Base 2-row malt - how often do you change it up?

[user 574]

Most of my current ale recipes switch between British 2 row (Maris Otter) and domestic 2 row. I use the british base malt for my IPA, Porter & wheats. domestic for my common & two pale ale recipes.

I want to start buying 2-row in bulk but haven't yet because of how I switch between these base malts in my recipes. I like my recipes (nabbed from others mostly) and don't necessarily want to change them up. Where I am a newb is the different characters amongst these base malts. Is switching from the Maris to domestic really going to have a noticable affect on my final product? Is using the Maris throughout all going to improve those batches where I use domestic?

Locally I get domestic for .94 lb and the Maris for 1.69 lb. They sell the 50# bags at 1/2 this per lb rate. I'd gladly foot the bill for a 50 of Maris if superior. If its more of a sell job I'd also gladly save the $ and go with domestic. No, I haven't brewed batches switching it up to see if I can tell the diff...

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. I have used MO and plain jane 2-row for my APA and the difference was very minor, if at all noticeable, to me. However, I don't have the most refined palate in the world. I do think the MO APA had a better body if I may be so bold.

To me, I'd go with basic 2-row for the difference in price and call it a day. Besides, if you really want to cover all bases, you better pick out a pils malt, as well, as I see some wits and wheats in your sig! Or just go with the 2-row...

 

[cweston]

Playing devil's advocate:

50 lbs is not such a mind-numbingly huge amount of base malt: we're talking 5-7 5-gallon batches.

Since unmilled malt keeps essentially forever, why not buy 50 lbs of both?

 

[Kaiser]

Buy the one you think you will like it the most. If you fancy, you can buy the other kind in bulk later.

I bought a 55 lb bag of Pilsner malt and may even make a pale ale with it. Why not if I have the malt. And maybe I'll notice a difference and maybe I don't.

Kai

 

[user 574]

Since unmilled malt keeps essentially forever, why not buy 50 lbs of both?

A little bit related to storage but more towards if I can use the same base malt for my "house IPA/Porter/APA's" why not. Or if I can save money, why not.

I think I have a plan but I don't like it as it relates to bottling . I'm going to bottle 1g each of my porter & IPA currently in the queue and then make em again with domestic and do a taste compare. Who knows, I may find out that nothing should be changed but I then officially learned something regarding base malts .

Edit: Doing a mild would actually be a nice test for this too though to see the subtle differences since the porter & IPA have enough character that they may mask the base malt anyway. So many beers to make, so little time...

 

[user 574]

Oh yea, I never mentioned why I even started thinking about this but a local brewpub I frequent and know the owner/brewer uses one base malt (believe domestic) for all his ales. Fills his 24,000 lb silo. Wouldn't tell him but my friends and I think my porter is better than his . Could be the Maris .

 

[cweston]

I'm going to bottle 1g each of my porter & IPA currently in the queue and then make em again with domestic and do a taste compare. Who knows, I may find out that nothing should be changed but I then officially learned something regarding base malts .

My wild-ass guess would be that any difference in the base malt in an IPA or a porter is going to be very subtle (possibly too subtle to even notice), since there's something in both of those styles (the hops, or the roasted malts) that really dominates the base malt flavor.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

My wild-ass guess would be that any difference in the base malt in an IPA or a porter is going to be very subtle (possibly too subtle to even notice), since there's something in both of those styles (the hops, or the roasted malts) that really dominates the base malt flavor.

I certainly agree on the darker beers...no way you will notice a premium base malt over all the roasted grains in a porter/stout (IMO ). And I don't disagree with the IPA...

 

[user 574]

I certainly agree on the darker beers...no way you will notice a premium base malt over all the roasted grains in a porter/stout (IMO ). And I don't disagree with the IPA...

Yea, I agree and added that commentary onto the original post. Other than perhaps mouth feel I'm sure I wouldn't taste a difference.

 

[Glibbidy]

Playing devil's advocate:
Since unmilled malt keeps essentially forever, why not buy 50 lbs of both?

Older malts can help contribute to chill haze. I had some Crystal that was over 12 months old that I used in a pale ale that i brewed recently. the beer tasted great, but definitely had some chill haze.

For your Primary malts I think 50-55 lbs is the way to go. I buy my Marris Otter in 50 lb bags as well as my Crystal. All the others like my malted wheat, Munich Malt, etc... I obtain in smaller quantites since I can assume that I'm getting the fresher stuff

 

[Rhoobarb]

I've pondered the question of domestic 2-row vs. Maris Otter myself. In my brief time as an AGer I've used Rahr and Cargill/Schreier 2-row and MO. I bought a 50 lb. of MO b/c a lot of British pale ales called for it. The ales turned out good. Could I tell a difference b/w MO and the other two? I don't claim to have a sophisticated palate, but I have to say that I really couldn't tell enough of a difference to justify the added expense. With time, maybe my opinion will change.

 

[Lost]

Plain old two row or six row for me...

I just can't justify paying $1.30 - 1.40 per lb for base malt. American 2 row and six row (Briess) is only 90 cents a lb. Maybe if I was competing... I just can't imagine that it could make much if any difference. I'd rather toy with the water profile, specialty malts, yeast, and hops...

 

[Bernie Brewer]

I think I sense an experiment in the future....let us know the results if you try one.
Personally, at my LHBS Maris Otter was $37 for 50 pounds, while Rahr was $26. That was all the experimenting I needed, but I'm a cheap sob.

 

[Rhoobarb]

... at my LHBS Maris Otter was $37 for 50 pounds, while Rahr was $26....

That's actually a pretty good price, especially for the MO. Might have to hunt them down next time I'm up Nort'!

 

[boo boo]

I bought a 55 lb bag of Pilsner malt and may even make a pale ale with it. Why not if I have the malt. And maybe I'll notice a difference and maybe I don't.

Kai

I bought a sack of pilsner malt and have made 2 pilsners (which are still lagering) and a kolsch. I only have 6 bottles of the Kolsch left, were they ever good. The malt gives a very light colour to the brew and the taste seems more mellow, although time will tell as I haven't tapped into the pilsners yet.

 

[Mykel Obvious]

One of the Homebrew Clubs I'm in did a test on just this topic... we brewed 20 gallons of American Blonde ale (BJCP category 6B) on one of the members HERMS rig using the same hops, mash schedule, US56 yeast etc. with 10 gallons using only 19# Briess 2-row and the other 10 using only 19# Muntons... the Briess came out tasting watery and weak... no real malt flavor at all... the whole club (other than one member who is a Briess distributor) preferred the Muntons version to the Briess by a long shot!!!

If you are thinking about switching to only one main base malt, this is a test I highly recomend... brew 2 versions of the same light/pale beer with only your base malt choices, and keep everything else the same as this will give you the best idea of the malt character of each choice... I like a LOT of flavor from my malt, so the Briess 2-row is out for me (YMMV)


cheers and beers,
Mykel Obvious