Homemade Crystal Malt (CaraPils)

ok ryan, that is just cool! i will be picking your brain someday about this!

I was a bit short on some ingredients and in particular some CaraPils. Well not planning a trip to a homebrew shop anytime too soon I decided to make my own. I started with some Belgium Pilsner malt and measured out about 2 lbs. I soaked it overnight in RO water (anything de-chlorinated would be fine). You basically are trying to rehydrate it to recreate the condition of green malt.

The next morning I drained off whatever water was not absorbed and put it in a cold oven and started heating to mash temp in a covered roasting pan. I started at 170 degree which was the lowest my oven would go and after about 2 hours the malt was barely over 100 degrees. I upped the temp to 225 and after about another hour of stirring every 20 minutes or so and testing the temps, my mash was at 150 degrees. I turned the oven back down to 170 and let the mash slowly rise to 155 over the next 1/2 hour and then turned the oven off. After another 1/2 hour the temp pretty much maintained 155 I remove the mash and added it to my dehydrator (at which point I realized it might be good to document and started taking pictures). The kernels were very sticky and sweet.



It took it a very long time in the dehydrator at about 160 degrees before it dried and was hard and crispy. In total it was probably about 18 hours. At that point the kernels were very crisp and crunchy when chewed. I ran a bit through my mill to see how well it converted. Basically I was looking for any white bits that didn't convert in my mash. I was pleasantly surprised to find very few. Brewed up an Irish Red with this and I believe it all worked very good. True test will be after it finishes fermenting and I can get a glimpse of what the finished product will taste like. Thanks, Ryan


Out of the Dehydrator


Some of the CaraPils run through the mill.