So I feel a little dumb but what's with the naming rights with UK malt?
I used to go to my lhbs store and always got Simpson's Golden Promise and Maris Otter. Because of this, I always assumed Simpson's "owned" those names because that's what I always got from the start.
Since that lhbs went on line only, I changed to a different lbhs (2 hrs away but it still saves when buying full bags) but now they source Thomas Faucet. And it's still called Golden Promise, Maris Otter, etc.
Googling, it looks like they're considered heritage malts and Simpson's is the current holder (?) for Golden Promise. Is this not like hops with holding the patent of the variety for "X" amount of years? Can any maltster in the UK use these names because they are old enough to do so? Is there a noticeable difference or concern using one source or the other?
I used to go to my lhbs store and always got Simpson's Golden Promise and Maris Otter. Because of this, I always assumed Simpson's "owned" those names because that's what I always got from the start.
Since that lhbs went on line only, I changed to a different lbhs (2 hrs away but it still saves when buying full bags) but now they source Thomas Faucet. And it's still called Golden Promise, Maris Otter, etc.
Googling, it looks like they're considered heritage malts and Simpson's is the current holder (?) for Golden Promise. Is this not like hops with holding the patent of the variety for "X" amount of years? Can any maltster in the UK use these names because they are old enough to do so? Is there a noticeable difference or concern using one source or the other?