A base malt poll

So all 2-row is created equal, or is it?

What type/brand of base malt does everyone use? Bargian basement? middle of the road,? Marris Otter?

Please share your experiences as to why you use what you use.

need a reply "whatever the LHBS sells". I guess normally I by Briess, but honestly I never check what the sack he pulls it out of says. I assume it's Briess since they are right up the hiway.

Maris Otter if it's available. Muntons 2 row otherwise. At $35 for 25 kg for either of them, it's much cheaper than buying domestic malts in one ot ten pound bags, and besides, I only brew English style ales.

-a.

I'm still working on a 50# sack of Rahr that I paid $26 for. Beers with it have been great.

My local shop only sells organic and that is what I have been using. Gambrinus is the maker.

Briess and Cargil. I'm a Kansas boy so Cargil if at all possible even though I've never seen a barley field in Ks.( that I remember)

Maris Otter, Golden Promise from Thomas Fawcett by way of North Country Malts. These floor malted grains have a flavor that can hold up in a hoppy APA.

Where do y'all get your base malt grains? I got invited to the "back room" at the LHBS, and I was not impressed with their storage - very hot, very disorganized, poor selection. morebeer.com seems to have great prices - anybody have any experience with mail order whole grain from them (or another supplier)?

I have bought grain from northern brewer and morebeer. Both were quality and fresh. Dealing in that volume, they have a good rotation of grain. NB even labels and dates each grain package.

Ive had nothing but great results from making the switch over the regular 2-row my LHBS sells, to Maris and Fawcett. Im very pleased with how the have been turning out

I really prefer the European malts to the domestics. The typical domestic 2-row pales just seem very bland compared to the UK and Continental malts. Yeah they cost a bit more but it only amounts to pennies for a pint. Currently I have been using Weyermann for most base malts and keep the pale ale, pilsner, Munich II and Vienna in stock. The Brit pale malts are all pretty good but the Weyermann is more consistent. The Belgian malts I've encountered are really great especially the now defunct De-Wolfe Croysen but these are not carried by many LHBS.

BigEd said:

I really prefer the European malts to the domestics. The typical domestic 2-row pales just seem very bland compared to the UK and Continental malts. Yeah they cost a bit more but it only amounts to pennies for a pint. Currently I have been using Weyermann for most base malts and keep the pale ale, pilsner, Munich II and Vienna in stock. The Brit pale malts are all pretty good but the Weyermann is more consistent. The Belgian malts I've encountered are really great especially the now defunct De-Wolfe Croysen but these are not carried by many LHBS.

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I guess I am lucky as my LHBS carries DeWolf for $38.00 for a 50# sack. They also have Briess for a few dollars more. My question: Is the Briess worth the extra dough? I have only brewed APA (all-grain) so far and am very satisfied with the results.

Belgian first... German second... British third... American never!!:rockin:


later,
mikey

Gambrinus Malt. There 1 hr's drive north of me.
Whatever they don't make I buy from various suppliers.

Mykel Obvious said:

Belgian first... German second... British third... American never!!:rockin:


later,
mikey

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Lol, I'd be careful saying that in Alabama, you might get lynched... :cross:

Heh, although I hear Huntsville is nice.

I don't know anything about the various malts right now, but it seems like if you are in North America, you'd have a freshness advantage to buying grains grown on this continent versus those that have to be shipped from Europe.

EugeneStyles said:

Lol, I'd be careful saying that in Alabama, you might get lynched... :cross:

Heh, although I hear Huntsville is nice.

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Alabama is beer HELL!! We are one of only 4 states that have a ABV limit on what beers can be sold and THE only state that has a 16 oz maximum on bottle size!! I have to drive 1.5 hours to get to the over-6% beers in Tennessee!!

FREE THE HOPS!! http://www.freethehops.org/index.php

And I might get lynched anyway... I'm a long-haired, beard-wearing biker type in a town full of rednecks and rocket scientists LMAO

Oh and not to mention that homebrewing is still illegal here as well!!

There is a reason I put Belgian malts first... my last 7 batches have all been Belgians... a Flanders Red, a Belgian Pale, a Saison, a Dubbel, a Golden Strong and yesterday I brewed another batch of Saison as I've only got a few bottles left from the first go round... I don't see an end in site any time soon... just my favorite types of beer I guess

later,
:cheers:
mikey

It's hard to get a choice around here without buying 50 lb bags, so whatever is in the big bin. You wouldn't think that would be a problem in the Pacific North West, but it is. The homebrew stores are small and far away, don't have much of a selection and only survive because homebrewing is a sideline to wine sales, selling to the pros or in one case, selling edged weapons! Fortunately, the exact base malt just doesn't matter much on the dark side.

david_42 said:

Fortunately, the exact base malt just doesn't matter much on the dark side.

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On the dark side... meaning dark brews, whether ales, stouts, or lagers?

what ever www.homebrewery.com sends me.