One of my LHBS, South Hills Brewing Supply, just got Avangard malts in. They have the pilsner malt on sale at an introductory of $40 per 55 lb sack. I split a sack with somebody since I am only an on brewing a pilsner or two over the next year. I thought it was a good deal but haven’t used this brand. What do you guys think of the quality of Avangard?
I’ve never even heard of it, let alone used it.
Same here
apparently they are the biggest maltster in Germany. 340,000 mt/a
It says established in 2006 too. I wonder if they sell it under other labels.
The promo email that I got said it’s cheaper than Weyermann. They also did side by side tastings with Weyermann and preferred the Avangard. So I guess we’ll see.
Who is the “they” in the tasting?
Marketing people, of course!
We all know Weyermann. A German friend called them “small”, and that they did a good job developing their export business. They have the one facility in Bamberg. Durst malting has 3 facilities. Looks like Avangard has 4. Don’t know about the size or production of the others.
I would assume they would be the nice people at South Hills Brewing Supply.
Glad I’m not the only one new to this outfit. Must’ve just started exporting to the US. I’ve read Germany’s maltsters are generally small and unorganized. Weyermann sure doesn’t give that impression.
My LHBS just got some for $40/bag. I think for this price I’ll have to check it out with some lagers and Belgians. I’ll report back with my impressions later.
I ordered a sack of pils and a sack of Munich, they should be here end of next week. I paid $45 per sack which is cheaper than the domestic Briess malt my LHBS carries.
I brewed with this today. It has a nice smell and creates a nice Hot Scotchy 
It was tough breaking up all the dough balls and the first rubbings were really sticky, but the second runnings drained well.
I shot for an OG of 1.047 and hit 1.053. I usually allow for .003 of error, so I don’t know whether I jacked up the calculations or it’s just higher extractable malt. My volume was spot on.
I am really confused.
I brewed with the pilsner malt last week. My target gravity was 1.060. My OG was 1.065.
Wow… Gotta love autocorrect. Should be “I shot” and “don’t” instead of dong lol
If we get a couple more people on board, this could become more trendy.
What about those sticky first rubbings, Frank? :o That’s a little TMI, if you ask me…
Glad to hear the second runnings drained well anyway.