European Malt terminology ?'s

Ok,

I am looking into getting some BestMalz, probably Pilsen Malt and some Thomas-Fawcett Optic malt (I am guessing this is one of their Pale Malt offerings). In trying to figure out how to relate the Kolbach index to the Lintner scale. But according to this:

"European terminology. The EBC unit of measurement for diastatic power is °WK (Windisch-Kolbach units). The value of °WK can be converted to °Lintner by the formula DP °Lintner = (°WK + 16) / 3.5." ( Formula)

and from the BestMalz site for Pilsen malt:

BM Specs

WK=38 ==> (38+16)/3.5 = 15.4???

and the Thomas-Fawcett site:

T-F Specs

I can't make head nor tails out of it. Can anyone help?

I am beginning to wonder if it shouldn't be 380 WK°? that would be equivalent to 113 Lintner °, which would seem to make more sense. Anyone using BestMalz Pilsen that can confirm?

It me again, Dr Malt.

The problem is that good old BestMalz is not your Best friend and they are not sharing in there analyses the DP levels. For what reason, I do not know. If they want to sell malt, they should give you a complete analyses, not selected bits of information. What you are looking at in there analyses is the Kolbach Index not the Windisch-Kolbach units for DP. The EBC Kolbach Index is a measure of the ratio of total protein to soluble protein or in domestic malt, the S/T. I guess you are suppose to assume their malt has sufficient DP and alpha-amylase levels for conversion, which they should have with an EBC color of 2.8 (translates to a 1.0 -1.1 L).

An S/T of 38 is on the low side as most base malts (USA) run 40 - 44. Thus, I would suspect their enzyme levels in their Pilsen malt is more like 115 -130 versus domestic 2 row of 130 - 160. This should be sufficient DP for your brew.

I hope this helps.

Dr Malt

Cool, thx Dr. Malt. You are my official new hero

I was wondering if there was a different terminology being thrown in there . Any ideas on the Thomas Fawcett? I am shooting to get some good base malts that I use regularly that can support a good deal of specialty malts.

The Thomas Fawcett analyses are as confusing as the Bestmalz data without conversion formulas. However, I know that TF malts are good malts for making British style ales. Crisp malts are also good particularly their Maris Otter malt. I have used it in several of my ales. Weyermann's (German) malts are of high quality and are great for german style beers. I say go for it. The fun of homebrewing is experimenting!!

Dr Malt

I'm not sure about the Math, not sure why you need it. (KISS)

But TF malts are superb the Optic is a pale, it has more Aroma than most of the other pale base malts. I've only brewed with it once but it made a great ESB. They are a big supplier to a lot of the UK's crafter breweries and a lot of the home brew distributors in the UK and do a lot of exporting. I use thier Maris as my stock base and get it for £20 for 25kg. ( $40 for 50lb. )

Lol, thanks guys. Yeah I am trying to keep it simple :fro: I just love the details though. I guess my last experience gave me a little second guessing (my longest conversion time to date), but it is all part of the learning phase I guess.

Ok so sacks of Pils and Optic, here I come.