Beer from Scratch--On Going Saga

Last week I did a little presentation on this site about the preparation of barley in anticipation of making the notorious elixir, beer. I made mention that farmer Bud provided the barley of an unknown variety (yes, brewing affectionatoes want "special" barley) and I then cleaned it using my handy-dandy, antiquated fanning mill. I have to admit, this seemed really cool as the 120 year old hand-cranked machine worked like it was new. Plus it was aesthetic, I mean, like it was a piece of art work. I noticed the YouTube video had 17 views---right up there with Brittany.

From there, the next, and logical, step is to malt the barley, all of which can be done in the kitchen, maybe with a small mess but still done. The first step was to soak 10 pounds of the grain in water for a couple of hours thus setting it up to start sprouting. Actually the idea is to soak it in water then remove it and allow it to sit in the open air, still damp but able to breath. This was done a couple of times. This also removes more undesirable stuff like goat urine and malathion. (Notice color)

After the grain has started to sprout, it is placed in pans and allowed to develop to a point where the little roots are half inch long and the new stem is about 1/4 of an inch. Takes about 2-3 days. All of this went well and the little suckers seemed to be content and making sugar out of the starch. That sugar is what will be turned to alcohol (ethanol). I held the temperature at 64 and did give them an occasional spray job.

Once the sprouting was done, the entire batch was heated, dried and basically killed, all for the purpose of capturing the sugar. I could hear the little jaspers screaming but death for humans gain is God's way. If a darker beer is wanted, the grain is roasted in the oven at say 250 degrees. ( I just remember the oven was on at 275 degrees!) All of this has gone well and with a minimal mess, but I do see random grains sorta floating about due to some clumsiness and inadequate facilities. This ain't exactly no stinking brewery but come the revolution this is the way it will have to be made---and I ain't going without beer. If there is no revolution, then I am still having fun and the beer can be used to celebrate. Most likely outcome as I am getting old.

Today I picked the hops a Tony's place to the tune of about 2 pounds. These were processed in two ways. One was to freeze the little suckers in a vacuum bag and the other is to dry them in the food dryer and then they can be stored in baggies. The hops are an interesting plant and the flowers, as pictured, are green. They are filled with resin that has some preservative qualities but most noticeably, have that great smell of beer and brewing. They are unique, sticky, and not real easy to pick---involves a ladder and the chance to fall on ones ass.

The point of all this is to demonstrate that beer can be made right here in my kitchen with stuff I gather within 5 miles. To top it off, I am predicting it will be a deluxe beer with more than pleasant demeanor. So there.