2-row or maris otter?

whats the difference? how will they affect a beer? Which do you like more? Why?
-cheers

Maris Otter is a two-row winter barley that's widely used in English styles. It tends to be a little richer and a bit more biscuity than standard US 2-row. For me which one I choose depends on what I'm brewing. I do like the flavor of MO quite a bit but it's also usually a touch more expensive than US 2-row.

"Marris Otter" malt (as neovox said, its actually a barley cultivar used to make malt) is also usually kilned between 3-4 degrees lovibond, about double the color of standard american 2 row

thanks guys. explains a lot.

I have yet to try MO, but I know some local beers I like use it. I think I'm going to use it for my next ipa. Maybe a black ipa?

FWIW I use Marris Otter when I am brewing a beer that I feel the malt character is more important, stout, porter, brown ale, etc. For a beer where I feel the hops have the lead I just use 2 row. I keep both on hand but I can always get another sack of 2 row, MO I have to wait for a group buy and drive an hour to get.

An interesting bit of feedback i received re: MO in the past was that if making a dark beer, with big, roasty flavors (ie porters, stouts, some black IPAs), skip the MO. its subtle flavors would be overwhelmed by the roast barley and chocolate malts.

stbnj said:

FWIW I use Marris Otter when I am brewing a beer that I feel the malt character is more important, stout, porter, brown ale, etc. For a beer where I feel the hops have the lead I just use 2 row. I keep both on hand but I can always get another sack of 2 row, MO I have to wait for a group buy and drive an hour to get.

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right on, good answer.

Interesting... The LHBS owner suggested I use MO instead of 2 row (because he was out), but since this is going to be my first AG batch I don't want to change my recipe.

I stock both Maris Otter and UK 2-row malt for my base in all recipes. If I have a lot of additional malts, and I'm not looking to have what MO brings to a brew come through, I'll use the UK 2-row. Otherwise, I'll use MO.

Maris Otter is simply WONDERFUL in a SMaSH recipe. Pair it up with EKG hops and you have something beyond words.

You can also get 'Crystal Maris Otter' from Rebel Brewer. It's MO that's been toasted/processed to be a 55L malt. You get all the greatness of MO, with what being a 55L malt also brings to the table. IMO, the best of both worlds in many recipes.

Some people try to mimic what MO brings to a brew by using some victory malt in a recipe. Although, I feel it's easy to go too far there. I'd rather use MO for the base malt in such recipes and not worry about it.

I did a MO and Citra SMaSH and it was one of my best beers so far.

TBaGZ said:

Interesting... The LHBS owner suggested I use MO instead of 2 row (because he was out), but since this is going to be my first AG batch I don't want to change my recipe.

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There's no problem substituting one for the other in the case that he's out and you want to brew.

Golddiggie said:

Maris Otter is simply WONDERFUL in a SMaSH recipe. Pair it up with EKG hops and you have something beyond words.

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ok. you're the second person who's mentioned MO/EKG SMaSH being awesome. I'm going to have to give it a go. I have some EKG on hand. I've been on a SMaSH bandwagon again lately. I have a Golden Promise and Amarillo and a Golden Promise and Bravo both on deck.

Lets face it , American 2 row is pretty bland. If you want more flavor , use MO or good quality pilsner malt. American 2 row
works for IPA and very light beers but everthing else can be improved bye using quality base malt. Thats just me. Costs more but were trying to make the best beer as we can right ?

Just used MO see below. Can't get this damn thing to delete a double post

Golddiggie said:

Maris Otter is simply WONDERFUL in a SMaSH recipe. Pair it up with EKG hops and you have something beyond words.

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+1000

Just made this, and while it's only been bottle for a week, it is simply delicious. Straight MO and EKG @ 60, 15, 5, IBU's around 30-35.


I have yet to try it, but I think MO with about 10% MO crystal and EKG could become my new house beer after i brew it up this month.

Why is the MO/EKG SMaSH so popular? what does it taste like (commercial/style reference)? sounds cheap to make. also sounds like a lawnmower beer.

I can't think of anything commercial that would compare with a MO/EKG SMaSH. I used about 3% crystal MO in my SMaSH batches. Just enough to enhance the brew but not be too much. I also use UK (English) yeast in mine to further enhance the brew.

I think there is some variation between US 2-row and I think some are better than others. I am not a big fan of the Canada Malting 2-row, which I know is Canadian but it is readily available in the states. Great Western 2-row I think is good. I haven't tried Marris Otter yet because I really only brew sour, Hoppy, or stouts/porters and I wasn't sure if it was worth the added cost.

Is there a noticeable difference in say a brown/porter/stout that used MO over regular 2-row?

thedude123 said:

Is there a noticeable difference in say a brown/porter/stout that used MO over regular 2-row?

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I'm interested in the same thing. I have a bag of 2-row and a bag of MO at home and will be brewing a porter this weekend. Not sure if it is worth it to use the MO. Won't all of the roasted grains drown out subtle flavors of the MO?

IMHO MO is wonderful in a session beer where the subtleties will shine through. I love it in a nice Bitter. A high gravity, a lot of roast, etc. what it adds will largely be eclipsed by everything else. Certainly not going to hurt, but in a large beer a little Biscuit or Victory malt will add much of the same quality.

ghack said:

IMHO MO is wonderful in a session beer where the subtleties will shine through. I love it in a nice Bitter. A high gravity, a lot of roast, etc. what it adds will largely be eclipsed by everything else. Certainly not going to hurt, but in a large beer a little Biscuit or Victory malt will add much of the same quality.

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Agree with this. A nice bitter, no more than 4%, sounds like MO would be great. I tried it once, early in my AG days, in a porter. I couldn't taste any difference from the regular 2-row I always use, so back I went. My base malt tends to be Rahr 2-row all the way.

I made a scotch ale with all MO and it was the best beer I've made. Next I plan on making a high gravity cherry stout. I'm going to use half MO and half 2 row for the base malt.

BTW, what does SMaSH stand for?

taa800 said:

I made a scotch ale with all MO and it was the best beer I've made. Next I plan on making a high gravity cherry stout. I'm going to use half MO and half 2 row for the base malt.

BTW, what does SMaSH stand for?

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Single Malt And Single Hop

My first MO EKG SMaSH was 6.6% the second about 5.6%. BOTH are/were great.