what malt?

[Clint]

Hello all
I'm keen to continue with partial mashing and need some advice please. .
I have a few single can kits to use first...ale,wheat and bitter plus an amber lme and two dark.
What crushed grain would you advise to mash with these?
My initial purchase was a few kg of maris otter and a bit of crystal but obviously buying 10+ kg works out much cheaper.
Plus...where do you buy yours?

Cheers

Clint

 

[MyQul]

I buy my base malts and specialty from get er brewed. I buy the irish malt base malt, either the lager or ale malt. It's really cheap but the more you buy the cheaper it is (e.g. a 25kg sack is 17.10). On top of that theirs the 5% forum discount

 

[terrym]

Hello all
I'm keen to continue with partial mashing and need some advice please. .
I have a few single can kits to use first...ale,wheat and bitter plus an amber lme and two dark.
What crushed grain would you advise to mash with these?
My initial purchase was a few kg of maris otter and a bit of crystal but obviously buying 10+ kg works out much cheaper.
Plus...where do you buy yours?

Cheers

Clint

You have to mash pale malt to convert the starch into fermentable sugars, and the inbuilt enzyme known collectively as diastase does it for you. Any malt that has been kilned will have little or no diastase, and the higher temperature and longer the kilning process the less likelihood of any diastase being there. However you can use the diastase present in pale malt to mash with other grains that dont have any like wheat or oats to convert their starch into sugars.
Crystal Malt does not have any diastase so if you are using it own its own a steep is all that is a necessary to extrcat the sugars.
There is no diastase in LME or DME or kit malt, so you cant use them to provide the diastase for mashing. You may find some old books have recipes that contain reference to Edme DMS, or Diastatic Malt Syrup, but this is sadly no longer available.
For some kits I do 'minimashes' using 250g Pale Malt and 100g Torrified Wheat and some Crystal Malt, with the objective of adding something extra to the kit, plus I get the benefit of the head retention provided by the TW. For such small quantities I am not too prescriptive about the sort of Pale Malt I buy, and its usually in smaller quantities because I want to keep it fresh.

 

[Fil]

if buying in bulk the malt miller wins hands down, before he moved to swindon i would phone up with my order hop in the car and by the time i would get down there the last of my grain was filling up the last bag. You cant get a fresher crush than crushed to order.. If you ask they will bag up in 5kg sealed poly bags to keep as fresh as long as possible, and i have brewed with grain iv had sat for over 12months without any loss in efficiency.

I did always opt for the Fawcetts MO for the everyday base malt but recently have switched to ordering the Crisps MO.

a de-whiffed exmango chutney barrel (45-50l) will contain (just about) a full 25kg sack of crushed malt (a lil ground knocking to settle the grains may be needed..) And keep it fresh for a good while and most importantly if storing in an outhouse rodent proof !!

 

[MyQul]

You cant get a fresher crush than crushed to order..

Unless you crush it yourself half an hour before you brew

 

[Slid]

Hello all
I'm keen to continue with partial mashing and need some advice please. .
I have a few single can kits to use first...ale,wheat and bitter plus an amber lme and two dark.
What crushed grain would you advise to mash with these?
My initial purchase was a few kg of maris otter and a bit of crystal but obviously buying 10+ kg works out much cheaper.
Plus...where do you buy yours?

Cheers

Clint

Worcester Hop Shop is my go-to supplier. Smaller range of stuff and a focus essentially on English Beers. The recipe kits taken from the Graham Wheeler book might be of interest.

 

[Fil]

Unless you crush it yourself half an hour before you brew

Ya got me there