Smoking malt at home

[fbslim201]

I’ve got an electric smoker at home, and would like to smoke a portion of the grain bill for an imperial stout. Just had a few logistical questions:

Am I better off smoking base malts vs. the specialty malts?

What types of wood do you think work best?

Can I just spread the malt on a cookie sheet?

How long do I need to smoke them?

I appreciate any input

 

[SirDickButts]

I’ve got an electric smoker at home, and would like to smoke a portion of the grain bill for an imperial stout. Just had a few logistical questions:

Am I better off smoking base malts vs. the specialty malts?

What types of wood do you think work best?

Can I just spread the malt on a cookie sheet?

How long do I need to smoke them?

I appreciate any input

indirect heat on grill. 30-45mins. base malt, not milled. spray distilled water on malt for the smoke to stick to the grains. pecan wood works great on smoked malts from my experience.

 

[reverseapachemaster1]

I've always done it in my smoker with either base malt or unmalted grains. Agree on spraying with water. I let it go 1-2 hours depending upon how much smoke is in the smoker. Spread it out as much as you can and stir if you have too deep of a bed of grain. Surface contact with the smoke is what gets you the flavor. It needs to rest for a few days to mellow out.

I don't have any experience with using an electric smoker but I would try to get as much wet wood as possible in there and set the temperature for as low as you can that will make the wood smoke.

Basically any meat smoking wood is fair game but adjust your use according to the aggressiveness of the wood flavor. Oak is nice and mellow but noticeable. Nut woods are usually the same. Most fruit woods tend to produce soft flavors. More aggressive flavors like mesquite work as well.

Mesquite is probably my favorite but it's tough because the wood burns so hot it really needs a regular feed of small amounts of very wet wood to keep the fire cool and smoky. Maybe an easier issue with your electric smoker. I tend to only go 10-20% mesquite smoked grain in a malt bill because it's so aggressive.

 

[sherm10161]

indirect heat on grill. 30-45mins. base malt, not milled. spray distilled water on malt for the smoke to stick to the grains. pecan wood works great on smoked malts from my experience.

Thought you had skedaddled. Welcome back!

 

[fbslim201]

Thanks for the ideas! I have some pecan and some maple chips. I’ll likely make a tray of tinfoil with some small holes and spread the grain thinly across 4 racks. A little smoke can go a long way with a lot of things. Thanks for the pro tip on spraying with distilled water. It’s unlikely I’ll taste this beer until October, but I’ll let you know how it turns out

 

[rcubed1]

I definitely want to try this at some point with different types of fruit wood (citrus, mango, stone fruits, etc.). Could be interesting in simple styles that are a bit more malt forward.

 

[BadJustin]

read this as "Smoking meth at home"


Carry on.

 

[tikk]

Iso either home smoked malt beers or home cooked meth.