Great Western 2 row

[Jako]

Thinking of giving this grain a try. Anyone have experience with it? If so what style and what flavor did you get out of the grain.

My dad is flying out late this month and thinking of doing a heavy hop flavor @ 40ibu IPA at about 7%

 

[CascadesBrewer]

My standard base grain is Briess Brewer' Malt. My last bag was Great Western Premium. I have not done a side by side, but I cannot imagine that you could pick out a difference between these two malts. They both have that light color with a touch of a straw/grain/cracker flavor that I expect from an American Pale Malt.

 

[LLBeanJ]

It's just regular ol' 2-row. Tastes pretty much the same as any other 2-row pale malt out there. Darker than pils, lighter than pale ale malt. Works for pretty much any style, though it may not be the best choice for certain styles. Would be a good choice for an IPA.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

As far as I can tell, standard Briess 2-Row is potentially the Harrington strain, Rahr 2-Row is potentially a blend of Harrington and Metcalfe, and Great Western's 2-Row is potentially a blend of Klages and Harrington. No guarantees as to the accuracy of this opinion though. All of about 15 minutes of research went into it.

As to date of origin, I believe Klages came first, then Harrington, then Metcalfe. Take this with a grain of salt also.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

As far as I can tell, standard Briess 2-Row is potentially the Harrington strain, Rahr 2-Row is potentially a blend of Harrington and Metcalfe, and Great Western's 2-Row is potentially a blend of Klages and Harrington.

I have not figured out if varieties of American 2-Row is something I should be interested in learning more about. There are certain European varieties that get called out (Maris Otter, Golden Promise) but it is hard to even know what is in my bag of American 2-Row.

The Master Brewers Podcast had some interesting (in a beer geek way) episodes on the breeding of American 2-Row and how it has very different properties than European 2-Row. I suspect in the next few years the US will start to see more locally grown, locally malted options with lower protein and enzymatic power.

 

[Jako]

Great information thank you. I would have never thought to think what makes the brands different besides process and freshness.

My LHBS didn't have the two row so u bought the great Western pilsner malt. Going to be a interesting beer but I hope to have some thing crisp and clean that shows off the hops. One of the guys said this is his go to base malt whenever he can use it so we will see. Hopefully one day I will be able to try the 2 row.

 

[grampamark]

As to date of origin, I believe Klages came first, then Harrington, then Metcalfe. Take this with a grain of salt also.

I've grown malting barley, off and on, for most of my adult life. Your chronology would be correct. Klages has been around for decades, Harrington for at least 20 years and Metcalfe is the most recent variety.

 

[Jordan Logo]

Great in my opinion! My go-to for my blonde ale.

 

[pdxal]

Yep, solid 2 row, hard to tell from any other maltsters' 2 row. As described above- more malt grain/cracker/bread flavor than pilsner, not as much as pale ale malt or something like Maris Otter or Golden Promise.

 

[dwhite60]

I remember buying straight klages two row many years ago as something special.

I'm getting old.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[Wayne1]

The barley world has moved on from Klages. Harrington is very much on the way out. Metcalfe is fairly popular these days. My latest bag of Rahr 2-row Standard was blended from '17 Pinnacle 50%, '17 Copeland 50%. The Rahr Pale Ale was a blend of '16 Copeland 25%, '17 Copeland 25%, '16 Metcalfe 30%, '17 Synergy 20%.

A few maltsters are using 100% Genie, which I feel is a wonderful barley. Ask your shop for a malt analysis. It will have the blend used to make the malt.

Personally, I do not care for Great Western. Of the bigger national brands, I prefer Rahr. Then Briess. Look for locally grown and malted, if quality matters above cost. We are lucky in Colorado to have Colorado Malting Co. and Root Shoot Malting growing and malting very high grade barley. All of their malts are single variety barley.