For some time, I’ve been telling brewers on a budget that they can malt their own grains… Unfortunately, my description of the task has come across as daunting and discouraging. I shall now endeavor to show the process with pictures. For the most part, each time I did anything with the grains, I took pictures. The one exception will be noted. My post is dedicated to malting two pounds of dry wheat, as I wanted to show how someone on a budget can brew a gallon of beer without getting fancy new equipment. I purchased a bucket containing twenty six pounds of wheat from Wal-Mart for under fifteen dollars.

Step one:

Get a fair sized bowl.

I selected this particular bowl for its ability to contain more than two pounds of dry wheat.

Put the desired amount of Grain in your bowl… for larger scale malting I use a similar bowl, emptying it several times into my brew pot for the soak.

Step Two:

Fill the bowl to at least two inches above your grain with water (the deeper, the better). I prefer to use lukewarm water, but cold or warm water work fine too.

Step 3: Wait

You’ll note the timestamps on my photos. I began my process at night for convenience. Now, we wait…. Eight to ten hours is my personal preference. I’ve read some directions saying forty-eight hours. I wouldn’t advise going beyond twelve.

Step 4: Rinse… and wait… and rinse… and wait… and rinse?

Strain your grains in a colander and rinse them. Again, I prefer lukewarm water but it’s not a huge deal.

I don’t have any pictures of me rinsing the grains, but you can run them under water OR put them in the bowl, fill it with water, stir them around a bit, and then put them back in the colander. This takes MAYBE five minutes.

On a tiny batch like this, I advise the use of a damp cloth.

Sometime before bed, rinse the grains again as before; either in the bowl or under running water, putting them back into the colander when done. I prefer to use the bowl, as it mixes the outside layer of grains in to the bunch. Wet the towel, wring it and replace it.

Rinse it again when you get up in the morning. By now, you may notice a little tiny sprout. yay. After I first notice sprouts, I chew a few grains every time I happen past. When they’re sweet, they’re done.

Don’t forget to dampen your towel.

Roughly 24 hours after beginning the soak, I have some grains that are under malted, some that are perfect, and some that are over malted.

Step 5: Dry

Now, you can do what you will with your malted grains. Some people put them on a towel in a sunny spot to dry (this takes days…), I have a cabinet dryer from Maytag (this takes about 18 hours). Maybe putting your malts in a pillowcase in the tumble dry would work?

I’m experimenting with different ways to “grind” the grains in case I couldn’t afford to buy a new or used grinder (mine isn’t great.)

Ideally, you’ll have a grinder. Failing that, a mortar and pestle or a large flat stone and a heavy round one… failing that, a big knife you can rock back and forth, and a cutting board.

I was going to carry this blog clear through brew-in-a-bag on the stove top and pitching wild yeast, but alas… in my excitement, I didn’t set my yeast traps or bait them…

Next time: Culturing wild yeast!