Malt guidance

[Harbey]

Having brewed around a dozen AG recipe kits, I think I'm now ready to start developing my own recipes. I've just about got my head around the software now and I know the styles of beer I like and the type of hops I like the best. It's the malts which I'm finding a bit more of a minefield (I'm keeping yeasts simple for now). I know that for a pale ale or IPA I'm wanting majority of pale with one or two extras like Vienna or Caramalt. I'm just not sure what the difference ise between a Maris Otter and a pale malt? And when do I use a Vienna instead of a Crystal? Why would I add aromatic or wheat? Anyone know of a good malt guide?

 

[matt76]

I'm in a similar position, I'd like to experiment more with malts this year

Palmer gives a summary of a few malts in his book, but Greg Hughes lists more and seems more useful to me - both are worth a look (for this, and pretty much everything else!)

I asked in the home brew shop and they told me MO and pale ale malt are near enough the same thing.

I can thoroughly recommend adding flaked barley (up to 9% myqul told me???) to aid head retention and add mouth feel - I just substitute x grams of MO for the same amount of FB.

 

[Drunkula]

they told me MO and pale ale malt are near enough the same thing.

Yeah, it's a little bit like Shreddies and Asda Malted Wheaties, they're almost the same but you might pick out a difference if you try.

A brewery I went to uses pale malt in preference to maris otter because they say otter puts too much of an edge on that they want to avoid in some beers can can quickly add back with small amounts of other malts.

 

[ACBEV]

This is not a malt guide as such... but this PDF from Warminster Malting has been very useful to me...

http://www.warminster-malt.co.uk/wp...arminster-Product-Characteristics-2016-I1.pdf

 

[Drunkula]

A few more links like the above - but of course they possibly don't help (A bit like Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels).
http://brupaks.koruna.co.uk/index.php/the-brupaks-guide-to-grains/
https://oldrepublicbrewing.wordpress.com/malt-and-grain-guide/
http://howtobrew.com/book/section-2/what-is-malted-grain/malt-types-and-usages

I've mentioned it before but I find most brewing books absolutely miss the point because our familiarity with brewing ingredients is pitiful when compared to things like food because of lack of experience with them. In your mind you can think does tinned tuna go with nutella... hmmm, not my first choice for breakfast - but if somebody says does caramulan go with Golden Primate... you're like whahhiiihhhnow? If I get to the point where I can think recipes then I'd explain what each element brings, trying to describe it, maybe even drawing an analogy with food, and say why mixing it with the other thing would work. I call it the "Griggle" problem where griggle is a cooking ingredient you've never heard of.

So for me that's what recipe books need to do - explain the recipe. A lot of it is the author having so much experience they can't express what's become instinct and nuance. If you've just learnt something then sometimes you'll do a damn site better job of teaching it to somebody else that a pro.

And that's why I hate Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. For me it was like me parachuting into the rain forest to find an undiscovered tribe, giving them the index pages from 200 Haynes manuals and then going "Build me a f*cking car now." I'll avoid trolling on this if anyone gets defensive... ok I'll try and avoid it. 8)

 

[Zephyr259]

Yeah, it's just something you have to play with unfortunately. I've read all I can on malt options etc but a lot of it can be personal opinion, I found a blog series on the Beer and Brewing Magazine site called "Make Your Best..." it's just wrapped up after going through most styles and it's interesting but the author doesn't seem to use as much crystal malt as others would and I'm sure he has a fetish for chocolate rye.

I still never really make a recipe totally on my own, I'll think what I want then look to other examples, even yesterday I posted up asking for some opinions on what to add to a pale ale in addition to the base malt. As with a lot of things, I think I got 3 responses and 4 opinions, which is someone's signature on here... It's all helpful since people will explain why they do what they do, which is what you can't get from most books.

I've learned that +/- 20% Munich II is good in my amber beers as it boosts the malt character that I like and I've brewed beers with and without it. Beyond that I'm still running on rules of thumb like 5 - 10% flaked barley is good, don't go too high in crystal etc.

Good luck.