castle malting

[master_haze]

Has anyone here ever had experience with castle malting malts and/or ordering from them? According to their website castlemalting.com they are one of the oldest malting companies in belgium and they cater not only to the big breweries but also the micro-brewer. Seeing as I am still trying to figure out what the best places would be to get my ingredients from, I would love to know if anyone has experience with this company's products and what they think of them.

master_haze

 

[Ramitt]

Are you talking about a large order for a brewery? Probrewer.com may be a better resource for you if so. I doubt they want to sell small amounts direct to homebrewers.

 

[master_haze]

i'm trying to find out about the quality of their malts. According to their website they sell everything they have by the kilo, not limiting sales to minimums of at least a pallet full like most manufacturers do.

master_haze

 

[Yooper]

i'm trying to find out about the quality of their malts. According to their website they sell everything they have by the kilo, not limiting sales to minimums of at least a pallet full like most manufacturers do.

master_haze

I"ve used Castle pilsner (great for Belgians like tripels!) and the pale malt. Good quality, and good results!

 

[master_haze]

I"ve used Castle pilsner (great for Belgians like tripels!) and the pale malt. Good quality, and good results!

Good to know, Thank you.

master_haze

 

[stpug]

I use a number of castle specialty malts. No complaints at all. Great stuff IMO. I've actually got an amber carbing up that used a bunch of Castle Cara Ruby whose small 1oz sample was quite tasty!

 

[Oginme]

They do have an extensive brochure which can be downloaded from their site with a description of all their products in addition to product specification sheets located at: http://www.castlemalting.com/CastleMaltingMalts.asp

 

[master_haze]

They do have an extensive brochure which can be downloaded from their site with a description of all their products in addition to product specification sheets located at: http://www.castlemalting.com/CastleMaltingMalts.asp

Yes, I found the brochure when I first came across the website, I have it saved on my computer. ^_^ So it seems like castle malting will be a good choice for my malts. They do have malts and hops here in Ecuador but the selection is very meager, most only carry 4 to 5 types of malts and 5 to 6 types of hops. Yeast is another thing they lack on over here, they only carry dry yeasts and most don't have more than 4 strains. I hope that if I were to order yeasts from the states in special insulated boxes with ice packs that they arrive in good condition with expedited 2-3 day delivery. Will make the yeasts very expensive with the $90 shipping charge, but I'll just have to put them on culture and keep them going indefinitely.

thank you all for your input.

master_haze

 

[stpug]

I overlooked your location (Ecuador). Patagonia malt is very nice as well; uniquely nice! IMO, it's not as (how should I say) "plain" as other specialty malts so it can be overpowering in some recipes, but then there are the instances when it makes the world of difference. I would hope that you could get those malts there pretty easy.

Also, in regards to liquid yeast, shipping, costs, viability and such. I remember a thread where folks where swapping liquid yeasts IN DRY FORM; specifically to pass along several strains for the cost of one stamp; and also had the benefit of not degrading their viability nearly as much. I'll have to find the post and provide a link.

My recollection says it worked something like this:
-Using sterile blotter paper (1cmx1cm or so)
-highly sanitary conditions
-a small (dilute) drop of liquid yeast is placed on blotter paper
-the paper is dried in some fashion (quickly?, near a heat source?, somehow)
-the paper is wrapped in a sterile piece of aluminum foil
-put in envelope and mailed

-Upon receiving
-using highly sterile enviroment
-the paper is trimmed and yeastiest part is stirred into a small volume, low gravity, sterile wort (15ml maybe)
-allowed to build incubate and become active
-then built up to full size through a couple step-ups
-at which point you can plate, freeze, refrigerate, etc

If I can find the post I'll provide a link.

 

[stpug]

I can't seem to find what I remember reading. What I DO find are several threads indicating it's not viable. I'll keep looking and if I come up with something I'll post it.

 

[chickypad]

I use castle malts for all my Belgians as that is what the LHBS carries. I find the base malts to be good quality, especially the pilsen that I use the most. I also use their Special B and biscuit regularly. The only specialty malt so far I didn't care for is their 190L coffee malt - I found it very harsh compared to Franco-Belges who list theirs at 150-180L. Castle makes a lighter coffee malt that I would try if I could find it.

 

[master_haze]

I overlooked your location (Ecuador). Patagonia malt is very nice as well; uniquely nice! IMO, it's not as (how should I say) "plain" as other specialty malts so it can be overpowering in some recipes, but then there are the instances when it makes the world of difference. I would hope that you could get those malts there pretty easy.

Also, in regards to liquid yeast, shipping, costs, viability and such. I remember a thread where folks where swapping liquid yeasts IN DRY FORM; specifically to pass along several strains for the cost of one stamp; and also had the benefit of not degrading their viability nearly as much. I'll have to find the post and provide a link.

My recollection says it worked something like this:
-Using sterile blotter paper (1cmx1cm or so)
-highly sanitary conditions
-a small (dilute) drop of liquid yeast is placed on blotter paper
-the paper is dried in some fashion (quickly?, near a heat source?, somehow)
-the paper is wrapped in a sterile piece of aluminum foil
-put in envelope and mailed

-Upon receiving
-using highly sterile enviroment
-the paper is trimmed and yeastiest part is stirred into a small volume, low gravity, sterile wort (15ml maybe)
-allowed to build incubate and become active
-then built up to full size through a couple step-ups
-at which point you can plate, freeze, refrigerate, etc

If I can find the post I'll provide a link.

hmmm seems like I will have to take a vacation to Argentina pretty soon then. ^_^ travel around a bit finding the best places to get malts from... I remember that this one micro brewery in the "american beer" documentary was getting their hops from patagonia too. Started to get hops from there because of a mayor shortage when they first started up and liked them so much they stuck with them.
sounds like I'm going to have a primo vacation ahead of me. ^_^

Hopefully you will find what you are remembering seeing, because that would save me a lot of headaches propagating yeast just to have a stable supply of quality, active yeast.

thank you so much for your input stpug. very, very much appreciated.

master_haze

 

[master_haze]

although, if I would do yeast propagation, I could probably make a lot of members of "S.E.C.A." very happy. (seca= Ecuadorian artesenal beer brewers society)

master_haze

 

[master_haze]

I use castle malts for all my Belgians as that is what the LHBS carries. I find the base malts to be good quality, especially the pilsen that I use the most. I also use their Special B and biscuit regularly. The only specialty malt so far I didn't care for is their 190L coffee malt - I found it very harsh compared to Franco-Belges who list theirs at 150-180L. Castle makes a lighter coffee malt that I would try if I could find it.

hi chickypad, thanks for the heads-up on the 190L coffee malt, I'll remember to be careful using it, if at all. If you really want to try their lighter coffee malt and don't mind ordering a kilo (2.2 pounds approximately) you can order it straight off their website.

master_haze

 

[chickypad]

Thanks for the tip. I have an aversion to paying for shipping though.
Guess I'm pretty spoiled with a good LHBS so nearby.
Happy Brewing!

 

[stpug]

A-HA!! Found it.... and it's a better write-up than I remembered:
http://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.com/2013/04/mailing-yeast.html

There are several contingencies on trying this method, the biggest probably being finding a person with whom to work with. Luckily, the blog that's linked is probably a great place to get in touch with someone like this. It would seem that once you get a large enough yeast library it's just a matter of maintaining it.

 

[master_haze]

A-HA!! Found it.... and it's a better write-up than I remembered:
http://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.com/2013/04/mailing-yeast.html

There are several contingencies on trying this method, the biggest probably being finding a person with whom to work with. Luckily, the blog that's linked is probably a great place to get in touch with someone like this. It would seem that once you get a large enough yeast library it's just a matter of maintaining it.

Cool ^_^ thank you so much for that, that will save me bundles on shipping costs. *bookmarked*

Thanks for the tip. I have an aversion to paying for shipping though.
Guess I'm pretty spoiled with a good LHBS so nearby.
Happy Brewing!

chickypad: at least from their end the shipping is minimized because they are located right next to the Antwerp main port. and besides that, your LHBS had it shipped either directly or in-directly to them from castle malts, so it should be cheaper to go straight to castle malting because you wont have to pay the middlemen. Of course me personally if I had a LHBS here I would go to them for everything they have, and what they don't I would get from castle malting.

master_haze

 

[master_haze]

here is the updated version of the mailing technique:
http://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.ca/2013/08/mailing-yeast-part-ii.html

noticed it when reading the first blog post, it is modified a little to improve recovery rates.

the list of strains available in the library of the poster of the blog:
http://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.ca/p/yeast-exchange.html

master_haze

 

[bethebrew]

Has anyone here ever had experience with castle malting malts and/or ordering from them? According to their website castlemalting.com they are one of the oldest malting companies in belgium and they cater not only to the big breweries but also the micro-brewer. Seeing as I am still trying to figure out what the best places would be to get my ingredients from, I would love to know if anyone has experience with this company's products and what they think of them.

master_haze

I have used their malts, and like them. The pils is nice as are the specialty malts.

 

[flying_dutchman]

although, if I would do yeast propagation, I could probably make a lot of members of "S.E.C.A." very happy. (seca= Ecuadorian artesenal beer brewers society)

master_haze

Hey who the h*ll do you think you are using my name and place of residence to do your dirty work. There is only one person in vilcabamba that is called Rick Wijnveld, and that is me. You are ruining my good name and if you insist on continuing to do so I will see you in a court of law!

Flying_Dutchman, the only real Rick Wijnveld here.