DIY Smoked Malt

Yes. I did it with some peat that I ordered online. Basically I cut wood 2x2's to fit tight into my smoker and stapled screen to it. The only way for the smoke to get out was through it. I put a few pounds of grain in, misted a bit with water to get it damp, and heavily smoked it(cool though, less than 120F) for about a half hour. That was used in a beer that was so smokey it tasted like it came from Isla!

 

If you are able to smoke it yourself it is supposed to be better than buying it. The smoke degrades over time as the malt sits so unless you know the smoke malt came from the producer super fresh to the LHBS, it can be a crap shoot. Just don't smoke it Friday night and brew Saturday morning with it. From what I've seen, you should smoke it 2-3 weeks before you brew and let it age just a little to smooth out the flavors, then brew. (I've never actually done it, nor brewed a smoked beer, but did research on it for doing a smoked lager at some point).

 

I have been smoking my own malts for years. Should be info on the web. Cold is better. Pilsner and 2 row are both fine for smoking.

Any fruit or nut tree is a good choice.

 

I've brewed two beers that had applewood smoked malt in it that a friend smoked for me. The first time the malt sat for a couple of weeks. The second time it went in the beer the next day. While the second was smokier, I wanted it to be. It was just fine. But it was a Smoked Rye IPA so it had other things in it to balance the smoke. It might be different with a lager.

 

Some really great stuff here: http://www.amazon.com/Smoked-Beers-History-Brewing-Techniques/dp/0937381764/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398986098&sr=8-1&keywords=smoked beers

You'll want a very cool fire. If you can get pellets, do that. If not, try to keep your heat below 200 and don't expect the diastatic power to hold up on the grain.

Smoke sticks to moisture on the grain and less to the grain itself. Spray bottles or soaking the grains will help you increase the smoke flavor.

Smoked flavor deteriorates by ~10% per year. Make enough for several batches so you get a feel for how much you should add to each batch.

I made a doppelbock last September with 4 pounds of heavily smoked apple malt. The malt was about 2 years old and it still had a lot of smoke to it. It came out delicious.

The malt needs at least a few days air out after you make smoked malt. If you use it right away it's supposed to be very (astringent?) I'm sure I'll get dinged on that one. It's unpleasant and harsh. Let it sit in a brown paper bag or open so you can stir it every couple of days.

 

I use buckets pretty exclusively. I was kind of surprised that it WASN'T an issue after a soak in Oxyclean.

 

Use a mild wood like pecan or apple. Hickory, mesquite and oak have their place in barbeque but not so much in beer. I brewed the same recipe with homesmoked malt, as close to equal smoked as possible, using pecan and apple wood. My friends preferred the pecan almost unanimously but I think I like the apple better. There's a specialty beer calling for wheat smoked with oak(can't remember the name) but generally oak, mesquite and hickory are pretty harsh.

 

Oak actually makes for a fairly smooth smoke, especially if the smoked grain is used in small quantity. It isn't as smooth as beechwood but few woods are.

Same goes for mesquite. So long as you use the smoked grain at a reasonable volume you can capture the tangy smoke character without getting any harshness. I would assume the same goes for hickory.

 

Grodziskie, also known as Graetzer, is made with 100% oak smoked wheat malt. I made one that I liked. All of the malt was home smoked, as this was before the Weyermann oak smoked wheat malt was available.

To add to the wood discussion, I am very fond of pear wood for smoking the malt. I guy I know in FL made an outstanding smoked Porter using beechwood and citrus wood smoked malts.

Smoking with different woods is another variable you can play with.

 

I recently acquired my first pecan wood (pellets) and have only used them once. I used them when grilling some chicken and I couldn't really pinpoint what made the flavor any different than pear, cherry, or apple. There was definitely something kind of mild and (fruity?) about it. I'll admit that my palate isn't the greatest, but I should be getting something different here.

 

I used Alder on both my smoked 2-row brews, a Stout and an IPA, loved them both.
Simple Little Chief smoker I use for fish with the top cranked off a bit to keep it cooler. Didn't really matter as the 1 lb of 2-row I used did not have to convert much, just add flavor.

 

I made something similar to this – it works pretty good. I used a hot plate I already had, so it was a cheap build.
http://www.cruftbox.com/cruft/docs/elecsmoker.html

 

I'm thinking of trying this sometime soon in my meat smoker with a screen. How long did you smoke your malt for? I plan on doing an oak smoke with 2 lbs Weyermann pale wheat to use in a Weizenbock. Trying to think of the best 'cold weather' beer and something like this came to mind.

 

I had the best results from making the smoked malt as strong as possible. For the strongest flavor, I've had a lot of luck soaking the grains, (in as little water as possible), for about 5 min before they hit the grill. I made sure I had enough malt for at least 2 batches, so that I can see how strong the smoke flavor is and then act accordingly. Don't be afraid to throw a few pounds of grain on your screen beforehand to see how cumbersome they are. I've used a deep dish aluminum lasagna pan before. It's a little inconsistent, but a lot of stirring and a mash later, nobody knows the difference.

There can't be any chlorine or chloramines in any of this process. Not in the water you soak your grains in, not in the spray bottle that you spray the grains with every 20-30 minutes. The band aid effect is in full swing when you're working with smoked malts. You'll want to stir the grains occasionally too. Diastatic Power might not be an issue with a wheat beer, but keep it in mind and make sure you can hit full conversion with and without the smoked malt. If you're using charcoal and oak chips, you might be getting pretty hot for this process. Not a bad thing in my experience, but I've moved to cold smoking with the best of luck. Chips in an aluminum satchel soaked in water works well. The same as you'd grill with. PM me if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Let the grains air out and dry after smoking them. The grains can go in an oven after the grill if you need help. I totally saturated my last batch of alder grains. They needed stirring in an oven for 30-35 min on a low heat with the door cracked. I had great luck with this batch too.

I typically go from the oven into my brewing kettle with the grains. They air out for several days and I stir them in a yeast starter fashion of whenever I walk past them, or think to do so. They make the house smell ridiculously good too.

I've talked too much. I said all that to say this:

If you're any good at smoking food, you'll do well here. Keep it cool, keep chlorine out of the mix, and don't expect much out of the DP from the grain. Let the grain rest for a few weeks before you use them. I've heard if you don't that they can taste acrid.

As for your original question, it doesn't matter how long you smoke them, just expect a lighter flavor when you don't smoke as long and act accordingly. I've heard of people using 100% cherry Weyermann in Rauchbiers because the cherry flavor is pretty mild. My homemade stuff usually stays in for 60- 90 minutes and comes out pretty potent. You can get a good idea by tasting it right off the grill.

Also, if you have any free space on the grill make sure you have some shelled hard boiled eggs and an aluminum pan of salt. Make it worth your time.

 

I've used hickory to smoke my own malt before. The resulting beer turned out great.

I've had grodzisky (oak-smoked wheat from Yards Brewing) before and loved it, while Heller's (Schlenkerla) oak-smoked rauchbier did nothing for me.

All told? I'm still partial to beechwood smoke, myself.