Malting/roasting Grain

[Norsman]

Hey Guys, I was curious if any of you create your own malt?
I recently moved AND my former stalwart LHBS decided to get out of the homebrew supply business and focus on Microbrewery type stuff. This has left me with very few malt options.
I recently tried creating my own Munich malt from pale 2 row as per the directions found [topic="0"]http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Methods/Sanders/roasting.shtml[/topic]

I was impressed with the turnout.
It looks like, smells like, and tastes like Munich, but I have never brewed with my own homemade malt before. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions to make?

Advice is much appreciated.

 

[buttersd70]

Yep, I do it fairly often. I use a slightly different method, which is to start low (90C 1hr), then ramp the temperature up gradually to preserve the enzyme and prevent scorching. But the temps end up roughly the same, (to what is in this article) I just move up to it more slowly. 90C 1hr, 110C 30min, 120 30min for dark munich. Excellent results, and have used it up to 45% of total grain bill. I read in another article that even better result comes from dampening the grain very slightly beforehand, to promote some caramilisation on the surface. I did this with my last case swap beer, and imho it was too much...but everyone else seemed to like it. Comments were along the lines of it being heavily malt driven....and that was a mild with an OG of 1035. Certainly no lack of malt flavour.

I will continue to roast my own instead of buying munich, unless the quantities required become unmanagable.

Oh, and even though I had 45% of oven roasted grain in my case swap, I had no change of efficiency for the same recipe compared to 'real' munich.

 

[rangaz]

Sorry to resurrect such an old post but I've been seaching everywhere and can find answers.
I'm trying to make some munich malt from pale malt. So far I've tried baking at 105C for 2 hours but it tasted more like biscuit malt than the sample of munich I had to compare it to. I'm thinking soak the grain first then put it in the oven and slowly ramp up the temp?
Has the site in the link been moved or does it no longer exist?

 

[Silo Ted]

A lot of it is trial and error. Information on creating spec. malt from an already malted base is possible, but a lot depends on your oven, and how it holds temperature. There are also some tricks, like spray wetting the grains if the end style requires. At the end of the day, its easier and cheaper to buy the spec grains.

If however you are thinking of 'malting' your grain from scratch, that's a whole other story.

 

[sid]

Sorry to resurrect such an old post but I've been seaching everywhere and can find answers.
I'm trying to make some munich malt from pale malt. So far I've tried baking at 105C for 2 hours but it tasted more like biscuit malt than the sample of munich I had to compare it to. I'm thinking soak the grain first then put it in the oven and slowly ramp up the temp?
Has the site in the link been moved or does it no longer exist?

yeh I have some to do this week, just like silo ted said, it's all trial and error, I tried making chocolate a while back but couldn't get the colour that the bought grain had, had the taste.
your lighter grains are easier to get.............well with my old oven anyway, I done a good vienna in the oven............spraying it with water I think puts a crystal coating on the the grain and can stop it from burning I think
I did have a link for times and temps but it's down at the moment, if it comes back online I'll post it for you.