American 2-Row vs. British Pale

Are they different enough to justify buying both in bulk?  I bought a 55 lb bag of each last year and need to make another bulk grain purchase because my supplies are running low.  Historically, I have brewed my American beers with the 2-row as a base malt and my British beers with the Pale.  I’m not sure if there is enough of an appreciable difference to justify buying 55 lb bags of both.  Your insights/suggestions are appreciated!

I personally buy CMC 2 row pale and TF Maris Otter, and could not imagine life without them both,but then again I also keep German and Belgian Pilsner malts too  ::slight_smile:

Did you brew anything with close enough recipes between the two sacks that you could draw a conclusion?

I love Thomas Fawcett Maris Otter - wouldn’t do without it. That said, if you are not making English style beers US pale 2-row is all you need.

Definately worth getting at least both

Got a sack of Golden Promise the last group grain buy , they were out of Optic :frowning:
I really liked the beers when Optic was the base malt.

Not really (unfortunately).  My British beers are fairly, well, British (i.e., english yeast, lower attenuation, etc.) while my American beers tend to be very American (i.e., American yeast, higher attenuation, hoppier, etc.).  I could probably try brewing my next British beer with American 2-row as a base malt (since that is the less expensive of the two malts) and evaluate any differences.  But I do like the idea of having both types of malt around, if for no other reason than for authenticity’s sake (and I’m probably answering my own question here).

In that case, it sounds like you definitely want another sack of each!

Regular US pale malt vs UK pale malt, I don’t think there’s much difference. US 2-row vs Maris Otter though, definitely. I keep both on hand.

For the past 3 years, I’ve made all my ales with TF Maris Otter, and I rarely, make a british style - only an occasional ESB.

never saw any reason to have am 2-row on hand…

I’m confused…isn’t MO a 2 row malt?  Can’t it be kilned any way the maltster wants?  Isn’t “regular US pale malt” a 2 row malt, too?  Can’t it be kilned any way the maltster wants?  So what is it that makes MO better than US 2 row malt, assuming they’re kilned the same?  Is it the malt variety?  If so, is there any reason MO couldn’t be grown in the US?

MO is a 2-row variety, but I don’t think it’s grown in the States, at least not in any significant quantity. IIRC domestic 2-row is all Harrington and Klages. Most (maybe even all?) commercial MO malts are also floor malted as opposed to using drums. I don’t know if the majority of the flavor difference comes from the different raw product, or the different malting technique, though. It could be a “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” thing, for all I know.

I was under the impression that only 1 or 2 maltsters were still floor malting.  And why would that make a difference, and what would the difference be?  I swear I’m not being difficult, just trying to understand.

I know Fawcett and Crisp are both floor malted, so even if some have switched over to drums at least a few of the heavyweights are still doing it. I don’t know what the effect would be, but there must be something to it, or else everyone would have switched to the cheaper techniques.

brew the same beer twice - once with american 2-row, once with MO - certainly not scientific due to all the other variables, but you’ll get a good comparison.  :wink:

I need to do just that.

As I understand it, MO is a two row winter barley that’s a cross between Proctor and Pioneer. It’s claim to fame is it’s ease of manufacturing and it’s superior flavor. I’ve been using it and really like it, but I want to do a side by side comparison to American 2 row maybe a Breiss product.

Oh, I’m well aware of the flavor differences.  What I’m trying to grok is why there are flavor differences.  Is it simply the variety of barley?  If so, why isn’t MO grown in the states?  And what does floor malting add to it that other types of malting don’t?  There’s so much that homebrewers accept just because “somebody said so”…I want to know why!

I think taste is developed in trip from continent to the states on high see. Rocking ship wips out any undesired flavor compounds from malts :slight_smile:

By the way Weyermann just started floor malting “Hanka” bohemian barley. Different malting processes will give you different results. Can some say decoction vs non decoction?

Why some barley variety are grown in certain parts of world would depend on environmental conditions, soil, humidity…
Think about hops. German Hallertau vs US Hallertau?

was only having a little fun with you - I knew that’s what you meant  ;D.

however, to me its analagous to rotisserie chicken (modern malting methods) vs. pan roasted chicken (floor malting) - both can start with the same raw materials, use the same temperature and cook time, but they end up tasting different - perhaps not drastically, but somewhat.  Certainly, this isn’t the best analogy, but it sorta works in my noggin.

as was said, growing conditions cause a lot of difference, even with the same species of barley.  Similar to: I know people who swear they can taste the difference in steak from Nebraska vs. Texas (I can’t, but you get the idea).

The  process the malt goes through doesn’t concern me, only what tastes best.  In my IPA I’ve tried 6 different base malts over the years, but I found the MO based ones were the best end results, that’s all I need to know -

after doing a batch with MO and with Am pale have a number of folks taste  or else have someone blindfold you to eliminate any subjectivity.My professional brewer friends here feel there is NO difference between UK and US pale;they have no experience with MO…which brings me to a tangent…one of the traditional “great” brewing books is by Wheeler and Protz and IMHO all they do is to use essentially the same recipes changing only the brand of pale malt which doesn’t help me since I buy by the sack and usually have limited choices

The reason Marris Otter is not grown more commonly is for monetary reasons. It is a low yield cultivar. Growers can get lotsa more bushels per acre with other varieties.