Malting Spelt, Emmer and Khorasan Wheat

For kilning times and temperatures check out my blog:brewingbeerthe...
Here's the brew day video • Ancient Wheat Brew
1:20 Steeping
2:42 Germination Day 4
3:43 Drying Emmer
4:23 Weighing, curing the Emmer
5:17 Emmer curing temps.
5:26 Spelt Day 6, rub test
6:41 Spelt curing
7:00 Khorasan troubles
7:49 Spelt curing
8:20 New Kamut
8:52 Germination rate
9:20 Day 6 more Kamut troubles
10:11 Fusarium
11:33 Caramel Kamut
12:53 Caramel Kamut kilning schedule
14:32 Drying pale Kamut malt

[@mtplainsman1068]

Good vid man! I think you are getting your Khorasan wheat from bad sources. It is probably grown in the wrong conditions like you said and/or stored improperly, so... before you give up on it completely, may I suggest to buy directly from the source in Montana. This is the ideal climate for Kamut and the place to order is from www.montanaflour.com I haven't tried sprouting it yet, but the reviews of the quality from this company is extremely high. Just thought I'd throw that out there. I am looking forward to malting for my first time soon too. Thanks again!

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

I agree with you, and thanks for the link!

[@ElGatoLoco698]

You are the master malter! Mister Master Malter. How's that? I think I can see the sugar in that caramel malt. That looked goooood.

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

Ha ha I like it, ya once I ground it up the caramel smells really chocolaty

[@mrd3863]

I could watch this all day. Your videos are extremely informative. Always look forward to them

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

Thanks! from another Mr. D

[@DanABA]

Very interesting stuff, especially the fusarium mold. Neat to see that close up. When you say "cure", is that the same as "kiln"? Looking forward to the results in a beer. Cheers!

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

Thanks Dan, kilning usually refers to the drying stage but can be used to describe the whole kilning process. I think I accidentally said kilning in this video when I should have said curing. Curing refers to the final stage of kilning when the moisture is below 10% and the temperatures are much higher.

[@Dogface1984]

Just curious how they did caramel malts before tinfoil was invented

[@summerdude600]

My local Bulk store sells "Sprouted Spelt grain". Would I just need to roast/toast this for flavour and be able to use it for a mash?

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

I'm not sure how much they are sprouted or how long they have germinated for but I would say it's worth a try. You may not get the same efficiency as malt but you'll get something. I'd like to try this myself.

[@sandroshanidze6060]

Cool!! Were none of those hulled? Original varieties of Spelt wheat was hulled, wasn't it? =)

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

Yes, the husk has been mechanically removed, I added rice hulls to brew with it.

[@sandroshanidze6060]

So, it's not benefit then to take hulled wheat for malting? I consider growing a plot of endemic wheat species in Georgia and think whether hulled ones will have any point =D

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

I grew Einkorn once thinking the same thing, but when a grain has a somewhat loose husk it can create a lot of problems. The husk was not tight to the grain like barley, in fact some of the kernels fell out. Also, the husk itself was different than barley in that it did not seem to absorb water. It was more like a shell, it almost seemed waterproof. When I steeped it I could tell some of the grains were absorbing water through cracks in the husks, others were not. The result was that some oversteeped and some was understeeped. It also took on an algae like smell when germinating, I think due to the lack of a "breathable" husk. Water and air was getting trapped inside the shell like husk and probably encouraged bacteria to grow. I had to throw it out.

[@sandroshanidze6060]

Thank you for the thorough answer, you made me decide to grow free-thrashing varieties =D Love your channel, everything is so interesting and great!!

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

Thanks!

[@lmb275]

Just curious, if you don't recommend malting kamut, why are you malting it?

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

Never made it before, this was new to me

[@southernpoop]

Do you know if the mineral content of the steeping water has any effect on the speed or character of the how a grain is malted. As the Kamut is the largest seed and was the slowest I would hypothesize that the lower surface area to water contact is the factor. You mentioned temperature though. I'm not sure if that is the stronger determinate of rate of germinating or chitting. I ask because water mineral content is a factor in taste perception and yeast nutrition/food during fermentation.

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

Hi bennirubber, yes the higher the mineral content the slower the rate of absorption. Not sure how much of a detectable flavour difference there would be, might be an interesting experiment. The biggest factor in absorption rate is the temperature, the higher the temperature the faster the rate. The temperature during germination also determines the character of the malt, for example Munich malt is germinated at higher temperatures to promote the development of proteolytic enzymes.

[@southernpoop]

Have you ever experimented with purple barley? Apparently it's a 6 row variety and it doesn't impart a purple color to the beer so much. I got some from Annapolis seed and it's growing. Not as well as the pinnacle. I'm growing it near Auburn, NY. I plan on growing spelt and malting it and myself or sending some to Queen City Malting in Rochester if they want. I also planted some Ethiopian barley., it's a 2 row variety. Also sparse like the purple so far.

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

Very cool, no I haven't tried that yet, let me know how it turns out. I did try Einkorn last year which was a dismal failure due to it's husk which is semi-loose and not porous like barley so the absorption was very inconsistent. It ended up smelling like a fishtank, pretty nasty. I think I'll try the purple barley next year, I'm also trying to find some older Canadian varieties which apparently had a blue colour to them.

[@benjaminjanssen8762]

What about Buckwheat? Apparently it develops soil health all around. I have broadcast it on the remaining land I am experimenting with. I plan on planting different malt-able grains for brewing and baking with.

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

I've grown buckwheat before and it did well, I haven't malted with it yet , it's on the to-do list. I'm currently experimenting with Sorghum and Millet which are proving to be challenging, I'll do a post about it on my blog

[@BrewingBeerTheHardWay1]

Very interesting, the Skagit valley is only an hour and a half from where I live maybe I need to take a trip down there this summer for a video.

[@southernpoop]

Brewing Beer The Hard Way is there a better place to message you? I wanted to show you the Ethiopian and purple barley I'm growing. I should just voice over the video and post it. Also, I this is really cool. they're working on breeding and testing different varieties for flavor. www.sprowtlabs.com/harlan/