Base grain fight - ON!

What's everyone's feeling on which base grain is the best? I'm thinking of making a bulk purchase and I'm not sure if 2-row is the way to go. Pale Ale? Marris? Munich? Vienna? 6-row? Pilsner?

What's everyone's take on which is the best all-purpose base grain?

Maris Otter.

Have just received my crankandstein TODAY, I'm facing the same dilemma.

My first unsolicited piece of advice is that at least for me, the extra $5 it costs at the LHBS for a sack of grain is offset by the price of gas or shipping to buy it ANYWHERE else. So I'm buying locally. $55 for a sack of Maris Otter available immediately without any wait, just 2 miles from my house is a pretty good deal, IMHO.

As for which is the best if you're only getting one sack? I wanted to say Maris Otter, but then that precludes the really light beers. So then I thought maybe a German or Belgian Pils.

I guess I'm leaning toward my first purchase being a sack of German Pils.

I bought a 55 lb. sack of 2-row a few months ago, so I'll tell you my feelings. I wish I would of gotten pale ale malt, or even Maris Otter. I realized, kind of too late, that I almost always make pale ales, bitters, IPAs, amber ales, etc. All of those are in the Pale Ale family and would have been great with MO. However, the British types (bitters, esp) don't work as well if the base malt is american 2-row. (Of course, others might have a different opinion.)
My advice would be to think about what you'll probably make and which base malts could work for it. Pick the one that's most universal. Unless you make lots of Lagers, I bet Pale ale malt or MO would be your best bet.
Good luck.

Monk

I vote for 2-row...can be used for almost anything.

Or Sinimar....but I would lean towards 2-row.

I like Marris Otter. I also get a Canadian barley from Gambrinus which is good.

I'd say Optic. It is slightly cheaper than MO and very nice. It is a real crisp, malty base malt.

FWIW, Fuller's brewery uses Optic in the classic Fuller's ESB and London Pride.

Depends on what you like to brew... Id buy Maris and Pilsner... but that is me

Definitely look at what your next few brews are going to be. I've gone through 2 bags of Briess 2-row Pale in the last month or so and I think its a decent 2 row malt. I brew mainly Ales and Wits so this has worked out well. Makes for a good base malt. I do plan on buying both a bag of the 2-row Pale and Maris Otter next time I go to the store though. I plan on doing a couple of English type beers (a Porter and perhaps a milk stout) in the next couple of months. I picked up an extra storage bin today, so I have plenty of room in my beer cabinet for supplies.

I need to find someone locally that will go in with me on a large freight order. I could save some serious money. The 2-row is $47 and the MO is $56 at my LHBS.

I've been getting plain ol 2 row because it is less than $30 a sack but I might buy Maris Otter next time.

2 Row Pale Ale Malt and a bag of Wheat Malt, if you are into wheat beers. Ya can make most anything with it along with a little bit of specialty malts.

I much prefer Maris Otter to the generic 2-row, and as it's exactly the same price, that's what I get.

-a.

A sack of domestic 2-row will be most flexible, but if you mostly make ales, I would go with the Maris Otter. My bag of 2-row doesn't get opened much since I bought my sack of MO.

I'm thinking 2-row simply because of my love of wheat type beers. I have a nice, cool, dry basement that'd be perfect for storing a big sack of grain. I'm also considering buying a 50lb sack of wheat as well, since I have more hefe's and wheat's on the agenda.

I start my recipes with 2-row.

Good basic 2 row Pale malt and adjust with specialty grains....

After getting my grain mill recently, I purchased my first sack of bulk grain. After plenty of research, I got 55 lbs of Gleneagles Maris Otter from Midwest. Gleneagles is a maltster owned by Maris Otter, but theirs is a bit darker (5 lovi) and a little more flavorful, from what I could gather. I haven't used it yet, but I've had great results with straight-up Maris Otter in the past. The only drawback I see is that 5 lovi (it's actually 4.5 or so) might be a little much, so I'd also get yourself some pilsner malt.

But, yeah, Gleneagles MO if you can get it. I've heard great things.

My LHBS has Breiss 2-row for $30 for 50lb or $45 for 55lb of MO. I picked up the Breiss and have made plenty of good beers. I'd love to hear if anyone's done a blind taste test between the two. It's easy to say MO is better if that's the one you've bought.

Bobby_M said:

My LHBS has Breiss 2-row for $30 for 50lb or $45 for 55lb of MO. I picked up the Breiss and have made plenty of good beers. I'd love to hear if anyone's done a blind taste test between the two. It's easy to say MO is better if that's the one you've bought.

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This is true.

Last year I bought 3 50 lb. sacks, one each of Halcyon, Marris Otter, and Optic.

The Optic was by far my favorite as far as taste. I made some really super beers with that.

I have 55lbs of Maris otter and 55lbs of Dingeman's Pilsener


I think im pretty much covered with those two



but like Dude said above me, it was a toss up between Fawcett and MO. My LHBS didnt have Fawcett so it was an easy choice

I am about ready to buy my first bulk sack of grain. I was thinking MO. I mostly have been brewing UK style ales. I was wondering to myself yesterday though how it would work with a hefe? I am thinking of trying one again. Guess I could just buy a small amount of 2row.

I have never used MO yet but it seems to be highly recommended. $35 bucks for a sack at my LHBS (any kind actually) and they let me use their mill free. I am excited!

:rockin:

the_bird said:

Maris Otter.

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:rockin:

I have in stock 3 1/2 sacks of 2 row and 1 sack of Gambrius pilsner malt plus speciality malts, so I vote for 2 row as being the most versatile.
I have 2 more sacks on order.

If it's so versatile, why do you need three sacks of it? You're saying they are all the same variety?

Bobby_M said:

My LHBS has Breiss 2-row for $30 for 50lb or $45 for 55lb of MO. I picked up the Breiss and have made plenty of good beers. I'd love to hear if anyone's done a blind taste test between the two. It's easy to say MO is better if that's the one you've bought.

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I wouldn't say MO is "better", but it is maltier and a bit darker. I actually did do the blind taste test--I made two special bitters, like this:

9 lb. Base malt (either MO or 2-row)
.5 lb. Crystal 75

.5 oz target (90 min)
.5 oz EKG (15 min)
.5 oz EKG (0 min)

Nottingham yeast

The ales were very close, but one was slightly darker and slightly maltier. Now that's not what I would necessarily want all of the time, but it was a noticeable difference.

monk

Bobby_M said:

My LHBS has Breiss 2-row for $30 for 50lb or $45 for 55lb of MO.

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knights of Gambrinus said:

I have never used MO yet but it seems to be highly recommended. $35 bucks for a sack at my LHBS

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ajf said:

I much prefer Maris Otter to the generic 2-row, and as it's exactly the same price, that's what I get.

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Damn, am I getting screwed...I have two driveable LHBS's and the both charge $40 for a sack of Briess 2-row and $60 for MO. I should get one of you guys to ship me some...

And wht's up with your LHBS ajf...they really price them the same???

Maris Otter is a cultivar (a variety of 2 row barley)

More important is who malted it

Put me in the Maris Otter camp.

I recently brewed an IPA with Golden Promise, which is still conditioning, but from what I sampled...WOW. The early returns are encouraging.

Got Trub? said:

Maris Otter is a cultivar (a variety of 2 row barley)

More important is who malted it

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And your preference?

Well I have a bag of Vienna, Munich 10, Pils malt, Pale ESB, and Organic Wheat malt. (they ran out of bagged reg wheat malt at Gambrinus and gave me organic at the same price)

Oh and about 5 kilos left of honey malt.

I like the pale ESB 3 lov for a lot of beers. Soemtimes vienna if I want it a bit maltier.

For light colored beers I like pils malt. Lots of diastaic power so useful for brews with lots of unmalted adjuncts.

knights of Gambrinus said:

I am about ready to buy my first bulk sack of grain. I was thinking MO. I mostly have been brewing UK style ales. I was wondering to myself yesterday though how it would work with a hefe? I am thinking of trying one again. Guess I could just buy a small amount of 2row.

I have never used MO yet but it seems to be highly recommended. $35 bucks for a sack at my LHBS (any kind actually) and they let me use their mill free. I am excited!

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It works well by all accounts, a uk based forum i also post on has a hefe recipe using pale malt (which in 95% of cases in the uk will be MO) running to 17 pages with lots of happy customers

delboy said:

It works well by all accounts, a uk based forum i also post on has a hefe recipe using pale malt (which in 95% of cases in the uk will be MO) running to 17 pages with lots of happy customers

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Repost, please.

I think Marris Otter would be fine for a hefe. MO is considered to be a "maltier" base malt, and hefes can have some of that character to them (they are traditional decocted). I used a German pils malt when I brewed mine, but I wouldn't recommend Pils as your core base grain since it pretty much requires a 90-minute boil.

the_bird said:

but I wouldn't recommend Pils as your core base grain since it pretty much requires a 90-minute boil.

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how do you figure?

DMS. Lots more created with Pils malt. Something to do with how its kilned, I think.

true, pils has a lower curing temp @ 85F than say MO which is more at 100-105F. The higher temp removes the DMS in MO.

However, I use Pils a lot, and it always turns out really well with only a 60(actually 70-75 to be honest) minute boil. Granted that I keep my boils on the verge of a boil over through out the whole boil. Very vigorous.


and if you want a good example of DMS drink a Rolling Rock. They have built a beer around DMS

Like a few others have mentioned, it all depends on what you are brewing. I currently have a sack of Marris Otter, a sack of Rahr 2-Row, and a sack of Pilsner. I brew fairly often and find a need for each of these base grains in my inventory.

Cheers,
J

Bike N Brew said:

And your preference?

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Crisp - but to be honest based on others recommendations. I have not compared different maltsters myself.

The hefe I made (RIP batch #10) that used Pils malt I only boiled for 60 min and I didn't notice any DMS taste in it. Granted this may be due to boiling the hell out of it during the mash as I did a couple decoctions.

Well if I had to pick just one base bulk malt....I'd probably say Pils. The reason for this is because if it is maltiness and color you can always make those up with additions. But you cannot go in reverse if you want a really light colored beer.

However, if you make a lot of APA's IPA's and such, then I would go with MO or Optic.

The other base malt I'd have would be malted Wheat.

I currently have bulk Pils, Optic, Pale Ale, Vienna, Munich and Wheat.