Maris Otter vs. 2 Row Pale Malt

[badmajon]

Hey all,

So I recently made the Bee Cave Brewery house pale ale, but I modified the recipe and used MO instead of 2 row. It's not a terrible beer, but IMHO the bready flavor of the MO does not compliment the sweet munich malt and almost gives the beer a kind of sourish taste which I do not like.

I used to just use MO in everything when I first started because I started brewing to make session bitters which I could not buy in the US, but now that I am expanding my repertoire I have found there is a place for 2 row and a place for Maris Otter.

Where do you all think MO is best used, and where is it best to use American 2 Row Pale?

I think personally MO does not generally go well with sweet light body beers. I've used it a couple of times as a base malt for stout and it was fine b/c the other flavors in the stout kept the bread flavor balanced. I think I will restrict my use of MO to dry beers or beers that have enough body to balance out the breadiness.

I think the Bee Cave recipe will taste much better with 2 row next time I make it as 2 row seems to give a kind of neutral, crisp taste that although does not have a lot of flavor on its own, compliments the secondary malts.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Seems you've answered the question within the post where it was asked!

So...+1?

 

[badmajon]

I'd just like to have some second opinions from some veteran brewers to make sure I'm not just talking out of my rear, which I have done uh, on occasion, in regards to brewing!

 

[Yooper]

I'd just like to have some second opinions from some veteran brewers to make sure I'm not just talking out of my rear, which I have done uh, on occasion, in regards to brewing!

Well, I don't think MO is the least bit "sour" in APAs. But it's breadier and "warmer" and maltier. I don't like it many IPAs or APAs, unless I'm looking for those characteristics in a beer. US (or Canadian) two-row is "grainier" and more neutral in flavor. It's a great base for beers where you are adding specialty grains for flavor.

 

[kanzimonson]

I almost infinitely prefer MO to 2row... however, I'm always conscious of using Munich alongside MO because they can add similar flavors to a beer. Munich is a little more upfront toasted bread crust while MO is more like bread dough maybe. It also seems to take less Munich to get these flavors than a comparative amount of MO. When those two malts combine it makes for quite the malt-forward beer. Not necessarily a bad thing but something to be planned for.

I'll say - I don't find anything sour about MO... is your beer young?