In theory, you could purchase barley sprouts, dry and mill them. I do not see barley sprouts around here. And, you want to dry and mill soon after they sprout. The folks that watch their barley sprouts that closely, are folks making malt.
I have made my own malt, but I find it easier to just buy at the local health foods store.
Also, you may find that grain mixes containing rye, spelt, or barley, do not need malt. And, some sourdough cultures are not fussy about malt.
That said, I put malt in all the grain mixes that I grind.
That's the basic procedure, but the temperature at which it is kilned to dry it is critical: too high, and you destroy the enzyme that convert starches to sugars, giving it its diastatic power.
Why would you want to malt your own grain? Any home brewer supply store has diastatic malt: pretty much any pale barley or rye malt, or malt intended for pilsners will likely have the diastatic power you need. The retailer should have those specs available, and if they don't, the malt house that malted it should be able to tell you (at least in the ball park: it will vary from batch to batch).
Malt is pretty cheap, too, about $2.00 USD per pound.
Here's Northern Brewer's list of the malts they carry, with each malt's diastatic power expressed in degree Linter (higher is better).
In theory, you could purchase barley sprouts, dry and mill them. I do not see barley sprouts around here. And, you want to dry and mill soon after they sprout. The folks that watch their barley sprouts that closely, are folks making malt.
I have made my own malt, but I find it easier to just buy at the local health foods store.
Also, you may find that grain mixes containing rye, spelt, or barley, do not need malt. And, some sourdough cultures are not fussy about malt.
That said, I put malt in all the grain mixes that I grind.
This is an old post, but . . .
That's the basic procedure, but the temperature at which it is kilned to dry it is critical: too high, and you destroy the enzyme that convert starches to sugars, giving it its diastatic power.
Why would you want to malt your own grain? Any home brewer supply store has diastatic malt: pretty much any pale barley or rye malt, or malt intended for pilsners will likely have the diastatic power you need. The retailer should have those specs available, and if they don't, the malt house that malted it should be able to tell you (at least in the ball park: it will vary from batch to batch).
Malt is pretty cheap, too, about $2.00 USD per pound.
Here's Northern Brewer's list of the malts they carry, with each malt's diastatic power expressed in degree Linter (higher is better).
https://www.northernbrewer.com/blogs/beer-recipes-ingredients/grain-guide
Any of these would do just fine.