Considering 1st Ag

[Anofre]

Hi all,
1st time poster, long time lurker.

I am a kit brewer from way back and thinking of trying something different...

Few questions:

1. I have gone through the "A Basic Guide to Brew in a Bag (BIAB) using an Urn" guide. I get the impression that this is the simplest way to make the jump.
My urn is a 100L+ dairy urn, is this still appropriate? I have a couple.
If one had access to more/larger boilers would there be a better process?

2. I am a Barley grower, which is probably why I havn't considered this before. I cant fathom going out of my way (I am rural) buying back Barley from a brewshop at a price so much higher...
I have always assumed that the process of preparing/roasting/malting is precision stuff... Is that the case?
Can you use raw Barley in BIAG? Is it easy to/does anyone roast their own Barley? If one was to start raw, is BIAG appropriate, or is there a better method?

Any thoughts/comments/links are appreciated. Im not too savvy with this interweb, so I appologise if I am asking what is easily available.

Cheers

 

[bugmans]

this may help http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/44-...e-your-own-malt

 

[marksfish]

whilst you can use a small amount of raw/roasted barley in a brew the majority of the grain should be malted ie germinated then stopped by drying to have the barley produce the enzymes needed to turn the starches to sugar which the yeast convert to alcohol.

 

[bum]

2. I am a Barley grower, which is probably why I havn't considered this before. I cant fathom going out of my way (I am rural) buying back Barley from a brewshop at a price so much higher...

I can't help with the BIAB urn size issues or the malting questions as I've never done either but I do have a comment on the above. You're essentially doing the same thing when you're buying kits or malt extracts - except you're paying even more for a lower quality ingredient. If the idea of buying the grain back is a major hurdle then I'd say put it aside and go for it! Once you're drinking your own AG beers you'll forget about the small premium you're paying for malted grain.

 

[Greg Lawrence]

How much (per kilo) does the farmer get for the barley?

 

[Anofre]

About $400 per ton. If it qualifies for malt u get more, if it doesnt you get less & it is used for cattle feed...
Anyone reckon there is a market for mail order; raw barley, from a single plot (not blended) & no pesticides etc?

 

[matt white]

Probably not, unless you can sell direct to malters.

Either way, go AG. There really is no looking back. You will reward yourself for making the switch with high quality amber nectar whenever you please.

 

[Anofre]

this may help http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/44-...e-your-own-malt

Thanks 4 the link. I'll b saving that.
Seems like it mite be hard to get a consistant outcome with home gear... I guess premalted from brewshop would b wise to get technique up 2 speed 1st?

 

[Yeastie Beastie]

Same thing mate, we have about 400 ton of barley in silos at work and I already do AG, live in rural Vic (Charlton) and have considered the same thing....I wonder if I can use that barley?
Best get it from the brew shop mate.

YB

 

[bjay]

Yeah but how good would it be if you have grown the barley then malted it yourself then brewed with it then drunk it
like you said maybe perfect your technique first with grains from the brew shop
Then give it a go, I would

cheers
bjay

 

[manticle]

Some people have experimented with malting their own barley. It's not impossible so definitely look into it.

However don't let that stop you brewing good beer while you find out about it. To make beer you need sugar (usually maltose) so unmalted barley will only get you so far. Maybe you could trade with a maltser? Some malted back in return for a lower price for the raw?

Anyway research how to malt but in the meantime get stuck into making some beer. As Bum says, with the the kits, you are just buying back your own product but further down the production line.

 

[seravitae]

mate with that much barley around it would do you good to malt your own. It's not hard, and there's an awesome malt dryer prep using a side-loading clothes dryer on the forum which would work well for bulk amounts of grain.

 

[Anofre]

Ive always had this idea to grow some hops also & make brew which is 100% hand made & grown...
But for me, ultimately it comes down to time & cost.
I major reason I brew to save $, and Ive gotten the whole can process down to a pretty quick turnaround.
A good can + temp control + age = a decent beer equal to commercial
So even if the extra cost of going grain is worth the quality, if it takes a day in labour + utilities, I dont see it being a regular thing...
How do other people here go as far as time into AG?
I already get grief from my mrs for the amount of time i spend in the brewshed!

 

[bum]

I already get grief from my mrs for the amount of time i spend in the brewshed!

Don't worry.

She'll soon add the time you spend here to the list. h34r:

 

[manticle]

Ive always had this idea to grow some hops also & make brew which is 100% hand made & grown...
But for me, ultimately it comes down to time & cost.
I major reason I brew to save $, and Ive gotten the whole can process down to a pretty quick turnaround.
A good can + temp control + age = a decent beer equal to commercial
So even if the extra cost of going grain is worth the quality, if it takes a day in labour + utilities, I dont see it being a regular thing...
How do other people here go as far as time into AG?
I already get grief from my mrs for the amount of time i spend in the brewshed!

Different perspectives. You can knock out an AG brew in under 4 hours but for me it's about much more than just saving money (and I have none). It is much cheaper than commercial beer of similar type and that's great but I enjoy creating things from scratch. I'm happy to make a good beef stock over 24 hours rather than buy Campbells or use a cube. I'm also happy to make my own beer.

I'm sure malting barley will take far longer than brewing with it. Hell, in the time it takes you to plant, grow and harvest a crop, you could probably make enough beer to last you for a year.