A bit light for Maris otter?

[Braufather]

Just back from hols and opened up latest corny.
It’s an American IPA with 90 % Maris otter but looks very pale? Pilsner like rather than the orange tinge of MO.
It’s floor malted so does that make it lighter?

MO is a go to for me over the years and has always given a bit of amber so am a bit confused

Any thoughts?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I normally find Maris Otter very pale but Golden Promise is quite orangey, you’re not mixing them up in your mind are you?

 

[An Ankoù]

Low colour MO is quite common and called for in a lot of recipes.
For example, Crisp's Extra Pale Maris Otter is 2.5-3.5 ebc while their "Finest" Maris Otter is 5-7 ebc.
Crisp also do a floor made Extra Pale, 2.8-4.0 ebc, and a floor made standard Maris Otter - GEB don't provide details of the colour, but it'll be about the same as the "finest".
Simpson's Golden Promise is 4-6 ebc.

I reckon you've somehow got hold of a batch of Extra Pale.

 

[RichardM]

Is the beer good? If yes, then does the colour matter?

 

[Leon103]

Just back from hols and opened up latest corny.
It’s an American IPA with 90 % Maris otter but looks very pale? Pilsner like rather than the orange tinge of MO.
It’s floor malted so does that make it lighter?

MO is a go to for me over the years and has always given a bit of amber so am a bit confused

Any thoughts?

Any picture?

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Put the beer in a tankard and then decide if it tastes to light.

 

[Braufather]

Pic here

 

[Sandimas]

There is an "extra pale" version of Maris Otter, could it be that? I've accidentally ordered that in the past rather than the normal one.
https://crispmalt.com/malts/extra-pale-maris-otter-malt/

 

[Braufather]

I’ve used the extra pale myself a few times but this was floor malted Maris otter I ordered. They may have sent me something different though?

 

[An Ankoù]

I’ve used the extra pale myself a few times but this was floor malted Maris otter I ordered. They may have sent me something different though?

GEB stock Crisp's (Number 19. I think they call it) floor malted in Standard and in Extra Pale.

 

[Hanglow]

You said 90% mo, what else is the rest? That makes a massive difference obviously. The beer looks far too dark compared to a pils, but pics can be inaccurate

this beer was made with 100% pils malt for reference

 

[Spratt]

The colour of barley and hence malt will alter from year to year, depending on the weather.

If you get a hot sunny May and June, the grain tends to bleach and you'll get very pale looking grain. When you get a year like this, with a largely wet June, there will be more of a golden hue to the grain. This year I think I've seen some of the best coloured barley straw (and hence grain) that I've ever seen so there should be some very golden samples around once it has been malted. The best samples of Maris Otter are meant to come from North Norfolk because the sea mists provide the necessary moisture to give it the colour, though as a retired farmer from Suffolk, I would of course dispute that!

Having said all that maltsters will if necessary blend grain from different UK regions and if possible different years to try and give as consistent a product as possible and that's before the malting process itself which will of course produce marked differences.

Personally, I'm not convinced that I'd be able to tell the difference were I blindfolded and given a pint made with very pale malt and one made with golden malt if all the other parts of the recipe stayed the same.

 

[Braufather]

Is the beer good? If yes, then does the colour matter?

Yes in that floor malted MO is a quite a bit more expensive than regular pale malt. Just wanting to make sure i haven’t been sent wrong malt. I use regular Maris otter in most brews and it’s always much more orange so wanted to check.

 

[Braufather]

I normally find Maris Otter very pale but Golden Promise is quite orangey, you’re not mixing them up in your mind are you?

Looking back at notes on pre ious brews, I’ve always commented mo brews colour as orangy. I’ve Also used extra pale before and this looks similar to that.

 

[Donegal john]

Yes in that floor malted MO is a quite a bit more expensive than regular pale malt. Just wanting to make sure i haven’t been sent wrong malt. I use regular Maris otter in most brews and it’s always much more orange so wanted to check.

I think I’ve a bag of floor malted Mo at home and have a 90% Mo beer in the corny so will have a look when I finish slaving to my master and get to the brew shed.

 

[Donegal john]

My 90% floor malted Mo kevic brew. As promised but a bit later than I said.

@Braufather it’s a bit more orangey than yours to be fair

 

[Braufather]

looks good- that’s more like I was expecting!

 

[Sandimas]

For reference, here's a brew made with Extra Pale MO. It's hard to tell from your pic, yours does look a bit darker - extra pale really is pale.

 

[Donegal john]

looks good- that’s more like I was expecting!

I have a small amount of carapils , cara rye and wheat in it as well so that may add to the colour.

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

Maris Otter is a variety of barley

The thing that will determine it's colour is the malting process.