Difference between Malts

[LeithR]

Does anybody know if there is any difference between grains malted for beer making and those malted for whiskey distilling.

I wouldn't have thought there would be much of a difference if any, there is only one way to malt grain I suppose but thought I would ask. I have a whiskey maltings not far from where I live and was thinking of tapping them up for some malted grain. :whistle: :whistle:

 

[DrinkTillIDie]

I'd think it would be a different strain of Barley so not Marris Otter, etc but the basic pale malt most like will be usable, but as to the flavor profiles I couldn't even being to think if they are similar.

 

[John_Henry]

I can't offer anything of fact having never used or heard of anyone using whisky maltings. However, if you think that whisky is basically distilled beer, I would think you could be on to a winner. I know that what you are looking for with good quality barley for malting is basically how well it sprouts, and hence how much 'sugar' you can get out of it to convert into booze. I would imagine for whiskey it would be at least the same if not better. The only difference I could see is the type of malt, e.g. crystal etc.

If it were me I'd definitely have a sack of them and give it a go, I'm pretty sure your results will be good.

 

[rich27500]

This is a useful guide http://www.maltmadness.com/malt-whisky/beginners-guide-04-distilling.html

I'm using a sack of golden promise as my base malt for beer as my LHBS was out of motter when I ordered. It's the same price.

 

[Hawks]

I was going to say I thought it was Golden Promise - which IIRC is also the base malt used for TT Landlord :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

Golden promise is certainly a variety used in Malt Whisky IIRC. As long as it is 2 row you should be fine. :thumb:

 

[Devonhomebrew]

Beer malt is slightly more coloured than distilling malt. Reason being it is cheaper for the whiskey maker to have a low colour because of less roasting and all that mate :thumb:

 

[jamesb]

Likely to be higher nitrogen content too. distillers don't really care that their preproduct is hazy.

 

[asd]

It will be higher nitrogen, and that means higher protein so more chance of haze. They will not be that interested in "maltiness" - I don't think it is roasted all that much -, as most of the the flavour will come from additions of smoked malt, and the barrel ageing.

I've read somewhere that some spirit manufacturers don't even bother boiling the wort, and ferment straight on the grain, before the first distillation.

I've got Simpsons down the road from me - they do whisky malt, amongst others http://www.simpsonsmalt.co.uk/home.aspx

I think it would be best to stick with beer malt, as the price difference isn't really worth it, and beer malt is made for making - beer! Might beinteresting adding a little smoked malt to a brew, though.

Simon.

 

[John_Henry]

It will be higher nitrogen, and that means higher protein so more chance of haze. They will not be that interested in "maltiness" - I don't think it is roasted all that much -, as most of the the flavour will come from additions of smoked malt, and the barrel ageing.

I've read somewhere that some spirit manufacturers don't even bother boiling the wort, and ferment straight on the grain, before the first distillation.

I've got Simpsons down the road from me - they do whisky malt, amongst others http://www.simpsonsmalt.co.uk/home.aspx

I think it would be best to stick with beer malt, as the price difference isn't really worth it, and beer malt is made for making - beer! Might beinteresting adding a little smoked malt to a brew, though.

Simon.

How do you find simpsons malts, are they good? I've always used bairds (except when I made my own), I wondered how they compared.

 

[prolix]

Another for golden promise, the Glengoyne distillery brewed it to 5%

 

[LeithR]

I went out to the maltings I mentioned earlier in this thread for a tour yesterday.

Very interesting, they malt 3 different types of Barley none of which is MO or Golden Promise. They malt Calypso and get this I love the name for whiskey Barley - Moonshine, the third variety's name I can't remember. It seems that they malt these barley's and then mix them to the distilleries specification before shipping them to the distillery. The distilleries then crack the malt ready for brewing/distilling.

Altho I took a camera there was nothing to photograph, the whole place is operated by 2 men, the whole thing is totally automated and there is nothing to see.

I came home with a nice 15Lb bag of Moonshine uncracked so I'll have to get the food processor into operation.

I think I'll try using it as a basic pale malt on its own and do a small batch to see how it works then use the rest mixed in with some MO for other batches.

 

[John_Henry]

I went out to the maltings I mentioned earlier in this thread for a tour yesterday.

Very interesting, they malt 3 different types of Barley none of which is MO or Golden Promise. They malt Calypso and get this I love the name for whiskey Barley - Moonshine, the third variety's name I can't remember. It seems that they malt these barley's and then mix them to the distilleries specification before shipping them to the distillery. The distilleries then crack the malt ready for brewing/distilling.

Altho I took a camera there was nothing to photograph, the whole place is operated by 2 men, the whole thing is totally automated and there is nothing to see.

I came home with a nice 15Lb bag of Moonshine uncracked so I'll have to get the food processor into operation.

I think I'll try using it as a basic pale malt on its own and do a small batch to see how it works then use the rest mixed in with some MO for other batches.

Let us know how it turns out. Out of interest, what did they charge you?

 

[LeithR]

Let us know how it turns out. Out of interest, what did they charge you?

Hi there John_Henry - no charge free sample! very nice of them.