I was on Ritebrew just now to order some malt. I saw Briess Synergy Select Pilsner, Briess Full Pint Pilsner and also Briess Synergy Select Maltgems. I have seen a few threads about these malts here on AHA but not a ton of real-world feedback and I didn’t want to roll the dice so I ended up with Best Malz Pils which I know makes great beer. Anyone have any experience with these Briess malts? Their price was pretty good… around $40 for a 50lb sack. Is there anything truly different about them? Are any of these exceptional malts?
I can tell you that Full Pint is a very popular barley variety here in the PNW. Mecca Grade and several others use it. Very full flavored.
I’m with Denny on this, Full Pint has flavor, and is easy to work with.
The synergy is said to have European character. You might try that one someday.
The Maltgems is supposed to have some of the husk material removed to create a smoother beer. This seems kind of odd to me because the description says it removes “harsh flavors” but I’m not understanding what harsh flavors they’re talking about. The Full Pint sounds good. I might just order a sack to experience it and the price is pretty attractive. Thanks guys.
When I was reading the description of the Full Pint, somewhere in there it said that “the fermented beer tasted sweet, slightly estery and tart”. That did not sound good to me and I wondered if those descriptions were based on some weird fermentation that they did. Malt should not bring out esters, right? Anyway… I added to my order and picked up a sack of it so I can try it on some upcoming beers. Cheers guys.
Without a better description from the taster, who knows? I have tasted Full Pint in many forms and never thought of that description.
Thank Jeebus. I don’t need a sack of malt that makes tart, sweet, estery beer. :P My guess is that it will make very nice beer here and I will report back.
This is gonna sound stupid. I bought some Briess Full Pint to try it out. But, I forgot to write down which batches I used it in. So, I can say it’s isn’t bad but I didn’t notice a glaring difference from Great Western Premium Two Row in an APA.
Worst review ever [emoji851]
That’s not necessarily stupid. When I put a recipe together I try very hard to add the specific brand of each malt that I am using and if I make a gametime decision and change something, I try to make a note of that as well. But sometimes I forget. I also try to add tasting notes to each beer and very often forget to do that. Palm, meet face. 
Also, the best way to compare malt is with the ASBC hot steep test, not in a beer. In a hot steep you eliminate variables that might affect flavor.
I’ve gone thru a few sacks of Briess Full Pint. I thought it was good stuff. The only reason I didn’t continue using it is because I’ve been using More Beer lately and they don’t carry it.
Briess Full Pint malt is a nice malt I’ve used it twice brewing Helles and the results were great.
I have an “American Lager” that I used in conjunction with their Bonlander Munich (and Edelweiss hops) and last weekend I used it in a dark lager where it was the majority of the grist. I don’t expect it to come through much because there was also Vienna and Carafa in there. But I also have a very light beer (I’m calling it a Caribbean Lager) where it will be Full Pint + Flaked Corn + Hallertau + 2124 and I should get a very good feel for it then.
I haven’t used those specific malts but my LHBS carries an extensive variety of Briess malt. It’s their main provider of American malts. No complaints from me. Always pleased with their product.
I’m seeing that Briess Full Pint isn’t on Briess’ website any longer. Wonder if they stopped producing it? It’s also been out of stock at Ritebrew for some time now.
That’s a shame. I liked it. (Sunset Hydroponics has it in stock).
Mecca Grade was using it for their products. Maybe they still do.
It seems like a product that didn’t get much traction in the marketplace. Very few retailers carried it. Very few homebrewers seemed to know about it.
There’s a lot choice out there for pale malt. I’m sure it is tough to get noticed and build a following.
I hope to try the briess synergy malt soon. I’d love to find a domestic replacement for Barke Pilsner. So far all teh ones I’ve tried havent cut it.
I hope to try the briess synergy malt soon. I’d love to find a domestic replacement for Barke Pilsner. So far all teh ones I’ve tried havent cut it.
Let us know your thoughts on the Synergy Select Pils from Briess. I, too, would love to find a readily available and comparable substitute for Weyermann Barke Pils or Best Malz Pils. Those two seem to provide the best flavor, but I haven’t yet used Mecca Grade (I buy my bulk grains from my LHBS and he seems to get large quantities of the malts I use. I hope to soon try Mecca Grade, even if I just order a one batch size. I am presently working through a sack of Rahr North Star Pils, which seems pretty good for domestic pils…