2-Row vs. Maris Otter v. Golden Promise

Can someone breakdown the major differences between the 3 I know
Maris Otter is English
Golden Promise is Scottish
2-row is American (my case Canadian)

I've brewed all grain with exclusively 2-row up until now but have an English Brown and Scottish Wee Heavy planned soon. Space and Costs dictate I can get either a 55lb bag of Maris Otter or Golden Promise, cost is the same (twice the price of 2-row).

Which would you choose or would you stick with 2-row at half the price because it's close enough?

Veinman said:

Can someone breakdown the major differences between the 3 I know
Maris Otter is English
Golden Promise is Scottish
2-row is American (my case Canadian)

I've brewed all grain with exclusively 2-row up until now but have an English Brown and Scottish Wee Heavy planned soon. Space and Costs dictate I can get either a 55lb bag of Maris Otter or Golden Promise, cost is the same (twice the price of 2-row).

Which would you choose or would you stick with 2-row at half the price because it's close enough?

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I've only used Golden Promise once, and it was good. I doubt I could tell the difference between that and a the same recipe with maris otter, though. I'm a big fan of maris otter. It's "warmer" and a bit more malty flavored than US 2-row. It's great for English beers and all most any other style that can benefit from the warmer, breadier flavor. I use it for just about everything except American IPAs, or wheat beers.

Maybe this is a chance to brew a mini batch to see the difference. Literally do a 1 gallon batch of beer with each. 100% base grain. Mash high to get less fermentables and leave behind more of the flavor (say 154). Something with a low OG like a bitter/mild. Bitter with enough neutral hop to get you maybe 10-12 IBUs. Ferment with a neutral yeast ala US-05/cali Ale. With such a small batch of a low ABV beer I bet you could go from mash to bottle in a week and with so little grain you could brew it in the time it takes to cook dinner.

oh, and i voted for 2-row simply because for 55lbs you are doubling the cost of every beer you make by getting the others. If money is no issue, then nevermind but double the cost is a bit much in general

dirty_martini said:

oh, and i voted for 2-row simply because for 55lbs you are doubling the cost of every beer you make by getting the others. If money is no issue, then nevermind but double the cost is a bit much in general

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It doesn't double the cost only doubles the cost of the base grains, to elaborate:
Maris Otter and Golden Promise is $75 for 55lbs = $1.37/lb
2-Row is $37 for 55lbs = $.67/lb
It's 70c/lb more but still only adds about $8-9 for most beers or 15c/beer not a deal breaker.
Gonna attempt to see if I can get someone to go half and half with me on a bag of each Maris Otter and Golden Promise otherwise I'll try one this time and the other next time.

Well I have to say you pay way too much man! I get Maris Otter - 50KG (55 lbs) for $60 here in DC the most expensive city in the Universe. Maybe not. But my LHBS price on this is one reason I keep going back!

But to answer the question: My IPAs are too malty with Maris Otter. American 2-row is great for APAs and IPAs, I like Maris Otter for darker beer - brown and amber ales. Don't do no Belgium, yuk. If I had to choose though it would be Maris Otter but why not have a sack of each? Try brewing one of your regular recipes with Maris Otter and taste the difference.

One thing I like to do is to mix Maris Otter and 2-row to get a bit more of a malty flavor in an IPA say without going overboard. 50:50 or 20:80 recently.

Golden Promise: I'm from Scotland so you'd think I'd like it. But alas it never seems alluring enough for me to buy so I haven't used it yet. Also I worry about DMS since it is a lower lovibond (1.1 I think) than the others and I tend towards 60 minute boils.

YMMV etc

Veinman said:

Can someone breakdown the major differences between the 3 I know
Maris Otter is English
Golden Promise is Scottish
2-row is American (my case Canadian)

Which would you choose or would you stick with 2-row at half the price because it's close enough?

Click to expand...

In my opinion and experience, Canadian 2-row is much cleaner, and "thinner" feeling than the other two - not saying it's BMC . MO has additional mouth feel (thickness) with more of a nutty character. I think GP has more mouthfeel even than the MO, but less of the nutty - cleaner, but chewier. Am I saying that right?

Anyway, if I chose one for both, I'd pick MO.

One thing to note: the Golden Promise takes more work to keep from clumping and creating doughballs in the mash.

I just bought a 55lb. bag of each........



Dave

Found this comparison interesting. Wondering if I can mix the two together

https://brulosophy.com/2022/01/17/e...er-vs-golden-promise-in-a-british-golden-ale/