Moving this discussion here since it’s drifting farther and farther from “What’s brewing…”
Can anyone comment on how Sugar Creek’s Ye Olde Pale Ale compares to Maris Otter or Golden Promise?
I’ve used Ye Olde once ages ago because it was recommended for British-style ales, but have never used MO or GP.
So we are all on the same page to begin with.
Maris Otter is an older variety of 2 row winter barley. It is low yield and it is my understanding growers receive a premium to make up for the lower yield compared to modern varieties of higher yield producing barley.
Various maltsters produce malted barley from Maris Otter, some use traditional floor malting techniques which contributes to its fuller flavor profile. Crisp produces malt from Maris Otter barley using traditional floor malting (Maris Otter #19 ) and “regular” Maris Otter malt produced using modern malting techniques. I also know Thomas Fawcet produces floor malted Maris Otter as does Warminster
In my years of brewing I purchased one bag of two row brewers malt, no idea of the variety. Did not care for it and have been purchasing either Maris Otter, with my preference being from Crisp, or Golden Promise which is a spring variety of barley.
Personally I find Floor Malted Maris Otter has a fuller flavor profile with a touch of biscuit that I find compliments the beers I make. I really enjoy pairing MO with citrusy hops.
Maybe other varieties of barley are just as good but given my limited time I have available to brewing I go with what I like.
Reading about the Sugar Creek Pale ale malt you use the description sounds identical to MO. Given all the variables when brewing AND serving I highly doubt there would be that big of a difference
I have found that Maris Otter (I use Crisp, non-floor malted I believe) adds a wonderful bottom to lower gravity beers, as well as a sense of righteousness to English styles. I get a certain depth of maltiness that falls in the cookie/biscuit/nutty zone. Mentally I equate this flavor to Bitters or Milds and it’s in these styles that I feel that MO really shines.
I’ve used MO, Golden Promise, ‘English-style’ malts all from various maltsters over the years. To tell the truth, I don’t find much difference that make one over the other remarkable. Especially when hidden below, roast, toast, C malts, etc. However, I am no ‘super taster’ with a fine tuned pallet so I could be blind to the subtle differences.
If I had a local homebrew shop selling malt from a local maltster produced from locally grown barley I’d probably go with that if not prohibitively expensive. Since I don’t, I order online with enough other ingredients to get free shipping. I usually try to get the ingredients sourced from the country that the beer I plan to brew is from.
Having said that, I’ve always wanted to try Warminster MO but haven’t because the one place I can find it doesn’t have free shipping.
Some Maris Otter malts (like Muntons) are not 100% Maris Otter. Crisp, and I believe Simpsons and Golden Promise are 100% MO. Muntons is a mix of MO and Pilsner Malt, I think 50/50.
+1. I recall Dr Bamforth say that far more MO is sold than is grown. 
I think one of the confounding factors with Maris Otter is that it’s typically kilned higher than other pale malts. The last bag I bought was Warminster Floor Malted and the COA for it had it in the 3.5°L vicinity where my local pale malt from Epiphany right now is only 2.5°L. So unsurprisingly, the Warminster was way, way toastier, more like… a Vienna malt.
I use Maris Otter myself, but at the same time I would guess that if most people used a 50/50 combo of Pils and Vienna, or even just a really light batch of Vienna, that would cover the bases for 90% of styles. My English brown ale is stacked with specialty malts and I personally don’t notice a difference between MO and pils for that beer.
Not necessarily my just opened bag of floor malted Crisp 19 has a color of 2.2 SRM
Also depends on the flavor profile you are going for. If you are going for an “over the top” roast for a darker beer then perhaps there may not be a difference
However in my years of brewing and tasting MO gives a beer a more rounded complete flavor ESPECIALLY in a brown ale or even my Oatmeal stout. Again everyone’s taste is different. However for my time brewing I am going with MO most of the time
So the motivation behind the question is: I’m coming up on my 100th batch. The first batch I did was an extract brown ale. I’m thinking of doing an upgraded English brown ale.
I like to keep my recipes pretty K.I.S.S.; so my thought is to do about 90% MO or GP or Ye Olde with the balance being a bit of chocolate and a bit of Crystal 60 or 120. Maybe biscuit instead of the chocolate. 
Showing my bias here but if it were me for a KISS beer
Floor Malted MO to hit target gravity or close to target gravity
UK chocolate malt and medium crystal to hit color and target gravity
WYeast 1968 to bring out even more malt flavor
