I had asked about this malt some time ago on another site and got no feedback. I searched the web and found no info either, Rahr has almost no data on their individual products. I suppose they are selling mostly to breweries and they deal with these guys directly. In any case, I had purchased a sack of this stuff and gave it a whirl yesterday in a Belgian pale ale. On a hunch I assumed the “Old World” meant it might be less well-modified than a normal malt, so I did a protein rest and then stepped up and did a long, 90min sacch rest at 150F. I got usual efficiency with this program so I was satisfied that I’d at least gotten good conversion.
In any case I was still curious so this morning I called Rahr and they sent me to Brewers Supply Group and I eventually talked with someone who gave me the scoop. This malt is made from Moravian barley and is less well modified as I suspected. Basically its the domestic equivalent of a Bohemian pils. I’m actually glad I made the selection, since I do enjoy a German lager.
Thank you for the info.
Do you know do they actually buy Hanka Moravian Barley and malt it here?
Somehow it just go agents economics of it.
You can buy pretty cheap real Czech malt malted in Czech republic in the bulk.
In bulk of course.
I believe he said they are buying the Moravian variety domestically.
My sack’s numbers are:
protein 10.99%
fine ground extract, dry 80.7%
color 2.27L
diastatic power 106 %
So its a little lower in protein and lower in diastatic power than a domestic Harrington 2-row, which is what you’d expect from a Bopils malt. The color is maybe a little lighter than traditional Bopils which is OK I think.
I buy through Momalting.com, they order through Brewers Supply Group every few months. I would suppose any place that carries Rahr malts can get this stuff. At 60 cents a pound it was worth a shot, and I’ve been doing more step mashes anyway so its really not more work. I didn’t order lager yeast this last time but when I get some in I’ll run a German lager using decoction and report back.
Yes thats it. I only deal with Kent by email and I travel to St Louis to pick up malt. I don’t think he does mail order but he can arrange for a direct shipment of a pallet of malt if you have a club. He rotates between a few different suppliers each month or two, its nice to have a variety to choose from.
Malt pickups are impromptu brew meetings. Last time we sampled around thirteen different beer styles. Also my record for malt in a Prius so far is 310lb, still got 49mpg round-trip.