks.

@@BeardedBored thank you very much.

It allows necessary oxygen into the seeds.

Very low DP, around 30L. Just enough to convert itself and nothing else. If you have a feed store nearby you can order some seed barley and malt it yourself. I did a video on specialty grains where I malted some from my local feed store. Turned out great:-)

I live in southwest Virginia as well, you can go to a farm store and get 50 pound sacks of corn dirt cheap, like $12 a sack to malt. Also, like bearded and bored mentored, you can get unmalted barley and malt it yourself, or a Southern States supplier 45 minutes away can special order 50 pound sacks of 6 row malted barley late summer, early fall. Just tell them you are making beer or they might not sell it

Malted barley is waaaaaay more efficient than corn. The diastatic power of malted corn is around 30 when dried(only enough enzyme to convert itself and no additional adjunct grains), or around 100 when used fresh and green. Malted 2-row barley is around 120 dry, and off the charts when fresh and green. Check out my grocery store beer video for more info on that.

The best I have been able to get is about 1.024 points of gravity doing 2 pounds per gallon of straight malted corn and water. George from the barley and hops channel did a video on a batch I sent him vs. regular cracked corn. His result was pretty similar. The popcorn seems to have less available starch than regular dent corn. With all that said, in my opinion the popcorn has a more complex flavor, but it's more of an adjunct grain. Check out my video here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YI9pd7n1G2k.html to see a beer I did with green malted popcorn. I go into the conversion stuff in detail. And here is George's video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eLCoZZ5ayvM.html

@@BeardedBored thanks. i was actually trying to make a light lager like one i had @ Zilicoah Brewing in Asheville. They use Riverbend Malting Pilsner and Malted Dent Corn. I picked up the pilsner while i was in town but not the dent corn. that's why i went with the malted popcorn. Regardless, thanks for putting out your video. i'll probably try it again and use it on a different fermented product

1.022 from 1 pound per gallon as a baseline. Gonna malt some deer corn this week and start a pure corn beer to see what happens.

Check out my "Grocery store beer" video where I use green malt. Few things you need to know before using live malt.

If I ever get a better camera I'll treat it much better. I treat this old camcorder like it owes me money.

Technically there should be more enzyme production and consequently more starch converted to sugar the longer they get...up to a point of course.

LoL

Hey Glenn. Great question. Malted corn has a really low diastatic power, around 40L. That just enough to convert any starches remaining in the mlated corn, without much, if any, left over. So, you'll want to add enzymes or use some 2-row or 6-row barley to aid in the conversion for the rice.

Very interesting, I really appreciate the response. I posed this question on a moonshine/distilling page & no one really knew. & I could not find the answer anywhere. Thank you again & keep up the great videos! btw, currently malting 2lbs of corn thanks to your videos & so far, they are turning out great! .. Hope I didn´t just jinx them haha

Glad I could help. Malted corn isn't used much anymore since there are more efficient options for getting your enzymes, like malted barley and commercial enzyme mixes. Consequently not too many folks have current info on it. Everything I found came from really old commercial research papers and agricultural reports from decades ago. Congrats on the successful malting! 🙂

Ya, & i am so glad you did get that info. Because I googled everything I could & couldn't find it. The reason I am using Corn instead of Barley, is because of my current location. Barley & Rye are hard to find & expensive to import. Rice & Corn are the easiest grains to find. Wheat is available too. But only in 100lb bags from a feed store. I wanted to mention I steeped the Corn for 16 hours the first cycle step. Then went to the 8 hour cycle like on your video. It actually started to chit on the 3rd steep cycle. So 16 soaking. 8 drying, 8 soaking, 8 drying, & 8 soaking & chit was visible. I went directly to the pan with the wet towel over it. & it is sprouting nicely. I read a 24 hour steep should be done first. So I went with a hybrid of yours & what I read somewhere. Worked out well. The humid climate here might also have helped the process.

It's the tinkering and tweaking of these projects that I really enjoy. You can learn new stuff each time. In your first malting you've already got some good results that speak to your environmental factors. I agree that humidity is big one. You may have a quicker sprouting time also, but a longer air drying time (depends on how warm it is in your area). Keep us updated on how it progresses. This might really help some other folks with similar conditions. Thanks for sharing:-)>

55F is great to keep mold down, but it's never that cold in my garage. I usually have great results at 75F.

You can, but I've never tried it. I've read several times that it can leave a grassy taste in your beer, or even make it through distillation into liquor. I may try it some day just to see what happens:-)

I used TurboKleer on one brew and cold crashed several others. Turbokleer worked better for me since it made a pretty dense layer that stayed on the bottom without being disturbed. I'll probably do that again for really cloudy stuff.

Absolutely! The only difference with wheat is that it doesn't require as much time to germinate. The wheat sprouts only need to grow about the length of the grain itself, maybe 1/4 of an inch, then dried. The enzymes develop faster in wheat, similar to barley. Other than that the process is the same:-)>

@@BeardedBored: hey, thanks bud!!

Yeah, that time lapse kinda messed with my head:-)>

Germinating corn has the same result as germinating barley. It produces the malt enzymes to help break down the starches into sugars inside the grain so they can be fermented.

Barley produces way morr sugar then corn then , corn is plentiful and will get the job done (produce alcohol), but barley is the master malt .

I always thought it was just illegal to sell whiskey... But not to make it.

I just answered that in your other comment before I saw this one:-) It works better actually, but there may be a taste trade off. Using the malt while it still has the sprouts on, without drying them out first, is called wet malt. The wet malt actually has a lot more enzymes than the dry malt (3 to 4 times more), so it would technically have more than enough enzyme for a lot of additional starch conversion for added corn. The only draw back I've read about is that those shoots will make the mash taste "grassy" and that flavor may come through any further "process" you choose to do in the privacy of your own home...for fuel purposes;-) I've never tried using wet malt before, so I'm just quoting what I've read. If you try it, please do let us know how it turns out.

Thank you so much for sharing your valuable time and research. The sources for this kind of thing are not Readily available Or not very forthcoming.

Thanks Daniel! Glad I could help:-)>

Not a stupid question. Definitely use fresh water each time to help keep bacteria from taking hold:-)

@@BeardedBoredBored thank you and thanks for the fast reply. you are a great help

Absolutely. Actually there is 2 to 3 times as much enzyme and diastatic power to convert starches to sugars in the wet malt (also called green malt) as opposed to the dry malt. However, there are 2 reasons why it's usually dried first. 1. It's easier to get the roots and shoots off of the grains once they're dry. 2. If you use wet malt with the shoots still on the grain, I've read that it can add an unpleasant grassy flavor to the finished product that will transfer though to your mash. I haven't used wet malt yet so I don't know how strong the flavor is. I'll do a video about it in the fall since I've had several questions about it. Too hot in the shed to malt corn right now:-( If you try it, let us know.

Bearded & Bored thank you for the reply

1 to 2 inches deep.

Yes, but you'll need to wash it with clean water thoroughly several times before you do the soaking cycle to get any dust off the corn.

@@BeardedBored is there a way I can personally message you? I have a couple of questions

@@jtfalkner Click on my channel home page, then click on the "about" link to find my email address.

Yes I use a hydrometer on every batch, even if I'm not adding sugar, so that I can calculate the alcohol content from the data points. As far as flavor, it depends. If you add sugar you won't change the flavor much until you push over 10%abv. After that the yeast will start to throw off some stronger flavors. What sort of abv range are you looking for, and what recipe?

@@BeardedBored hThanks for the quick response. Haven't done any 'hard' stuff yet. I'd like to sip some stronger brandies and the like above 40 proof.

@@kentallen4473 Check out the Still It channel and The Barley and Hops Brewing channel to get tons of great info on distilling:-)

​@@BeardedBoredgreat video very helpful. I am using 50kg sugar in a 250 Ltr mix of lemon and ginger. Getting about 12% ABV. Thinking of reducing the sugar to 20kg and adding malted corn to provide additional sugars. What quantity of malted would be ideal to get to higher ABV say 16%

That's a great question! The short answer is "Nope. Yeast=fermentation." But I've heard that too. "Don't use yeast, just let the malt do it." That's a common misconception that came from the old timers who made moonshine in the woods and really didn't understand that fermentation does not happen without yeast. What they meant was that they didn't add store-bought yeast to their mashes. What they didn't know at the time, but we've since figured out, is that the malting process exposes the grain to the elements where it collects wild yeast from the air. Those wild yeast then propagate when they're exposed to the sugar in the grain wash. The problem with wild yeast fermentation is that there is no way to have a reliable rate of fermentation, or a consistent result from batch to batch since there are literally thousands of types of yeast floating around at any given time. Each strain has different levels of alcohol tolerance, flavor byproducts, etc. You may get a great whiskey one time, but then the wind changes and your next batch is different. The main reason we always add cultivated yeast to a mash is to overwhelm any wild yeast so we get consistency and reliability. I'm happy to answer any other questions. Thanks so much for watching:-)>

Bearded & Bored I think I would have added to this that the process of sprouting/malting creates natural amylase enzymes that break the long term storage of starch into useable sugar. But that’s just me and what I have read and watched on the subject. Not an expert by any means.

@@alexaxline6093 really ? You honestly believe your enlightening the group or the comment section? Your last line was something like " Im no expert" or whatever. That being understood, why you feel the need to or believe there is a need, for your "constructive criticism" is beyond me. The reason folks end up watching this mans channel ( thought it was common knowledge but obviously not) is because his colleagues happen to be the most knowledgeable guys on youtube on this particular subject. You arent scoring any points by stating the obvious or trying to 1 up people that obviously know what they are doing. You are just another keyboard warrior which everybody rolls there eyes @ when reading your enlightening constructive criticism. Stay in your lane pal

@@jayschumann92 not sure what triggered you with YOUR snowflake feelings about my comment. But I am truly sorry about that, but as Forrest Gump said "stupid is as stupid does". So what does your ripping me for my comment, do to help the person who originally asked a question about malted grain and fermentation. If the question i am asking is unclear here How is you be-rating me helping?

You can use natural yeast. From apple peelings and other fruit in a pinch. The issue is its wildly inconsistent and can add any number of unexpected flavors. You still need yeast as mentioned though.

Unless the law changed recently, as far as I've read on the TABC website distilling for personal consumption is illegal in Texas, however you can brew 200 gallons of beer and wine. If you are sure, please share the link to the applicable Texas law. Thanks.

That's perfect:-)

12 hour stretches is fine. You may be able to get done soaking after 3 rounds. Stir the corn when it's drained. That's when it needs the air flow. For knocking the roots and shoots off green malt just dump it in a colander and work it by hand, rolling it between your palms and generally abusing it until they all fall off. Should be pretty easy since the roots tend to snap off without much effort. If you make something with green malt please let us know how it turns out. I've read that it can leave a grassy taste in your wort, but haven't verified that myself. I'm very interested to hear about it. Thanks!

Ok will do thanks

I malted, then used corn & sprouts, dried then ground all. all in a bucket Also used white-corn & Rye to make whiteligthen.distilled 3 times for XXX. it worked!I wonder if thats whatPpopcorn Sutton used. IE POPCORN

Bearded & Bored o

Any problems?

That sucks. Hope you get some good stuff.

I cover all that in part 2:-)

@@BeardedBored Yup- just watched it, thanks! Great stuff

Most chicken feed is cracked or crushed corn. You can't malt crushed grain. The grains must be whole for malting to be successful. I wouldn't use anything that has any additives like oils. Read the label or research the brand before you buy a big bag of it;-)

That sounds like a great place to be.

Yes, completely normal:-)

Oh good! Thanx alot for the info,Because the smell can be easily confused with mold and i was thinking about tossing the whole stuff away! .the smell disappeared when i grinded everything and the mash tasted normal !

Great question. Well, so far I've only malted popcorn, but I want to try field corn next. I think that field corn might have a higher starch content, at least I hope it does. My brewing efficiency is lower than expected, as if I were using less grain than my recipe called for or getting incomplete starch conversion. Might be something wrong with my brew process, which is entirely possible, but I have a suspicion that it's the popcorn. I can't find any research to back this up though, so I plan on doing some tests batches of both field and popcorn to see which works better. That'll be in an upcoming video as the weather cools off enough for me to malt some more corn in the shed. Sorry I don't have a solid answer yet, but I am working on it. Thanks:-)>

@@BeardedBoreddo you pluck the kernels off freesh

@@flatearth5033 No. The corn must be dried before you can malt it.

@@BeardedBoredthanku

Growing a beard is a spiritual thing. Ladies can grow spirit beards;-)

@@BeardedBored ROFL!! See that, you have already started helping! I will work on that!! Thanks for a good chuckle!🍻 Happy brewing!!

Colorado has a lot going for it:-)

60F(15C) to 75F(24C) is the best range. Above 80F and it becomes more favorable for bacteria and mold.

Start the drying process and that will stop the growth.

100F or lower is the safest temp for drying. I haven't made an all malted corn beer yet, but I'm hopping to get that done this summer:-) There is a Mexican beer style called chicha that is sometimes made with 100% malted corn if you want to do some research in the meantime.

@@BeardedBored Chicha is Peruvian

@@gusbetancourt1 Oops! My mistake. I was thinking of Tesguino from Mexico, but got my names mixed up since the drinks are so similar.

The level of enzyme present in corn is really low. There is usually just enough to convert itself and nothing else. But it is still a good idea if you add a little enzyme, just to make sure you get full conversion. If you don't have any, you can always try mashing overnight in an ice chest to maintain the temperature.

Think I'm going to just skip the malting step and just add amylase then. Going for a mash that's as close to full corn as possible. Is there a way I can DM you? I made a google dox step by step from notes from barley and hops vids 😂. Any input would be much appreciated! 😁

@@JoshWhitford91 You can email me, but I don't think I can add anything that George hasn't covered. But if you have questions, let me know. My email address is on my "about" link of my channel page.

No. If you're going to use commercial enzymes there is no need to malt the corn.

Bearded & Bored even for whole deer corn which I’ll crack myself?

@@belczyk If you're using commercial enzymes with any grain, you don't need malt. Malting produces the necessary enzymes, but if you're going to add commercial enzymes then there is no need to malt the grain.

Bearded & Bored thanks for the help

Yep, that way the top layer doesn't get too dry and keeps it it all germinating more evenly.

Thanks man. I've jus started to sprout corn and I ruined my first batch. Second batch was much better but i think I over sprouted the corn😂😂I'm gonna try your way next here in ireland. Love your work🍺🍺

@@leebridges2540 Check out my green malt grocery store vid. I go over some new stuff on corn malt. Also, my malt tumbler vid may be helpful if you plan on malting more than a few times. Good luck:-)

Good point:-)

Yep. Works pretty much the same. The initial root may appear a little sooner since the kernels aren't as hard as popcorn, so keep an eye out for that and move to the next stage early if necessary.

Lol:-)

What I read was the floating grains are spoiled and won't grow, so it is best to remove them. I am not certain why that is. If you try this again and many grains float, you can separate them and try to malt them in another container to see if they are bad, or not.

@@BeardedBored Thx again :) Am french so its not easy to understand all the details but you are a very great teacher :) am sorry to ask another thing but when the four steps are done, you just rinse the grains half a day and put wet towel on them until the roots are twice the kernel? right?

@@lechoppedemeria9323 Yes, that is correct:-) J'utilise Google translate pour cette partie pour plus de clarté. Après avoir terminé les quatre cycles de trempage des grains, vous laissez le grain pousser sous la serviette humide pendant 5 à 7 jours jusqu'à ce que la croissance soit là où vous le souhaitez. Vous devez remuer le grain plusieurs fois par jour pour vous assurer qu'il contient suffisamment d'oxygène. Si vous voyez de la moisissure ou une odeur de bactéries, rincez très bien le grain, puis laissez la serviette pour lui permettre de sécher légèrement. Assurez-vous qu'il n'y a pas d'eau accumulée sous le maïs pendant sa croissance. Vous le voulez légèrement humide, pas mouillé. Veuillez me faire savoir si vous avez d'autres questions sur le maïs de maltage.

@@BeardedBored thx a lot !!! Ive watched the two videos, i know what you said about mold... So i will pay attention to that . I will try to make chicha corn beer with this process. Take care really thx for all :) bearded frenchie brewer

@@lechoppedemeria9323 Bonne chance!

Thanks for the great questions. Keeping me on my toes;-) 1. The malting doesn't produce yeast, but since yeast is floating in the air everywhere some will naturally be on the corn. The problem with relying exclusively on this wild yeast instead of a commercially cultivated variety is that it can be pretty inconsistent in it's performance. Depending on what was drifting by you may get a really weak yeast that doesn't produce more than 1% or 2% alcohol before it craps out, or you may get a yeast that can produce some really bad flavors like sulfur. In the old days the moonshiners would generally rely on nature, which leave all your hard work to chance. I like using a good quality commercial distillers yeast, champagne yeast or ale yeast because I know how well it'll perform. There are a lot of variable in the whole process, so if I can remove one I'm happy to do it. 2. You can let the malt continue to grow and produce more sugar, but it'll always leave some starch behind, and if you use up all the enzyme for growth, then there is nothing left to convert the starch. It'll work, but you're losing out on a lot of potential alcohol in that unconverted starch. 3. If you kiln dry the grain it'll kill off any natural yeast. 4. Actually the conversion power (diastatic power) of malted corn is one of the lowest compared to malted barely. It only has enough enzyme to convert itself, the remaining starches within the malted grains. If you add unmalted grain you'll need to use some malted barley (20% of your grain bill) to convert the other adjuncts. 5. A safe drying temp is below 120F. The alpha amylase is pretty touchy. 6. Yes, you can definitely use distilled water. 7. 80% length of the grain for barley, but corn shoots need to be about an inch long. I was all over the place in that video;-)

i really appreciate you taking the time to answer each numbered question the way i had it down,,i been going nuts trying to figure out how to calculate how much malted barley 6 row to use for conversion,,seems like i cant find such info much on vids or in search,,i know its got a 160 lit but how to calculate how much of it i need for whatever amounts of adjuncts im using,,if i got it right it only needs 30 lit to convert itself leaving 130 for the unmalted grains but is 160/lb or whatever amount? so if im using 2lbs of adj then how much mb would i use? ,,also i need your help with this beer i been trying to brew ,lots of problems,ended up using almost half pound mb for 2lbs of adj and i still dont think it was converting very well and i think i must be doing something wrong cause it got very messy in the bag,i do not see ppl going through the same mess and problems i have

The rule of thumb is 20% of your mash bill needs to be 2-row or 6-row barley. So if you have 10 pound total or 10000 pounds total grain weight, 20% of that needs to be malted barley. For your beer recipe, since I'm not an expert I highly recommend checking out r/homebrewing on reddit. Post your recipe and problem and some of the smart dudes over there will sort you out. I love that forum:-)

ok great because 20% sounds about right,i think for the 2lbs i had i ended up using about almost half a pound of my mb i think i used exactly about .4lb so it sounds right,but am i adding 20% to the bill or am i replacing 20% with mb??

also i think the guy at my brewshop was either trying to scam me or he was clueless because he did mention 20% but he was saying it will only convert 20% of my bill and he was telling me i needed to buy many more pounds of the mb,,so either he had it wrong in what the 20% or he was trying to get me to buy more for my 2lb bill(and i already told him i was only doing a small 1 gal batch using 2lbs)

If it gets moldy you need to dump it in the trash. Sorry to say that, but it's not safe to use moldy corn for anything. I've had to dump out batches myself. If you don't turn the corn enough, and if it's too warm then it is more likely to grow mold. Good luck on the next batch:-)

@@BeardedBored well poop. It was only a little fuzzy in one spot

@@brucegustafson8382 Ohh, I thought you meant the whole thing. Try to just scoop out the bad stuff and the corn around and under it. Give it all a thorough rinse several times and drain completely for an hour. Sanitize the tray you're using before putting the drained corn back into it. If it finishes malting without growing more mold, then you're ok.

Ok thanks . I malt in very small batches. Two big trays like in your malting Video, just enough corn to cover the bottom of the trays. I’ve done it twice now. Do you still need to mill you’re corn after you malted it or is the grain open enough all ready after malting?

@@brucegustafson8382 You still need to mill it to allow the mash water to access as much of it as possible for mash efficiency. Corn is usually too big for a standard grain mill, so you may need to bust it up in a blender first.

No, I just used the cheap store brand popping corn. What sort of issues are you having?

@@BeardedBored The popcorn come from walmart?

Germinate from paper towel method would not germinate should i buy different brands to experiment?

Regular corn seed germinated

Sorry for the delay Nick. I didn't get a notification of your replies. It's possible the popcorn you bought had been heat treated to sterilize it. Doesn't take much heat, but it's enough to prevent germination. Good idea testing it out with the paper towel method! Glad you got some regular corn to germinate:-)>

Thanks:-)

It's still illegal at the Federal level. Even though your state government is awesome and wise, the feds are still behind the times. It's the same as weed being legal in Colorado. I can't move to Missouri, but it sure is tempting;-)

Answer the call:-)

The only thing I have available RIGHT NOW to try to convert is rice, or would you recommend that pearl barley? I will have time to get that. I'll also need to free up a fermenter... or could I just make a NEW one? Hmmm...

Also... making wine is WAY MORE EASY LOL

@@mrpieceofwork Rice will not malt like any other grain. It's pretty tricky. All the Asian countries that make rice wine don't even bother with malting rice. They use a special mold to convert starches to sugar. Pearl barley is stripped of its husk and seed germ so it won't malt either. Best bet is to get some feed corn or popcorn:-)

I meant malt the corn, then use that to also convert the starches from rice, like you did with the barley. I looked it up, and it's a process called cereal mashing, which apparently is seldom done now as it's a PITA (to me, at least) and as there are much easier ways to obtain the same results. I'll def. malt the corn, though, just... because. LOL

Good question. Actually I have easy access to feed corn in Walmart and the various feed stores around here. The main reason I went with popcorn was so anyone, anywhere could do it if they have access to a grocery store. Also, I only needed to malt a few pounds at a time due to space and didn't want to store the rest of a 50 bag. I've done feed corn too and it works just as well for malting:-)>

"Now" I meant to say

Good luck on your next try:-)

A tiny bit of mold on the tips of the kernels isn't too bad, but if you get a slimy coating, or if it stinks, it's time to throw it out. If the sprouting hasn't started you can try rinsing the grain in a little StarSan solution to kill anything, then drain it, and stir it every 6-8 hours. Don't spray it down with anymore water for at least 24 hours to give it time to air out a little.

@@BeardedBored Yeah, she's starting to smell pretty funky. Ok well that's a learning curve, oh well guess I better put this malter together and go again. Thanks again for the help

@@JOSH1657 Yeah, dump it. You'll remember that smell, LoL. It's quite distinctive. Definitely part of every maltsters education. Good luck on the next one. Scale back to 2 or 3 pounds for the first run, just so you have a greater chance of success and learn what to look for at each stage of the process;-)

Soak 8 hours, drain 8 hours, repeat the same cycle 3 more times. Basically you are mimicking spring time rainfall over a few days to trick the grains into thinking it's time to grow. Takes a few days to run the full cycle, but corn is stubborn.