Maris Otter vs Gladfield

[Andrew Dixon]

Hi,

I have about 7 brews under my belt and am just about through the sack of Gladfield ale malt that I purchased last year.  So it's time for me to buy another sack of base malt.  The Gladfield is the only base malt I've used (other than pilsner and wheat that I used for one wheat beer) so I'm basically unfamiliar with the differences that I would see with different base malts.  I've heard plenty of people saying that Maris Otter is a good general purpose malt for making ales (and the sorts of styles that I make) so I'm considering getting a sack.

Can anyone who has experience with both tell me if I'm going to see a noticable difference?  The Gladfield malt is about half the price of Maris Otter, but I'm happy to pay the extra if it's going to give me something extra.  And if anyone can recommend something else instead I'd be happy to hear about that too.

Thanks

Andy

[Ralph]

I use Gladfields malt and find it makes good beer. Got a few gold medals in the homebrew comp with it so it cant be that bad...

I tried half a sack of Marris Otter. I found my extraction was really low compared with the Gladfields and I could not pick much difference in flavour. Having said that I have been making a bunch of quite hoppy ales, and most of them have a bit of colour (i.e. specialty malts added). Both of these factors will overtake the base malt flavour quite quickly. If you were looking at a more simple golden ale or bitter then you may indeed notice a difference?

[Andrew Robinson]

Out of interest where did you get your gladfield malt from and how much was it?

[Andrew Dixon]

I got mine direct from the maltster.  It is (or at least was a year ago) $50 for 30kg.  I see that you are in Christchurch, so assuming you are up for a 30 minute each way drive you can pick some up. Gladfield is in Dunsandel.

Andy

[Andrew Robinson]

Do you need to email in advance or anything or do you just rock up and buy some?

[Andrew Dixon]

I gave them a call and arranged a time.  They don't have a shop or anything, it's just the factory floor so you'll need to contact them first and set it up I think.  The person I dealt with was very friendly and even gave me a little tour of the setup.

Andy

[Dougal]

I'm in the same boat at the moment. I've been using Gladfield for a couple of years and have found it works well for pale ales and lots of other styles. I'd really like to try Maris Otter to add some backbone to the malty session bitters I'm brewing at the moment though. When you taste a bitter made from Gladfield's next to say, London Pride, there's definitely something missing. 

Ralph, did you use a generic malt profile for Maris Otter in your software or enter the extract figures off the malt analysis sheet? It can make a big difference to hitting your targets. Gladfield's extract is quite high compared to some of the others, so I wouldn't be surprised by low extraction with MO if the malt profile didn't correctly indicate its potential extract.

[Ralph]

I was fairly green then and just used a generic pale malt profile. I can tell you it was consistently low and so I probably needed to get the actual figures. I bought the 1/2 sack off another guy who bought a few bags and so never got the malt analysis for the MO.

I have bought a bunch of Gladfield ale malt from Wigram Brewing for $3 a kg, or if you are buying complete bags you can pick up from Gladfields.

[Andrew Dixon]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.  I'll see if anyone else weighs in and then decide what to get.

It's taken me about a year to use up my last sack of malt, so I would be quite keen (once I decide what I want) to split a sack, so if any of you guys are keen let me know (looks like everyone who's replied so far is in Chch too).  I'm going to be in Dunedin next month so I can pick up a sack of Maris Otter from Dunedin Malt House if necessary.

I'd also be keen to get a few of my beers tasted by some other brewers.  I've got a couple of beers that I think have a slight off flavour which I would be interested to work out (I have a feeling it might be related to the age of my malt, maybe a slight stale flavour, but I'm really not sure) and I'd really like to get the opinions of some other brewers to try and help me narrow down the cause.

Anyway, if any of you guys are interested in trying a few bottles let me know.

Thanks

Andy

[Dougal]

I'll split a sack of Maris Otter with you. No rush though. Always happy to taste other people's beer too ;-)

Will PM you.

[Grant R Baker]

I have played with a few different base maltas (UK Pale malt, Barids Pearle Pale, Maris Otter, Golden Promis) and use difference base malt in different styles.

 

I use Maris Otter for an Amber Ale and for a Bitter.  Nice flavour, more flavoursome than Golden Promise but I would say less malty than UK Pale Ale malt. Some say it adds a nutty flavour but I can't detect it.

One thing I do like about Maris is that it is always consistant.

 

I'll be interested to see how you place it against the Gladfield, which I have used, but price wise sounds a very good deal.

[Peter Smith]

I would like to revise this thread,   I brewed a bitter with MO and I am going to rebrew it tonight with Gladfields PA,  only change being a few more IBUs  (maybe 5-8) does anyone have any views since 2012 on the base Gladfields PA vs  any other malts like GP etc

[Scott H]

I use gladfields pretty much exclusively now and prefer it over Golden Promise. I've used it to brew IPA,PA stouts porters and Bitters and have been really pleased with the results.