Standard English Pale Ale Malts

[huckbof]

Fuller's head brewer talks about "Standard Pale Ale" malts, he buys Munton and Fison, Bairds, Simpsons, Thomas Fawcett, Greencore (now Boortmalt). Also, I heard Jamil talk about Crisp on BN.

What do you use for your go to Standard English Pale Ale Malt? It doesn't nec. mean M.O...

here is the Jamil blurb when comparing Standard English Pale Ale Malts to Maris Otter

"Here is the thing to keep in mind.
Maris Otter = a strain of barley.
There are many other types of barley, which make fine malt.
British or English Pale Ale = a malt that has been kilned in the traditional British style, resulting in a darker color and that signature biscuity/malty flavor. This can happen with all sorts of barley, Maris Otter is just one of them. Crisp = a malting house. Crisp is great, but there are other malt houses that make great malt too.
What do you need to look out for when I specify British Pale Ale malt? Just that, British Pale Ale malt. Something called Maris Otter doesn't mean that it is kilned to be like a British PA malt, though it usually does. Chances are, you're looking at exactly the same thing just at two different prices.
It would be great if everyone running a homebrew shop understood the differences. Luckily, many of them do, but not all....Chances are good that anytime a maltster uses Maris Otter, they kiln it like a British Pale Ale malt.
Crisp makes a great product, and that is what use. Crisp pale ale malt made from floor malted Maris Otter.-from http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9029"

 

[BigEd]

For starters there isn't one UK pale malt I've tried that wasn't at least very good. Munton's, Crisp, Bairds, Simpsons and TF I can vouch for, Greencore I have not seen. I'm partial to Crisp and Bairds but frankly if you made the same ale with several of them most drinkers and certainly any casual drinker would be hard pressed to tell them apart.

Thanks for posting the blurb re Maris-Otter as this does continue to be a point of confusion with many. In addition to this MO is offered by several maltsters and each has their own nuances just like their standard malt. Beyond Marris-Otter their are other heirloom barley varieties like Golden Promise which are worth seeking out. That said it is absolutely not necessary to go beyond any of the standard pale malts from any of those companies. The will all produce an excellent beer.

So I'd probably say to start out with whatever of the standard products you can find most easily. After that try a favorite recipe with one of the heirloom malts and see what you think.

 

[huckbof]

i have found munton and crisp locally and I am going with the crisp

 

[JKaranka]

Crisp pale ale malt is the cheapest I can get. It's about 2% cheaper than their MO and it's made with Flagon. It converts really well and seems to have little protein content. Lots of people swear by it.

I also like mild malt (kilned about 1-2L darker than pale) but it's hard to get in 25kg sacks.

 

[huckbof]

went to LHBS and bought a 55lb sack of Crisp MO, that is all they had for $70, does that sound like a high price?

 

[huckbof]

Beyond Marris-Otter their are other heirloom barley varieties like Golden Promise which are worth seeking out.

I already had a sack of TF Golden Promise which was used for a Wee Heavy, which turned out amazing. I had just assumed that the TF GP would not be the right malt for a London ESB or pale alr b/c it was so good in the Wee Heavy.

 

[Yooper]

I love golden promise! I first tried it when making a Surly Furious clone, as that's what Surly claims they use in it, and it's fantastic.

It would be exceptionally good in any Irish or Scottish ales, but it makes a great American IPA as well!

 

[JKaranka]

You can see typical UK prices here:
http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=19

I've noticed that they have put the Maris Otter up relative to the Flagon and the difference is now just over 10%. Still, less common base malts such as Golden Promise or Optic are more expensive.

 

[yeahfairly]

went to LHBS and bought a 55lb sack of Crisp MO, that is all they had for $70, does that sound like a high price?

No..... I was looking at 110 lbs and it worked out to $70 for a 55lb sack. $1.27 per lb for MO isn't bad.

 

[chickypad]

went to LHBS and bought a 55lb sack of Crisp MO, that is all they had for $70, does that sound like a high price?

I get it at the LHBS for 63$ so sounds within range, 13 cents a lb difference.

Edit: just bought a sack last week and checked the receipt, looks like they upped the price to 65.45