Maltsters .

[Lowlyric]

Most of the recipes I see have specific brands of malts. Is it More of what they can get or do flavor profiles from different maltsters make that much difference? I would imagine business brands are consistent.
I read a recipe yesterday with 6 different malts and all were from different maltsters.

 

[Minbari]

There can be quite allot of difference especially between English variety and the North American equivalent

 

[Sandy Feet]

There certainly can be. Too bad I can't get Riverbend in the brewstore down here. The breweries do big enough orders to get it, and I liked many of the beers where I know it was used. I was having a discussion with a guy in St Pete last week that used it, and the beers there were damn good.

 

[Lowlyric]

I don't think my palette could tell the difference between Briess, Rahr or Weyermann.

 

[Sandy Feet]

Probably not those, but I can tell the floor malted Pils.
Riverbend has some breadyness to it, almost like Otter, but a little different.

 

[Donoroto]

Most of the recipes I see have specific brands of malts. Is it More of what they can get or do flavor profiles from different maltsters make that much difference? I would imagine business brands are consistent.
I read a recipe yesterday with 6 different malts and all were from different maltsters.

There are differences, much like there are differences in, say, jars of tomato sauce, but considerably more subtle. Some differences are more obvious.

In an ideal world, the exact malts called for are available, but here in the real world, I buy what I can get… including using completely different malts in many cases.

For real-world examples, look through the “community brew” forum posts. Someone is selected to put up a recipe every quarter, and maybe one of 10 uses the exact malts. The rest substitute, sometimes heavily. And they all turn out pretty good.

 

[Lowlyric]

Makes sense. In my mind I would think it would be something more important in a clone. But that's one of the things I like about brewing it's always a little different regardless.

 

[J A]

At a homebrew level it's all about sourcing. If you brew a lot, you find a decent price on bags of your preferred base malt(s). Group buys may determine what brand you end up with or your LHBS may alternately have and lose access to particular brands, depending on their distributors. If you buy malts by the pound for each recipe, you're getting whatever your LHBS or online beer supplier is stocking and you may or may not even know exactly which brand it is if they make frequent changes.
I think some of us develop a preference for certain maltsters for particular types of malts but we pretty much take what we can get most of the time.

 

[Megary]

I think this is a pretty interesting topic. I definitely find differences from one maltster to another, sometimes those differences are subtle, sometimes they can be quite pronounced.
But if I'm dreaming up a recipe and have a goal in mind, I don't want those differences getting in my way...and so I've pretty much settled on using one maltster only. I've become very familiar with these grains and what they can and cannot bring to the beer and I find this repeatability helps me get close to what I'm after. I know the sweet, hay character I'll get from their Pils malt, the nuttiness from the Munich, the foam boosting quality from the Spelt...etc.

But I've also learned that they have no substitute for Maris Otter (who does?) and they also can't replicate the sweetness I get from British Crystal malts. (In fact, I don't believe US and UK crystal malts should ever be interchanged, but that's not really saying anything groundbreaking.)

Anyway, that's the long way of saying what everyone above has already said. I wouldn't expect one maltster's Pale or Pils or Roasted Barley to replace another's, though they might get you close. Or not. Brew and take good notes. And certainly, record what brand malt you are using.

 

[Dave Y]

I do like my beers with Weyermann Barke malts, but I also realize that I would very likely fail to identify it in a blind taste test or the triangle test that has become common.

I did get roasted by my neighbor, a former BJCP judge for swapping Munich II into my Alt a few recipes back. I had used Munich 1 but could not find it in my supplies - until I started the brew, and then I couldn't help tripping over a 10# bag of Munich 1 for the entire brew day.

But, I have subbed in different brands of Pils, Munich, etc. without much notice. It's hard to tell though because of confirmation bias. Barke malt ain't cheap !!!!

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

When a recipe lists a specific brand, unless it's mentioned in the notes, you really have no way of knowing why that particular maltster was specified. It could be that brewer really wants grain from that particular maltster or that's what his LHBS carried or had on sale. I try to get the brand specified in a recipe but, it's not available I'll substitute with what is available, especially if the grain makes up a small percentage of the grain bill.

 

[Lowlyric]

That's what seems a little odd to me. Almost every grain bill list maltsters.

There certainly can be. Too bad I can't get Riverbend in the brewstore down here. The breweries do big enough orders to get it, and I liked many of the beers where I know it was used. I was having a discussion with a guy in St Pete last week that used it, and the beers there were damn good.

Asheville brewers supply has it. Would you happen to have a few recipes you can share?

 

[J A]

I usually get down to the GA Coast once or twice a year. Next time I plan a road trip and if you’re still interested, I’ll ping you to see if it works out where I can drop some off on my way.

Speaking of good malt brands and road trips, I've been driving to the PNW for the summer for the last few years and I've been very tempted to detour and make a stop at one of the Great Western facilities and load up. I suspect that they probably wouldn't want to sell me a few bags worth and I'd have to just find a supplier in the area. A number of the breweries that I like in the PNW use Great Western and when I've been able to get it, I've really liked it.

 

[Semper Sitientum]

There certainly can be. Too bad I can't get Riverbend in the brewstore down here. The breweries do big enough orders to get it, and I liked many of the beers where I know it was used. I was having a discussion with a guy in St Pete last week that used it, and the beers there were damn good.

Soon after my LHBS changed hands they started carrying about 6 different Riverbend malts. I made a Pilsner with it to give it a try and to have something on hand for my non-experienced beer drinking family and friends because it’s easy drinking. It turned out way better than I expected and I attribute that to the malt.

Are you in the Tampa/St. Pete area? I get down to Sarasota once or twice a year. Next time I plan a road trip and if you’re still interested, I’ll ping you to see if we can work it out where I can bring some down for you.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

That's what seems a little odd to me. Almost every grain bill list maltsters.

What I meant was, when they list a specific maltster are they saying "you must use this brand!" or are they saying "use whatever brand you want, this is just the brand I used". You don't know unless they mention it in the notes.

 

[J A]

That's what seems a little odd to me. Almost every grain bill list maltsters.

In the case of the BF recipe calculator, and likely every other one, the ingredients come from a drop-down list and so the maltster is part of the item description. It's totally likely that some and maybe many recipes are put together using malts that are different from what's listed, even by the original brewer. If the malts are coming from an LHBS by the pound, they could be any number of brands and the brewer won't necessarily know which.

If there an article that describes and contains a recipe, it's likely that the exact brand and style of malts listed were used to brew that recipe. If the brand is important and is strongly preferred, the author/brewer will likely make an effort to explain that. Otherwise, it would probably be expected that malts of the same style and similar specifications could and would be used interchangeably to make that particular recipe.

 

[Lowlyric]

This is the recipe that got me thinking about replacement malts and the impact on flavor. About the BF drop down malt menu was a little bit of a head scratcher at what was listed and what my Brew store had.
I remember when I brewed my first all grain I couldn't find hardly anything that matched the recipe malts listed so I went with the same type and they All went fine.

 

[Limey]

Interesting chat! I buy my base malt (Briess Pale Ale Malt) in bulk - I use a lot of it! I can't afford to buy other base malts in bulk so I tend to use what I have as a substitute. Typically for Maris Otter or other pale malts. Don't know how much difference it makes, I've never done a comparison! What I have noticed is a BIG difference in diastatic power between different bulk buys. Not sure if this is because my brewing has improved, or not knowing the age of the malt. My latest batch has the poor old fermentation lock working overtime!

 

[Craigerrr]

I almost always modify any "new" recipes I brew to use the malts that I keep on hand. Could it make a significant difference? Maybe, but most likely not. Especially not if you never tasted a sample of that particular beer. Can't taste a magazine e page... of course I get it when a style of beer that depends so much on a specific floor amlted base malt, and there aren't a lot of hops, or higher ABV to hide behind. Just my opinion however, others feel differently.
I use Rahr Pale for my basemalt, which is pretty much Maris Otter if you ask me. I call it "Poor Man's Maris Otter"

 

[Dave Y]

Quoting @Bigbre04 : "Peasant 2-row for the win"