Beer Forum

So I brewed a really great RIS using Maris Otter as my base malt, but this time around I would like to save the 30 extra dollars I put into the grain bill the first time around.

My question is, does anyone have a proven concoction of blended malts that would give me the same flavor as M. Otter? I was thinking about using something like 95% Great Western 2-row, 5% Victory malt, but this in only a guess.

I have cut a full MO grain bill 50% with ESB 2 row malt. The MO taste still carries through and the ESB malt is a lot cheaper.

I say spend the lousy $30.00

Cliff wrote:I say spend the lousy $30.00

Thanks for the great advice, Cliff. My kid's college fund thanks you too.

Holt wrote:Thanks for the great advice, Cliff. My kid's college fund thanks you too.

LOL. Ya know, you didn't indicate the quantities you were purchasing.
Is that $30.00 you want to save on a 55# sack? That's about $6.00 per five gallon batch: the cost of a Wyeast smack pak.




You never mentioned that you were going to put that $30.00 aside for a college fund.
Is that really & truly what you planned?

Anyway I think it's fine advice to just buy the MO. What's a lousy $30.00? That's chicken feed.

I suppose I could be way off the mark here, but I never met any one who successfully got into a hobby like this one who ended up actually saving money. I suppose it's possible, but sooner or later the hopes and dreams of youth become the exorbitant costs of a maturing hobby. It's just too chalk-a-block full of slippery slopes. Yeast slanting, grain crushing, SST conicals, pH meters, refrigerator conversions, brewery builds, kegging, on and on and on. Eventually the hobby and the craft are the sole justification.

Back in the 1980's when I started brewing in a 3 gallon glass lined steel pot from K-Mart I told myself I was brewing beer the equal of Pauli Girl and Becks for a lot less. I suppose it was equal to those brands of commercial beer (such as they are), but once I progressed beyond the K-Mart pot, the plastic bucket, and the "liberated" glass carboys, I really had to work to convince myself that I was getting off cheaper.

All I'm trying to do is find a malt blend that is equal in flavor profile to Maris Otter without actually using MO.

Does anyone have experience with using a blend for their base malt?

Have you tried brewing the RIS with just domestic 2-row as your base? I wonder just how much of the Maris Otter character really comes through in a beer like that. You may find that the MO is an unnecessary expense.

was just listening to the firestoneganza (can you brew it) and the Matt B. interview. in it he talks about how instead of using a british pale malt (MO) he likes to go with a domestic 2 row and munich blend to get a similar "toastiness" profile.

have a listen for better details.