Smoked malt for beer brewing

Hi Iron Mike,
I would wonder about the heat affecting the flavor of the grain, you could cold smoke the grain for the smoke flavor and adjust the heat to the grain for the grain flavors. Seems like some experimenting is in order and if I was closer to IL I would volunteer my services.lol.

Well Mike good to hear from another brew/smoker. I have in the past.
If you are using green malt, like in malt whiskey you can smoke it directly until dry. If you are using dried malt (which I assume you are) you need to soak the malt for about 15 minutes. Then you can smoke it till it is dry again. I took apart the screen from a large strainer to make a little screen that I could shake a bit ever 20 minutes or so to ensure complete drying and to make sure I was smoking and not toasting.
You will probably want to mellow the smoke flavour a bit by letting the malt sit for a week or two in a container. You of course will have to mill the grain before you start the brew process.
Your choice of wood for smoking will depend on what you are brewing up. If you want the tannins then oak is always a good choice. Fruit woods will complement an ale recipe. One of these days I am gonna try a black lambic using maple wood and maple syrup. I don't recommend green beechwood. I have never tried it but why would you want to brew a smoked Budweiser at home! Let me know how it goes.

Here is an inexpensive but very slick smokehouse you might want to invest in.
http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2008/01/building-cold-smoker-smokehouse.html

MAB52 said:

Here is an inexpensive but very slick smokehouse you might want to invest in.
http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2008/01/building-cold-smoker-smokehouse.html

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It was a fun build and works great for me too. :biggrin:

Thank you Mike!

I forgot to say... I've not cold smoked grain but with nuts, olives, seasonings etc., the lower the temperature and the longer the smoke...the better.
I usually cold smoke spices at 65 degrees for at least 6 hours. Then I store them in glass canning jars. Plastic bags would probably work.

Not long ago I smoked at a temperature of 110 with no problems. (it was hot outside! lol )

From the brewing forum I frequent, there was a lot of discussion about this subject with the conclusion being that smoking green malt was the only way to be genuine, but, since that is impractical, the soaking of dry, unground malt seemed to be the direction to go. I would think the maple idea would be great.

If anyone needs guinea pig, I'm game!!

landarc said:

From the brewing forum I frequent, there was a lot of discussion about this subject with the conclusion being that smoking green malt was the only way to be genuine, but, since that is impractical, the soaking of dry, unground malt seemed to be the direction to go. I would think the maple idea would be great.

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The biggest problem with green malt is the supply. You really have to have a local supplier or have several days free time to malt your own barley. I tried malting my own barley once and it was a very big disaster. The temperature control during germing process is critical and it is very difficult to ensure all the barley in the batch is at the proper sugar level. I am all for trying the process but be prepared to make several attempts at getting it right or to walk away very frustrated.

Iron Mike said:

Thanks for the input everybody.

I am inspired by cowgirls cold smoker, very cool (pun inadvertently intended). I have seen DIY instructions to build a cold smoker on other websites. I only have a mid-size yard so a full blown model like that is prohibitive but I am up for a downsized version.
Hmmm, I'll need ............

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Mike you can cold smoke using just about any smoker...just light 2-3 briqs and place a chunk of smokewood on top...the temps never get above 90 degrees. Also you might try smoking your grains a bit before steeping in the wort...(extract brewer here! )

Redheart,
I am not gonna try, I will just buy the smoked malts or peated malts from my LHBS. I am gonna try making a smoked porter this fall/winter. I am gonna have to brew soon, or I will run out of the homebrew soon. I am working on hauling a case of the rootbeer ale to Oinktobefest next month, that will drain me of everything but a half case of chocolate cream stout.

I have smoked grains many times. In fact, the only beer that I ever got qualified for the AHA national competition was a smoked porter.

It helps if you have a proper "smoke screen." For a bullet style smoker, go the crafts or fabric center and get a thing called an "embroidery hoop." An emroidery hoop consists of two concentric circular pieces that clamp together, I guess to hold a piece of cloth when you embroider. They come in different sizes. Get the size that will fit your smoker. Then go to the hardware store and buy some metal screening, like for putting in windows. (Don't get the plastic kind.) Then cut a piece to fit the hoop and clamp it in. Use some electrical tape to cover up the rough screen edges. The embroidery hoop was my wife's idea, and I used it for many years on my el cheapo Brinkman.

For my bandera style smoker, I built a square frame (out of wood) to fit the cooking grates, then stapled the screen to the frame. Use this mod screen side down so that the frame acts as a lip to keep the grain from falling off.

Either way, you can build multiple smoking screens and stack them up in your smoker to smoke a bunch of grain all at once.

I generally use malted 2-row barley or wheat malt, but I have also smoked crystal malt as well.

Spread dry grain in a single layer on your screen. Do not overfill your screen. No need to wet the grain, no need to stir it, no need to futz with it in any way. Use a wood chunk and just a handful of charcoal in your firebox/firepan, the smallest fire you can maintain. You want to keep the temps down because you do not want to roast the grain. Every half hour or so, add a few more lumps of charcoal. Add a wood chunk whenever you need to. I generally use hickory, but any type of proper bbq wood would do.

I generally smoke the grain for about three hours, but taste a kernel every hour or so to see how the smoke flavor is progressing.

To use, crush a pound or so of malted grain and put it right in your mash along with your other grains. If you are an extract brewer, crush the malt and soak it for about 45 minutes in hot water (150-160) and add the hot liquid to your brew pot. Rinse the grains a few times and add that liquid as well. If you are using smoked specialty grains, you can treat them like any other specialty grain.

I really like brewing smoked beers because they combine my two pashions: bbq and brewing.

By the way, these screens also work great for smoking nuts. Believe it or not, smoked shell-on pistachios are fantastic. Treat the nuts like grains (except don't add them to your brew pot:eusa_clap).

Good luck, and report your results back!

--frank in Wilson, NY