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ITC-308S with Removable NTC Sensor for me. The smaller probe will fit my thermowell.

Yeah, this will be my first go at a crystal malt. Roasted malts are fairly straight forward in the air frier, with the exception of the very dark malts which require greater temps and/or extra care to not catch fire. Most of what I've made so far has been done at 180°C for an hour and smells...

So, kilning is now complete and after resting for a few weeks will be good to use. To summarise, my steps were... Step 1 - Washing the grain Step 2 - Steeping 13.5hr, rest 9hr, steep 14hr, rest 9-10hr, steep 6hr Step 3 - Begin germination once rootlets (not chits) appear Step 4 - Continue...

Thanks Mark. My family are wheat farmers, but malting wheat was never thought about. Even the barley we grew was only for feed. Low protein wheat was also often sold for feed as high protein was target for the highest grade (prime hard) because it makes better noodles. Was just curious what...

Kilning continues. Its all had an hour at 65°C, now for 2 hours at 85°C. I should get it all finished tomorrow night, then it can rest for a few weeks. @MHB Do you know of a malting wheat grain specification? I've looked around but can't find anything.

That would work great! Couldn't complain about not enough air with that! I too have been thinking about my drying and kilning. I have a number of drying ovens at work (each up to 6m3) which would be ideal but I can't take my grain in to dry as they're set to 105°C. But there are a couple old...

So, the grain is dry and the kilning begins. This step is a bit tedious as the air frier can only fit 1.5kg. The temp control is also very touchy below 110°C, but I fiddle with it on the first batch to get the temp right. Normally I go straight to 85°C for 2 hours, but I'm adding in a 1hr 65°C...

55 stubbies. The last homebrew I saw at this stage was a kit brew my father did back in the 80s and there were plenty of explosions. We'll see how my priming went. I added 90g of raw sugar to the bottling bucket.

That looks awesome! Is that an air frier you've mounted on the door?

Had another look at the grain and there are some sprouting already, so I've gone ahead and started the drying phase. I have this box, with a couple computer fans on a dimmer and a couple baffles to direct the air evenly up through the basket. The basket is fully sealed so the air can only go...

I had planned to repurpose a 200L drum with sprayers on a fixed axle that the drum would rotate around. It would be used for everything from steeping to drying. Only if I could make it entirely out of steel would I look at kilning in it, but my air fryer does an OK job of small batches...

Thanks Mark, that's exactly the type of feedback I need. Temperature control is definitely on my to-do list. I just need to figure out how to get air moving through the grain without drying it out. This malting is also the first time I have done it when the weather has been warmer. Temp control...

The importance of turning and not having the bed too thick was evident this morning. Despite an ambient temp of 13°C, the middle of the bed was 26°C. Also checked the acrospire length today and its not far off. With the grain I'm using I can actually see the acrospire under the husk, but I...

More germination today. Still only turning twice a day, but may have to do it more often once the rootlets get a bit longer to prevent matting.

What?!?

Germination continues with the rootlets growing some more. Gave the grain a spray from a bottle to moisten while turning it over by hand. Grain temp sitting at 20.1°C.

What I'm using now costs $12/20kg, but could be had cheaper if bought directly from a farmer. Current port prices are around $220-$260 per tonne. Oddly, malt barley is selling for pretty much the same price, probably due to the China situation.

Had a 6 hour soak yesterday evening, then another 8hr rest overnight. The rootlets are starting to emerge, and this is where I've been stopping the steep/rest and begin the germination phase. I germinate the grain in the basket sitting in the tub to allow some air flow through the grain so it...

So, not much more to report today. Chits are similar this morning, so it's soaking for another 6 hours. Will strain the grains before bed and rest over night.

I've had a few people tell me that, which I find weird given the hobby of the people saying it. I guess it's like people who love cooking, but would rather use packet pasta instead of making it yourself. The 5-10 minutes per day it requires isn't that much of an imposition and I enjoy the...