I’ve been thinking/researching this for a while. What I’ve found has overwhelmingly been conjecture, so I’m looking for some practical experience. How exactly, in a finished beer, is Belgian pale malt different from an English (Scottish?) pale malt like Golden Promise?
The only “reputable” take on the topic I’ve found was this, by Fix: http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue1.1/fix.html
He basically said they’re both great. Any thoughts?
Dr. Fix had one hell of a palette.
If he says its too close to call, I’m just going with whatever’s cheaper from now on…
IMO, it will be quite a noticeable difference. Pils malt (Belgian or otherwise) will be crisp and light. Golden Promise will have a much more pronounced malt profile and a sweeter flavor. IMO.
Yeah, the “pils v pale” thing has been done to death. I’m trying to figure out the difference between Belgian pale malt and UK pale malt.
Oops, sorry! I think the difference between most UK and Belgian pale malts is going to be negligible. IIRC, Golden Promise is kilned a bit darker and has a maltier flavor.
I’ve got most of a sack of the Simpsons GP. For some reason, I thought I’d be brewing a lot of UK styles this year, which was dumb because I almost only brew continental styles. I have a sack of floor-malted bopils, but I had to mail-order that so it’s quite a bit more expensive than the GP I got at my LHBS.
I guess what I’m getting at is, should I use my bopils malt for Belgian ales, or can I reasonably substitute the GP for the pils, in Belgian styles? You know, the typical enkel/tripel/dubbel/quad type beers.
I say use the Golden Promise but cut back on specialty malts such as caramunich or crystal.
They are both great, but GP has a sweeter, biscuit flavor to my palate. Keep in mind that Fix’ article was written 19 years ago and there have been changes since then.
I’ve got a sour enkel and a flanders red planned. I guess I’ll try the GP and see what happens. I usually use a bit of aromatic malt too (5% or so). Should I cut back the aromatic? It’s the Simpsons 2L stuff, not the Fawcett 3L.
If you belong to a local hombrew club you could try selling your grain to someone.
I don’t usually care about brewing to style, as long as it tastes good. We’ll see how the next couple beers go before I give up on the GP.
I used GP for a mini-mash on an American Bitter after finding out 21st Amendment uses it in their Bitter American. I’m pleased with the results.
During mashing, I was definitely getting a “graham cracker” aroma. Is that what was meant by “toasty/biscuity?” I’ll try to reserve judgment until I taste the beer, but I think I see what a few of you mentioned.
Yeah, I think that’s a good description.
Hmm…Never used GP before. From that description, im intrigued. Sounds like itd make a helluva good Brown Porter with English Brown Malt and some Chocolate Malt.
It’s also the go to malt for Scotch ales.
I used about 5% aromatic malt too. I probably should’ve listened to you guys who said to cut back the specialty malts. I’m going to brew another Belgian Pale, and I’ll try using 100% GP.
I pretty recently used GP in a Scottish 80 shilling ale and a sour-worted Oud Bruin style beer and they both came out excellent. It has a reputation as the Scottish version of Marris Otter, and deemed by some as superior and slightly sweeter. It provides a standout, full-flavored malt backbone.