Craft Malt

The fully-insulated, 100% stainless steel Malting Vessel can process between 1 and 4-tons of raw grain and includes the agitator, unloading doors/manways, wedgwire false-floor, plenum chamber, aeration nozzles, instrumentation and cleaning devices. These features provide a robust and clean environment in which to facilitate all phases of the malting process.

The fully-insulated, 100% stainless steel Malting Vessel includes loading & unloading doors, wedgwire false-floor, plenum chamber and aeration nozzles. These features provide a robust and clean environment in which to facilitate all phases of the malting process.

At the core of the AutoMalt™ is a patent pending agitation system responsible for one of the most critical (and toughest) jobs within the system - Gently turning the grain during processing while improving air flow and maintaining even humidity and temperature distribution.

IPEC Craft Malting Systems use industrial-grade blowers to push conditioned air through the grain bed during various process steps. Each fan is conservatively sized based on the batch volume, grain depth and customer location (elevation) to ensure proper capacity. Variable speed drives are included to enable precise control of air flow during low flow (germination) and high flow (kilning) phases.

Process air is heated using an efficient, indirect-fired furnace which may be configured for natural gas or propane. Each heating system can be designed to provide proper heating during Free-Dry, Force Day and Curing without recycling humid off-air, based on the customer's location and seasonal outdoor temperatures. Steam heat exchangers are also available if your facility includes a boiler system.

Process air is heated using an electric element which provides precise control using the Operator-defined set point and PID controller. Standard sizing is sufficient for most applications, but capacity can be adjusted to suit specific requests.

A process water cooler is included for use in lowering steep water temperature as the vessel is filled. This heat exchanger uses the same chilled media as the process air cooler and can be manually adjusted as needed for seasonal variations in water or grain temperature. Alternatively, a process water heater can be included if winter water temperatures result in sub-optimal steeping conditions.

The stainless steel Misting Chamber humidifies process air using atomizing spray nozzles. Multiple zones & nozzles are included to allow for flow rate adjustments based on variable seasonal/ambient conditions. This ensures effective humidification without excessive water waste.

With purchase of the optional CIP Cart, Malting Vessels & Kilns can automatically and consistently be cleaned-in-place using the integral spray devices, further minimizing downtime between batches with a configurable recipe, heated detergents, and flow monitoring.

The innovative mixer design also dispenses cured malt from the Vessel through the unloading door and into your grain handing system where it can be further processed (de-culmed, roasted, bagged) before sale.

The system can automatically direct water and floating debris through an overflow weir during each wet steep filling process to reduce or eliminate manual efforts to skim "floaters" from the desirable grain. This function can be enabled and adjusted for durations based on grain quality and pre-batch washing/seed cleaning efforts to limit water waste.

The MiniMalt™ includes a vessel spray ring and nozzles designed to direct water and floating debris through an overflow weir during each wet steep filling process to reduce or eliminate manual efforts to skim "floaters" from the desirable grain.

Affordable, yet helpful controls make the malting process easier to master. This includes timers for aeration and CO2 extraction, an adjustable blower speed dial and PID temperature controllers for heating and cooling sequences. Additionally, there are multiple safety interlocks to prevent certain activations from occurring at the same time (i.e. the blower and heater may not operate when the tank is full of water). An optional PLC and touchscreen are available for full automation, recipe management and remote access capabilities.

Optional load cells may be installed on the tank legs for use in confirming grain weight, if loading from a bulk storage system.

If your facility includes both plant hot and cold water supplies, a blending valve and additional probe can be integrated to facilitate precise temperature control when filling the vessel during each wet steep. This can be very useful to overcome issues associated with seasonal variations in water and grain temperatures, depending on the water source and location of raw grain storage.

Several ports attached to the tank bottom facilitate easy process control when moving through the various steps required for proper steeping, A stainless steel, cylindrical wedgewire screen allows steep water to be released through a drain port while preventing the escape of grain. A second, isolated port on this drain line is connected to the included industrial blower to provide the air flow required for heat and CO2 extraction from the grain during air rest. A liquid-tight knife gate or butterfly valve is installed on the main cone outlet for use in cast-out upon completion of the steeping process.