Hello fellow home brewers! It’s been some time since my last log on, sorry. But I need some opinions ASAP.
I’m brewing v.3 of my Heady Topper clone. Version 2 was VERY close and I think I need slight hop adjustments. That being said, I’m scheduled to brew tomorrow with my buddy, but life as usual got in the way and I forgot to order Pearl malt. My LHBS has Maris Otter which I think will not make a discernible difference, but the purest in me needs to check with my peeps.
What say you all? How will MO change the outcome from Pearl?
From what I’ve read, The Alchemist uses Pearl due to it’s breadiness and ability to support the hop character. I’m hoping MO will not be so far off that it changes the beer entirely. I just don’t know enough about grain or have the palate…
I have a sack of Breiss Pale Ale malt but I don’t think it will stand up to the hop profile. Per my last post, I think that’s why they chose Pearl or something similar. Hoping MO is closer than further away…
If I were in your shoes I think I would do something like a 50/50 blend of the MO and pale 2 row malt. MO is fairly distinctive and might not be a great base malt at 100% but combined with 2 row might get you where you want.
I think you’ll make good beer regardless, Dave. I’d just say that Russian River makes some mighty fine IPAs/IIPAs with domestic 2 row and pretty aggressive hopping. Go with what sounds good to you. Good luck!
Pearl is my standard British malt. It definitely does not taste like Maris Otter (MO). Pearl has a refined bready flavor that is very clean for a British malt. Maris Otter has a much stronger flavor that is more biscuit than bread.
Great advice guys! I like the idea of a mix a LOT. I think we will taste all malts available and come up with a plan. I knew the forum would set me right!!
Well after the grain taste we decided to go all MO and see what happens. Perfect brew. Hit all numbers on the dot. I’ll let you know the result in about a month!
For my DIPA recipe I do 8 oz of a British crystal and then split the rest of the grain bill 50/50 between 2-row and M.O. I think it makes a great combo. I haven’t tried this combo yet for a regular IPA, but do think it would hold up well.
