Ireks Malt

[oldschool]

Hey all,
Does anyone have a reliable homebrew quantity supply for Ireks products?

Mine has fallen through unfortunately.

This is beside the point of the thread but I really find their malt to be excellent. Great flavor, DP, extract, pH drop etc
I think the next best which is readily available is bestmalz pils. I’m not team Weyermann pils here, though some of their other malts like caramunich and carafa special are really nice.

Anyway, does anyone know of a place I can get Ireks with shipping to MI?

Thanks a lot,

 

[jdauria]

Was your supply Texas Brew Supply or whatever it was called? I used to order my Ireks there and then they went and became a pro brewery shop only. You would have to order sacks and it may be costly and I don't know if they would ship say 1 sack of grain, but try Stone Path Maltsters here in Mass. Stone Path, they have a partnership with Ireks and sell "Franconian malts", that are sold as Stone Path Pilsner etc. I am not sure if they get the raw grain from Ireks and then malt it to their specifics, or if it's US grown grain that is then malted to Ireks specifics. But I used it a lot before my LHBS closed. They also sell German Speciality malts that are 100% Ireks malts, still in Ireks sacks and such. I know local homebrewers can go there and just buy a sack. You may have to contact them to see if they are willing to ship.

I don't know how good the store is, but looks like High Gravity Brewing in OK has the three base malts and wheat. Ireks malts Looks like they sell by ounce too.

 

[Wayne1]

You might want to contact Prairie Malt. They are the importers/distributors of IREKS;

Prairie Malt – USA​

704 South 15th Street
Sheboygan, WI 53081
USA
Tel: 920-445-8291
Email: [email protected]

 

[oldschool]

Was your supply Texas Brew Supply or whatever it was called? I used to order my Ireks there and then they went and became a pro brewery shop only. You would have to order sacks and it may be costly and I don't know if they would ship say 1 sack of grain, but try Stone Path Maltsters here in Mass. Stone Path, they have a partnership with Ireks and sell "Franconian malts", that are sold as Stone Path Pilsner etc. I am not sure if they get the raw grain from Ireks and then malt it to their specifics, or if it's US grown grain that is then malted to Ireks specifics. But I used it a lot before my LHBS closed. They also sell German Speciality malts that are 100% Ireks malts, still in Ireks sacks and such. I know local homebrewers can go there and just buy a sack. You may have to contact them to see if they are willing to ship.

I don't know how good the store is, but looks like High Gravity Brewing in OK has the three base malts and wheat. Ireks malts Looks like they sell by ounce too.

Yeah it was Tx Brew or whateve. They were great and had everything. It’s a real bummer.
Looks like the store in OK is good to go. Unfortunately shipping to MI is costly. That’s my fault though. I’ll be buying from OK.
Prairie malt doesn‘t ship to individuals.
I hope Ireks can gain some market hold in the US. Hard to keep up with weyerman Marketing with the red bibs and such.

 

[jdauria]

Yeah it was Tx Brew or whateve. They were great and had everything. It’s a real bummer.
Looks like the store in OK is good to go. Unfortunately shipping to MI is costly. That’s my fault though. I’ll be buying from OK.
Prairie malt doesn‘t ship to individuals.
I hope Ireks can gain some market hold in the US. Hard to keep up with weyerman Marketing with the red bibs and such.

Unfortunately, I don't see Ireks gaining more of a foothold in US any time soon. Between home brew shops closing all over the place, less people joining the hobby and even breweries closing, if Ireks was very limited during the boon days, can't see them spending the money and effort to now try to increase US market share. Have you tried any of your local craft malthouses to see if you like their malts? Like Great Lakes Malting Company? I order from Hop Craft Supply in your state some times and always see the Great Lake stuff on their site. Recently I bought a half sack of Munich directly from Deer Creek in PA and have to say it the Munich is fantastic, lots of flavor and aroma. It may be my go to Munich from now on, once I finish up the last 10-15 lbs of a sack of Weyermann Barke Munich. Just for the hell of it, I just went Irek's website and then from there to their North American site and the page is all about their baking products, not brewing malts, and seems to be focused in Canada. That kind of tells me that the baking business is more lucrative here than brewing malts are.

 

[oldschool]

Unfortunately, I don't see Ireks gaining more of a foothold in US any time soon. Between home brew shops closing all over the place, less people joining the hobby and even breweries closing, if Ireks was very limited during the boon days, can't see them spending the money and effort to now try to increase US market share. Have you tried any of your local craft malthouses to see if you like their malts? Like Great Lakes Malting Company? I order from Hop Craft Supply in your state some times and always see the Great Lake stuff on their site. Recently I bought a half sack of Munich directly from Deer Creek in PA and have to say it the Munich is fantastic, lots of flavor and aroma. It may be my go to Munich from now on, once I finish up the last 10-15 lbs of a sack of Weyermann Barke Munich. Just for the hell of it, I just went Irek's website and then from there to their North American site and the page is all about their baking products, not brewing malts, and seems to be focused in Canada. That kind of tells me that the baking business is more lucrative here than brewing malts are.

Honestly I have never used any of the craft malts. I have this thing where I assume the product will be inconsistent or poor quality. It seems like the bug producers put out consistent quality. I should give them a try sometime.
I think overall the Ireks baking products are the bulk of their business. I got turned on to them because a friend did his internship there some years ago and he said they produced most of the malt for Augustiner so there’s a psychological tie to them for that. Plus I’m tired of the weyermann hype.
Also as a sidebar I’m sad about the craft brew industry decline and homebrew market as well.
But the breweries are to blame for their demise after all.

 

[jdauria]

Honestly I have never used any of the craft malts. I have this thing where I assume the product will be inconsistent or poor quality. It seems like the bug producers put out consistent quality. I should give them a try sometime.
I think overall the Ireks baking products are the bulk of their business. I got turned on to them because a friend did his internship there some years ago and he said they produced most of the malt for Augustiner so there’s a psychological tie to them for that. Plus I’m tired of the weyermann hype.
Also as a sidebar I’m sad about the craft brew industry decline and homebrew market as well.
But the breweries are to blame for their demise after all.

Besides the Deer Creek malts, have to say Mecca Grade malts were fantastic, but shipping them from Oregon was pricey. Was sad to see they sold the business. Now that I know Ireks makes most of Augustiner's malt, I am really upset it's so hard to find. Was in Germany this past Fall for Oktoberfest with 9 other guys and all I kept pushing was the Augustiner tent and going to Augustiner Keller, their largest beer garden/restaurant in Munich. Everyone of their beers I had, I let out a little swear word because they were so good!

Agree on the breweries, lot of places that never should have opened making mediocre beer combined with big craft breweries that sold out only to get screwed over by their new corporate overlords (looking at you Anchor!).

 

[oldschool]

Besides the Deer Creek malts, have to say Mecca Grade malts were fantastic, but shipping them from Oregon was pricey. Was sad to see they sold the business. Now that I know Ireks makes most of Augustiner's malt, I am really upset it's so hard to find. Was in Germany this past Fall for Oktoberfest with 9 other guys and all I kept pushing was the Augustiner tent and going to Augustiner Keller, their largest beer garden/restaurant in Munich. Everyone of their beers I had, I let out a little swear word because they were so good!

Agree on the breweries, lot of places that never should have opened making mediocre beer combined with big craft breweries that sold out only to get screwed over by their new corporate overlords (looking at you Anchor!).

Never been to Oktoberfest but hear it’s a **** show.
Too bad we aren’t neighbors- we could split some Ireks bags from OK.

 

[jdauria]

Never been to Oktoberfest but hear it’s a **** show.
Too bad we aren’t neighbors- we could split some Ireks bags from OK.

Ha! It was a blast, though I think my son and his cousins enjoyed it more. They went to the tents every single night pretty much and then closed the hotel bar after that every night, while us old guys just did a few times and then just spent the rest of our time at biergardens and the hotel bar! Beer was amazing though and it took me like a month after coming back to start enjoying any beer again because everything I had seemed like crap compared to what we drank there.

 

[oldschool]

Ha! It was a blast, though I think my son and his cousins enjoyed it more. They went to the tents every single night pretty much and then closed the hotel bar after that every night, while us old guys just did a few times and then just spent the rest of our time at biergardens and the hotel bar! Beer was amazing though and it took me like a month after coming back to start enjoying any beer again because everything I had seemed like crap compared to what we drank there.

German beer is very special. Especially if you aren’t buying in stateside.

What was your favorite lagerbier hell from the trip?

 

[jdauria]

German beer is very special. Especially if you aren’t buying in stateside.

What was your favorite lagerbier hell from the trip?

That's easy, Augustiner's and their Edlestoff was probably the best beer I had in the week. Hofbrau Original was a good Hell also. Festbiers at the tents were all pretty similar, but I liked Paulaner's the best. For the life of me, could not find a Schwarzbier anywhere, maybe breweries are not making them that time of the year, or biergardens are leaning towards Festbiers during O-Fest, but both Augustiner and Hofbrau Dunkels were top notch. Funny at Augustiner Keller I ordered the Dunkel and the waiter kept telling me no, you don't want that, it's dark. He must have assumed all Americans drink yellow piss water! I was like "oh I know it's dark, I am a brewer, so Dunkel danke!"

 

[oldschool]

Yea

That's easy, Augustiner's and their Edlestoff was probably the best beer I had in the week. Hofbrau Original was a good Hell also. Festbiers at the tents were all pretty similar, but I liked Paulaner's the best. For the life of me, could not find a Schwarzbier anywhere, maybe breweries are not making them that time of the year, or biergardens are leaning towards Festbiers during O-Fest, but both Augustiner and Hofbrau Dunkels were top notch. Funny at Augustiner Keller I ordered the Dunkel and the waiter kept telling me no, you don't want that, it's dark. He must have assumed all Americans drink yellow piss water! I was like "oh I know it's dark, I am a brewer, so Dunkel danke!"

Yeah I feel like Schwarzbier is a north german thing. Franconia does them but that’s north compared to Munich.

 

[jdauria]

Yea

Yeah I feel like Schwarzbier is a north german thing. Franconia does them but that’s north compared to Munich.

I wanted to go to Franconia for a day trip, Nuremberg to be exact, just to drink the rotbier found in that area, but got outvoted and we did a day trip to Salzburg instead.