So my new grain mill is en route, and now I obviously need to buy a sack of grain to go with it 
I plan on brewing a lot of Belgian styles this year, so I was thinking of getting a sack of Castle Pils. Anyone have any differing suggestions?
I prefer whatever the brewpub I’m buying from has to sell ;D. I like Weyermanns Pilsner for my Belgians, but when I was buying from the brewpub just up the highway I used Cargill’s Pilsner malt with good results.
My palate can’t really tell the difference between continental pils malts. I can taste the difference between continental and NA. For me, Castle is a lot more expensive than Weyermann. It’s not like Belgium grows a lot of barley, so Castle and Dingeman’s barley is coming from somewhere else, probably Germany or eastern Europe.
I like the Weyermann Bohemian malts. The floor-malted kind is Tolar or Bojos, and the regular-malted kind is Hanka. While I can’t taste the difference, for some reason I feel better knowing the name of my barley variety.
It depends on what kind of Belgian beers you’re brewing. Pilsner is sort of the default base malt for Belgian beers but there’s actually quite a few Belgian beers using pale malt as a base because it gets you a less dry, grainy taste. If you are going to brew a lot of tripels, Belgian blondes and BGSA then yes, pilsner is the appropriate choice. Anything else could easily be brewed with pale malt, even saisons. Just depends on what flavor profile and mouthfeel you want in the beer.
I feel like pils malt gives me a sweeter finished impression than pale or pale ale malts.
Belgian or German pils malt is what I recommend. Rahr pils is good too.
I used to use Rahr pils, because it’s the cheapest malt at my LHBS. It’s not bad, but I think for styles without a lot of specialty grain (like a Trippel or Golden Strong) I think a continental pils is a better choice. After a few disappointing continental-style beers, I ended up using the rest of the Rahr in American-style beers.
Castle is good. I’ve tried it, MFB, Weyermann, Durst, and Best (maybe another one or 2). For my tastes, best beat everything else.
Best is what I use for everything - even my IPA!
What can I say…Best is best!
I use Best and Weyermann. I like both equally well. I’m on a Best kick now, mostly because the price is right.
I thought I detected a little “grassiness” the last couple times I used Weyermann. I might have been imagining it.
I agree that Best is a great pils malt. I also like MFB for my Belgians. I just bought a sack of each.
This is an interesting thread for me. I plan on Brewing Belgians this summer, so I plan on doing to SMaSH beers, changing the malt between batches. I might do one with a Belgian Pilsner malt and one with a Belgian Pale malt. I might try two different pilsner malts…
+1
I’ve been brewing Biere de Garde, Saison, and Belgian you-name-its with MFB Pale malt for years, sometimes along with Dingemans Pilsen and sometimes not, but either way with great results.
I’ve used Castle with great success in my Belgians, but it’s my first sack of Belgian Pils, so I don’t have much to compare to.
I have used both MFB pils and Best pils with very good results. I prefer Weyermann for Munich type malts though.
Denny set me early on with Best Malz pils - I tried it, agreed on its quality and haven’t looked back, but I can’t always get it locally (I buy by the full 50 lb sack), so Dingeman’s has been a close second for pils malt.
I have to agree with the others - Best is wonderful. The last Dubbel I made with it was the best one yet.
I like to use MFB pale as my Belgian base malt. At times I think Pils distracts from what you’re trying to do in those beers. The few breweries I’ve toured in Belgium and Germany all seemed to use a mix of pils/pale depending on the brewery. I remember munching on the grain at Ayinger and thinking that their base malt, which they described in typical German fashion as ‘lager’ malt, seemed much more subdued than typical Best or Weyermann Pils.