Today in 1981, US Patent 4277505 A was issued, an invention of Simon B. Simpson, for his “Process for the Malting of Grain.” Here’s the Abstract:

Germination of cereal grain in malting is carried out by passing steeped grain to and through a series of six closed spaced discrete vessels in succession. The grain is maintained in each vessel for about a day and in each vessel is subjected to an upward flow of humidified at temperated air. The grain is turned either in a vessel or through transference to the next vessel. Transference from one vessel to the other is carried out by discharging the grain from each vessel along a lower conveyor to an elevator which raises the grain to an upper conveyor that discharges the grain down into the next vessel. Grain leaves the last vessel of the series as green malt and then passes to a malt kiln where it is dried to a desired moisture level.