Odd and Ancient grains

[jjs]

I would like to make a beer with some odd and ancient grains. Spelt, Amarayth, quinoa, buckwheat etc. Is it best to mash them? Sence they are not modiefied, how do they convert?

Thanks

[Bainbridge]

But you'll also probably need to do a cereal mash on them to gelatinize the starches in these raw grains. I made some gluten-free beer a few years ago using some of those malts. As I remember, many of these have gel temps higher than normal mash temps. See e.g http://hbd.org/clubs/cascade/public_...rewing/gel.jpg And bear in mind that once cooked they can turn in to solid blocks of goo if you let them cool and retrogradation sets in. I have heard adding some milled malt into the cereal mash will help prevent this, though I haven't tried it m'self. Making it gluten free I couldn't do that, so it turned into a horrible, peanut-buttery brick.

[jjs]

Sounds Good. I have never done a cereal mash. How long and at what temp do you cook it? I expect it’s grain dependent. I'm going for a throw-back herbed ale on a Scotch ale foundation. So oats, rye, spelt and Kasha. However, I want to collaborate with a baker and use some of the former grains in a new batch another day. My plan is to mash all these grains separately with some 2 row, batch sparge it and add the extract to a separate run-off, boil, herb and pitch.

[nohandslance]

Emmer Farrow Wheat

In Washington, Bluebird Farms grows an heirloom grain called Emmer wheat, one of the ancient Egyptian grains. We malted 1500# for a beer made for a Egyptian art exhibit. I am working with Teff now, lots of potential for these heirloom grains.

Good luck with your brew.

Lance Jergensen
Rebel Malting Co.Reno, Nevada USA
ljergensen@rebelmalting.com
775.997.6411