Mecca Grade Estate Malts

Williams 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I don't like SMaSH beers, but the only way I can know what to expect from this malt and it being my first time trying BRU1 hops, the SMaSH was the way to go. I brewed a 6.2%, 55 IBU beer and boy, is there a difference with this malt. Slightly biscuity, very slightly sweet but full bodied. I don't get a fruit flavor or aroma from the BRU1 but this tastes like a great, lawn cutting, summer beer. It does show the body though even it if tastes almost like a small pale ale.

I plan on using this malt with my standard 2 row since it's so expensive but I can't wait to play with it along with other malts now. I think I'll try their rye malt too since I've ready it's definitely different from other rye malts.

While I like the beers I brew, they were all starting to taste like 'my beers' and I've tried different yeasts and other things to create something that my friends would not know was made by me and this did just that. Not award winning but just a really good quality beer. If you can get Mecca Grade malts, give it a try. I think you'll be happy.

I ordered this from Mecca Grade before I knew Northern Brewer ships it free. The cost is a bit cheaper for me from NB because of the distance from me to Oregon. I will order this again but from NB next time to save a few $$.
 
I just ordered 10 lbs each of the American 2 row, Vienna and Munich malts and am very excited to use them. I've heard nothing but good things about their malt. I'm thinking of making a SMaSH with Munich and Perle hops for my first brew with them.
 
chewyheel said:
I just ordered 10 lbs each of the American 2 row, Vienna and Munich malts and am very excited to use them. I've heard nothing but good things about their malt. I'm thinking of making a SMaSH with Munich and Perle hops for my first brew with them.
Click to expand...

IMG_0001.JPG


Here’s a pic of the lager I made with all Mecca Grade Munich. Magnum for bitter and Perle for the rest, very tasty.
 
I just brewed a rye pale ale with Lamonta and Mecca Grade Rye (can't remember what they call it right now). Only 3 lbs of rye but I've used that amount many times in my rye beers and there's definitely a difference. In the past, I hardly noticed the rye but not this time. It's not strong but noticeable and I don't see me going back to the 'normal' rye I've been using.
 
I usually have to use crystal rye to get some good flavor in there. Some rye that has an impact on its own sounds great.

Anybody in bay area planning a group buy?
 
So I sold my soul and made a purchase from NB just to try Mecca Grade malts. Hopefully there wasn’t another way that doesn’t require buying a whole 50# bag or paying a ton for shipping, and if there is, don’t tell me, please ;)

I designed a Best Bitter using 6lbs of their Pilsner and 2lbs if the Opal 44, and an American Wheat with 4lbs each of their Pale and Wheat malts. Excited to taste the difference!

Anyone else use them recently in something similar? I’ve got about six hop varieties to choose from in my freezer for the above grain bills. Tons of azacca, and a pound each of chinook, willamette, pacific gem, Amarillo, northern brewer, plus a few oz of citra and soon, a pound of mosaic.
 
Planning on brewing a Pilsner over the next month or two based on the a Brulosophy recipe which uses Mecca malts. Glad to know about FH Steinbart instead of Northern Brewer. Just ordering by the pound, because I can't justify spending $100+ on a sack of grain, though I do spend $70 at my local shop for Weyermann Barke Pils every several months...so who knows...if it's that good, maybe I will let the moths out of my wallet. ;)
 
eric19312 said:
Northern Brewer is carrying Mecca Grade. Lamonta 50 pound sack $105 with free shipping.
Click to expand...

That’s $0.69/lb less than the by-the-pound price I paid yesterday.

I only wanted enough to do two recipes to try it out and would order full sacks from somewhere else if I liked it enough.
 
I've gotten 2 sacks of Lamonta so far and a few pounds of Mecca rye and Munich. What I do with the Lamonta to try and save a few $$$ is mix it with my standard 2 row base malt. Even a 50/50 mix is vastly different to me than the same recipes I've done in the past. I like everything about it but the price and though I still occasionally use it 'full strength', I'm sold on it. Maybe I'll tire of it someday but I'm digging it right now!
 
Here’s another pic of an all Mecca malt pale ale I made. It’s 70% 2 row and 30% Munich.
IMG_0080.JPG


Darker than I expected but taste great. I did a lot of late boil hopping, hop stand and dry hopped. Even so the hop flavor is there but not over the top, very pleased with how it turned out.
 
I'd be more than willing to ship 10# bags pre-milled or not (I have several bags of Pelton, Shaniko, Lamonta and Vanora). I live in the area and have access to all of the varieties, but my lhbs carries about 6-7 of them. $7.90-19.99 to ship anywhere in the country.
 
chewyheel said:
Here’s another pic of an all Mecca malt pale ale I made. It’s 70% 2 row and 30% Munich. View attachment 614955

Darker than I expected but taste great. I did a lot of late boil hopping, hop stand and dry hopped. Even so the hop flavor is there but not over the top, very pleased with how it turned out.
Click to expand...

You sure that’s not Munich 2?
 
Chrisdaviking said:
I'd be more than willing to ship 10# bags pre-milled or not (I have several bags of Pelton, Shaniko, Lamonta and Vanora). I live in the area and have access to all of the varieties, but my lhbs carries about 6-7 of them. $7.90-19.99 to ship anywhere in the country.
Click to expand...
sweet, thank you! would that $be 8-20 for both the grain and shipping? or just shipping?
 
radwizard said:
I agree about the Rye. I have been using a lot more Rye in my brewing since trying out Rimrock Rye. I have been doing a all Mecca Grade Saison with about 16% that has just been blowing my mind.
Click to expand...
yet another random data point: i made a hazy rye IPA with 10.1% Rimrock, and the rye is over-powering. i love the spiciness but it's overshadowing the hops. will definitely cut back next time, in this recipe.
 
sweetcell said:
yet another random data point: i made a hazy rye IPA with 10.1% Rimrock, and the rye is over-powering. i love the spiciness but it's overshadowing the hops. will definitely cut back next time, in this recipe.
Click to expand...


I've used the Rye in Saison, Biere De Garde, and a Dubbel. Higher amounts in the Saison's. I feel like it pushed my Saison to another level, haven't tried it in a IPA though. The Lamonta/Shaniko combo has been treating me well in Hoppy beers.
 
radwizard said:
Has anybody used them? I saw some of my favorite breweries using these guys and ended up at their website https://www.meccagrade.com/

Looks like pretty good stuff. I have seen that a few PNW LHBS spots are stocking it now. I shot them an email and got a quick reply saying they sell direct to homebrewers, and offer tours of the process.

The malt is a touch pricey, but I think I am gonna give it a shot here pretty soon. It's a bit of a drive out there, but sounds like a good time.

Does anyone have any experience brewing with these malts?
Click to expand...
Our club in Bend Or. had a brew day at Mecca Grade and a personalized tour. For a family farm/malting facility, it blew our minds. Their malts are the best and very unique. Most of it gets bought up by Bend breweries. Since you are in Oregon, you can probably find it. The Brew Shop in Bend could get it. You might even be able to buy direct.
 
Amadeo38 said:
Mecca Grade FTW - was able to pass off 6lbs Mecca Pilsner and 2lbs Mecca Opal 44 with American bittering hops and Imperial Kolsch yeast as a Best Bitter for a gold medal this weekend!
Click to expand...

Congratulations Amadeo38. I sometimes will spend the extra money and get Mecca Grade malts from Steinbart and have it shipped to Florida. It is that good and worth it to me.
 
riceral said:
Congratulations Amadeo38. I sometimes will spend the extra money and get Mecca Grade malts from Steinbart and have it shipped to Florida. It is that good and worth it to me.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Your username and location make me wonder whether we know each other. I’m Joe from the Hogtown brewers - might you be Ralph?
 
Amadeo38 said:
Thanks. Your username and location make me wonder whether we know each other. I’m Joe from the Hogtown brewers - might you be Ralph?
Click to expand...

Yes, that's me. Congratulations on your gold. I watched the awards ceremony online last night. I'm in Austin visiting grandchildren.
 
Found this thread way too late, but I try to make semi yearly stops at the malthouse, Seth and Brandon are great and they are super gracious to homebrew visitors, giving tours and whatnot (at least for now) and can sell bags over the counter. At $60-70 per bag it's an easy decision, buying even one bag direct pays for gas from Portland, Corvalis and the like.

My favorite IPA recipe uses Lamonta and Metolius, Opal 44. I agree with Denny that their Rimrock Rye is the best rye I've found. I use a fair amount of that and Shaniko in my saisons. My biggest success that I can attribute to their malt was a 50/50 Pelton/Shaniko Berliner weisse that turned out really nice, getting a ton of flavor out of a 3.5% beer that had just a touch of hallertauer M. and was brett conditioned in bottles. It took a silver in the fall classic, but the brett conditioning is just now showing some good character. I have a similar table saison finishing primary that has a touch of vanora for some depth, also a 4.0% crusher that has the character of a stronger beer thanks to their distinct malts. It will be interesting to see how things shape up for their full pint / maris otter hybrid.
 
My brother was going to be in the area on business last year and I had him stop by and grab a few bags for me. The Lamonta is gone and I am almost out of Pelton. Have more of the Vanora and Metolius left.

Their Full Pint barley variety definitely drinks a lot “bigger” than one would think... My most successful brewed 100% with it was a Munich Helles, featuring mostly Pelton, and slightly overshot my 4.2% - finished at 4.3% ABV. It drinks like a 5 to 5.5% ABV beer in my opinion. And actually tastes a lot like a fresh Heineken. Have brewed 3 batches of it so far, so about 25 gallons or so, and within a gallon of finishing it off too.

Some of my brews may have finished a tad too “malty”, in particular some pale ales and IPAs where the heavier than expected malt fights with the hops a little bit. I’m going to experiment and maybe mix some “Plain Jane” Great Western 2-row with Lamonta next time to see if I prefer the results. I don’t really care for Great Western malt by itself so maybe a blend will work better...?

I have been mixing 20% Pelton with BestMalz Pilsner in my German Pils with excellent results! Just gives the pilsner a tad more malt body, which I really like. And with upping the finishing hop rates it gives a super enjoyable beer in my opinion. And it did really well at the Oregon State Fair last summer (1st for pale hoppy European lagers).

And one of the smaller breweries in the state made a Pre-Prohibition Pilsner with 80% Pelton and about 20% corn malt (??? approximately / from recollection) and it was excellent!
 
I am working on a Petit saison (3.3%) using their undermodified Gateway malt, along with Pelton, Rimrock Rye and Shaniko, plus a tiny bit of oats for more body. I agree it drinks like a full flavored beer, and that's with a low finishing gravity.
 
goodolarchie said:
I am working on a Petit saison (3.3%) using their undermodified Gateway malt, along with Pelton, Rimrock Rye and Shaniko, plus a tiny bit of oats for more body. I agree it drinks like a full flavored beer, and that's with a low finishing gravity.
Click to expand...
Undermodified? Their own published analysis shows it to be as overmodified as any other industrial, North American malt.
 
goodolarchie said:
Not disagreeing, just that this is literally what Seth calls it. https://www.meccagrade.com/foundation-malt
Click to expand...
I suppose it is under modified in some respects, not in others, but it doesn't look like a favorable modification. S/T of 40-49 seems overmodified for full pint. On the other hand, beta glucan at 500 is astonishingly high for any malt, and quite problematic. It's odd. Perhaps appropriate to the historical reproductions for which it is apparently intended.
 
Amadeo38 said:
So I sold my soul and made a purchase from NB just to try Mecca Grade malts. Hopefully there wasn’t another way that doesn’t require buying a whole 50# bag or paying a ton for shipping, and if there is, don’t tell me, please ;)

I designed a Best Bitter using 6lbs of their Pilsner and 2lbs if the Opal 44, and an American Wheat with 4lbs each of their Pale and Wheat malts. Excited to taste the difference!

Anyone else use them recently in something similar? I’ve got about six hop varieties to choose from in my freezer for the above grain bills. Tons of azacca, and a pound each of chinook, willamette, pacific gem, Amarillo, northern brewer, plus a few oz of citra and soon, a pound of mosaic.
Click to expand...
I’m glad you had a good experience w Opal.
Mine was the opposite. I put in about 12 oz in a plain lager to add a bit of flavor and color and it was overwhelmingly sweet. The grain bill was about 9lb pils malt and high 20’s ibu. It tasted like a crystal bomb.
My wife didnt notice it as much as me, so it could be something I was weirdly sensitive to.
I still use their pale and pilz malts and love them.
 

Similar threads

Beer-lord
What's your favorite malster and why?
2
Replies
41
Views
5K
BrentinArkansas
B
Brooothru
Is Imperial L26 "Pilgrimage" blended yeast an Andechs strain?
Replies
31
Views
4K
Brooothru
Brooothru
I
Mecca Grade Rimrock and Opal 22 malts
Replies
1
Views
871
MrPowers
M
seatazzz
My favorite LHBS is closing...
Replies
38
Views
2K
oakbarn
oakbarn
4_Sons_Brewing
12 Beers of Christmas - 2023 Edition
11 12 13
Replies
512
Views
20K
passedpawn
passedpawn
BrewSwag 300

Latest posts

Back
Top