Smokin Barley in a Cardboard Box

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alelover

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
I'm planning on making a barley wine and I thought some smoked malt would be a fine addition to the massive flavor profile this beer will have. Found a nice thick cardboard box at work along with a cardboard tube from our last roll of giant saran wrap. First I got it sealed up real good. Had some aluminum tape leftover from when I got my AC installed 15 years ago.

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Sealed up and secured the smokestack.

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Built a little house for the HAAS to sit in.

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Lookin good. Needs some air inlets I think.

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That should help. 3 one inch wide openings.

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Time for a test smoke.

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Gotta make sure the smoke will flow and it doesn't catch fire.

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Went for a couple hours and nothing bad happened. Didn't hardly get warm. Now I need something to hold the grain.

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Found some wood and screen in the basement. It's about 13" x 14 " inside. Mounted on my racks with some tie wraps. And off to the box it goes.

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Get my Alder dust lit. The screen holds 1 pound of grain. Maris Otter of course. Alaskan Brewing uses Alder to smoke their grain, incidentally.

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We'll cover it up and see how it goes.

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Getting some good smoke. Hard to see in the pic.

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I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
Alright !!!

Some "BoozeView" for a change!

You could be the guy who always figures out how to make some good tasting drink in an Army outfit, or even in the old POW camps!

Bear
 
Man, thats an elaborate build for a temporary smoke rig! The barley smoke sounds interesting. Your box reminds me of Alton Brown's salmon smoke episode! Nice job! And I agree with Bear -- "BoozeView" sounds like a "refreshing" change!
 
Wow you must have a lot of time on your hands. I would have just stacked the grain over the top of the sawdust and thrown a burlap bag over. But then again i grew up in s.e. ak and we did not want to take to much time away from drinking our alder beer.

LMAO
 
In a couple weeks I'll brew with it. I'll document the process.
beercheer.gif
  It won't be temporary. It should last quite a while as long as it doesn't get wet. That alder dust has a real nice smell. Kind of a sweet smoke. Not strong and woody like hickory, oak and pecan and nothing like the BBQ smoke we're used to.  After I brought the grain in my kitchen it smelled wonderful all night long. It only took about 2 episodes of Law & Order:CI to build it.
police2.gif
 
In a couple weeks I'll brew with it. I'll document the process.
beercheer.gif
  It won't be temporary. It should last quite a while as long as it doesn't get wet. That alder dust has a real nice smell. Kind of a sweet smoke. Not strong and woody like hickory, oak and pecan and nothing like the BBQ smoke we're used to.  After I brought the grain in my kitchen it smelled wonderful all night long. It only took about 2 episodes of Law & Order:CI to build it.
police2.gif
I know this is an old thread but I have a couple of questions.

How long did you smoke the grain and how did the beer turn out?
 
I have 4 lbs of 2-row I oak smoked a month ago. Vacuum bagged it till I figure out what to make. Just got a couple new Chugger pumps to upgrade my brew system, and switch to electric this summer! Entering my year old smoked porter in the Ohio State Fair next month, wish me luck!
 
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