Favourite Base Malts

[DJB1962]

Finally getting back into some brewing and have splashed out on a grain mill so will be buying bulk grain. So much cheaper and easier to play around with recipes.

Just wanting some other brewers thoughts on what base malts they use and recommend.  I have used Barrett Burston, Gladfield and Weyermann and all have seemed fine. 

Got hold of 5 20L pails for $20 so I have some storage sorted.  

[Hairy]

Maris Otter is one of my faves.

[The Captain!!]

I really like Barrett Burston Ale malt as a base. It works for me and is malted only a couple of hundred clicks away. 

I’ve only done a few brews with maris otter but that was great too.

[DJB1962]

Was thinking of going with the Barrett Burston as it is well priced and can get it locally here on the GC so save heaps on shipping.

Anyone tried the Coopers Malts? Can get that up here as well.

[porschemad911]

Can you get the Voyager malts? Veloria, Compass and Atlas are all really nice. 

Cheers, 

John 

[DJB1962]

No. Haven't seen them locally, but we don't have many shops that sell bulk grain here on the GC.

[The Captain!!]

Kelsey might be able to assist here he’s in Brisbane and think he gets in on bulk buys on another forum 

[Naughty Corner Brewing]

52 minutes ago, DJB1962 said:

Anyone tried the Coopers Malts?

I think @King Ruddager used it in one of his videos recently? I could be wrong though. Was that the SMaSH Ruddy?

[Naughty Corner Brewing]

Just had a look in his thread in the same section as this.

[DJB1962]

Thanks. Will check it out.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

I use BB pale for my ales and normal lagers and weyermann for my pilsners and Belgian beers. Maris otter is great for English beers but i only do 1 or 2 a year so i buy it sparingly.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I used Maris otter for a long time in all my ales, really enjoyed it. I recently bought a bag of Gladfield ale malt to compare. Can't really notice a difference flavor wise but I have been getting better efficiency with it, so I might just stick with it for the foreseeable future. 

For lagers since I brew pretty well all Euro style ones I use Weyermann. I've used the "normal" pilsner malt as well as the Bohemian pilsner malt. I prefer the Bohemian one overall. Of that, I've used the floor malted and standard ones. Couldn't really tell much difference between them. 

If you're on the ACB forum, there are grain bulk buys that happen periodically. I usually use these to buy grain as it's cheaper by about $15-20 a sack to buying in store. They usually pick up from Hoppy days at Virginia though, which is a bit of a hike from the coast. 

[Mark D Pirate]

For quality and freshness I can't go past either Gladfields or Coopers malts. 

If I climbed my roof I could possibly see the Coopers maltings and Gladfields have just opened a depot here. 

A Co-founder (Gabi ) of Gladfields came along to our last brewclub meeting,  wealth of information .

First thing you notice with these malts is kernel size is very consistent , this helps give a consistent crush. 

I find less junk like sticks or stems in them as well as a higher extract. 

 

[DJB1962]

Thanks all for the info. 

For Local availability it comes down to Gladfield, Barrett Burston and Coopers.

Mill is due to arrive today so no doubt I will have plenty more questions.

[Mark D Pirate]

What mill did you get ? 

Got a plan for mounting yet ? 

I set up a temporary solution 18 months ago and not got around to tidying it up 

[The Captain!!]

1 hour ago, Mark D Pirate said:

Gladfields have just opened a depot here. 

I only hope that the depot over there will help us in the West getting our hands on some of these malts. Very hard to come by over here.

[Otto Von Blotto]

35 minutes ago, Mark D Pirate said:

What mill did you get ? 

Got a plan for mounting yet ? 

I set up a temporary solution 18 months ago and not got around to tidying it up 

That's pretty much how mine is set up, little rubber feet around the underside of the timber to hold it in place while milling. Works well so no plans to change it.

[DJB1962]

I ordered it on Catch. Was too good to refuse.

i have some 20l pails so was planning to Fit the mill baseboard over one of them.

[Mark D Pirate]

1 hour ago, The Captain1525230099 said:

I only hope that the depot over there will help us in the West getting our hands on some of these malts. Very hard to come by over here.

Gabi was heading west for just that reason , shoot them an email .

Customer support is important to them , if it wasn't for homebrewers they'd have never got off the ground 

1 hour ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

That's pretty much how mine is set up, little rubber feet around the underside of the timber to hold it in place while milling. Works well so no plans to change it.

i have timber blocks screwed in that line up with the flat sections in the poor old Coopers FV , also used it as a sparge rig and an extra mash tun at times 

[The Captain!!]

11 hours ago, Mark D Pirate said:

Gabi was heading west for just that reason , shoot them an email . 

Thanks Mark, I’ll do just that.

[BlackSands]

I use Gladfield exclusively.   In store I'm milling a ton of grain every week and the GF malts just look and smell fresher compared to the likes of Weyermann, Bairds or Thomas Fawcett etc.  When emptying sacks the imported grains seem to throw off a heck of a lot of dust too in stark contrast to the GF malts which are so much cleaner when handling.   Not sure if that's of any importance but the fact that their sacks are by far the easiest to open is another vote in their favour as far as I'm concerned!      

[Otto Von Blotto]

Agreed, they are easier to open based on my one sack haha. I haven't had any issues with freshness from imported malts like Weyermann or the UK ones but maybe the places I get them have a high turnover and are always getting in fresh stock. 

I think my current stock of pils malt is past its best, but it is over a year since I bought it, maybe closer to 18 months. In saying that, the last beer I brewed with it tasted fine so I dunno.

[ben 10]

I have ordered some from House of Malt. I will report back when i have drunk it.

Keen to try Coopers too, might need to order a sack.

[DJB1962]

Thanks for all of the advice and ended up going with the Gladfield Ale. Picked up a sack today.  I can also support my local brew shop as he carries all the Gladfield Malts and is only 10 to 15 mins away.

Just got to play with the mill to get the gap right and ready to go.