Add flour, yeast, water, barley malt syrup, and salt to mixture and stir with a dough hook until it forms a ball. If it is too sticky to the touch, add more flour, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until it is manageable. Once manageable, remove dough from bowl and place on floured surface.
Begin to knead by hand for 5 minutes until the dough is soft. You can also do this in the stand mixer but I like kneading by hand so I can tell when the texture is right. When finished, place ball of dough in a large, greased bowl. Cover with damp paper towel and let rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size. Make sure to place in a warm, draft-free spot. I like to place my dough in the microwave.
Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper. Once the dough has risen, punch dough down with your fist. Turn out dough onto floured surface. Cut dough into 12 even wedges. Take one wedge and begin rolling into a log. Gradually increase the length of the log until it's about 22 inches long. Then form strip into U. Twist the two ends at the top two times and then fold down to attach the ends to the bottom of the U, forming the pretzel. Press down dough to seal it into place. Place formed pretzel on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the other 11 strips of dough. Let pretzels rest for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare water bath for the pretzels. Place 8 cups of waters into a large sauce pan and heat to high. Once water is boiling, carefully add baking soda. Stir to help the soda dissolve. Once dissolved, reduce heat to medium.
Gently add pretzels to water. Add as many that will fit without crowding the pan. Boil for 30 seconds and then flip to other side to boil for another 30 seconds. Remove pretzels and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart from eachother, with only 6 pretzels per baking sheet. Sprinkle each pretzel with a little coarse sea salt.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes until deep golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.