My LHBS is pretty new and the owner knows nothing about beer (he’s a wine guy who started carrying beer products). Most of what he has in there is the result of me telling him to get it. His supplier is Crosby & Baker and he is unwilling to get grains from elsewhere. What this means is he only gets Briess, Muntons, and Weyermann grains. Last time I was in I bought a sack of Weyermann Pils because that is all he had a full sack of and I was lining up a number of light summer beers. Well I kicked that bag and after not being overly impressed with the results I will not be buying it again. I have never used Briess 2 row or Muntons Maris Otter. Bries is $45 and Muntons $55. If you had to pick between the two which would it be? Neither of them is also an acceptable answer because I haven’t yet ruled out ordering from North Country Malt and biting the bullet for shipping. I’d just like to not spend the extra money if possible. I am very particular about making the right choice because it’s not as if I have a ton of cash to go around. I like to brew a variety of American and British ales that fall in the pale ale or bitter category, and also do the occasional darker ale for the autumn season. I’m trying to get him to place an order into NCM, even brought him the grain list, but he is just not having it. I think he is setting himself up for failure, which is a shame because a lot of homebrewers in my area could keep his business going if he just got his act together and supplied himself with what we are asking for.
If you didnt like the results with Weyerman Pils malt you need to look at your processes
That aside MO is a good malt
MO is the base malt for most of my beers
Fred
I’ve always liked Wyerman Pils, but for English beers it’s best to use Maris Otter. Bries makes a nice malt called Malteurop, which I find gives good extract and flavor.
I brew a number of German styles, and Weyermann pils is nice for those. If American and English ales are what you brew most often, Maris Otter is a good choice, and Munton’s is decent enough. Briess 2-row is an okay base malt, but I think it can be a little lacking in character. I usually end up adding some Biscuit, Munich, Victory or Vienna to get a bit more complexity than the plain Briess 2-row gives. So If I were you, and had to pick just one, I’d probably go with the Munton’s Maris Otter.
Re-read my post. Not that I didn’t like them, but rather I was under-whelmed. That combined with I don’t make many beers with Pilsner malt (except around summer time) is why I will not be buying it this time. I think MO is what I need to go with. The question is whether Muntons MO is worth buying or paying extra for some T&F or Crisp.
FWIW - after using Best, Weyermann is underwhelming too :o
Briess 2-row is also underwhelming, but serviceable.
I have used many, many sacks of Muntons, Baird, Crisp and Fawcett over the years, and IMO Muntons<Bairds<Fawcett<Crisp. However, my malt supplier, NCM, doesn’t carry Crisp, so I go with T&F.
I use it for almost all my ales and enjoy it.
Cheers!
you could consider getting the 2-row and using it to make other specialty malts. that said if you like the british ale types 10 extra bucks for the maris otter may be better suited for your needs
- a billionty and eleven! I’ve also found that it can have a “grassy” flavor.
+1
+1
Gotta love MO!
My LHBS (haha, that’s actually the name) is in the same boat. C&B only so Briess 2-row or Muntons MO. I said forget it and ordered from North Country. Even with shipping, saved some bucks.
The last (and first) time I was there I thought he said he carried Golden Promise as well. I was thinking of trying that out next if he has it once my MO sack is gone.
I wish MyLHBS would post what they have and a price list. He has a list of grains on a board behind the register, but he said that it wasn’t accurate anymore as stuff comes and goes in his inventory. I’d much rather be able to browse what’s available and at what prices than play 20 questions with him. I can only get over there on Saturdays, and it’s busy then.
Yup. My “go to” malt…
Of the 3 MO is by far the choice in my book. It was my base for everything I did for years until my LHBS turned me on to Golden Promise. I go through 3-4 sacks of GP a year. If I am doing styles that use pils malt I usually go 50/50 GP to Pils on these. Mostly Belgian styles but some German ales.