Hi. I'm going to start buying malt in bulk. Do the brands of grains matter? When I order US 2-row, I don't ask for a brand, I get whatever they give me. Same with Maris Otter, etc. When I mentioned it to my local HBS, they asked which brand I was looking for. I just said "Crisp" because it's a brand I knew and first that came to mind. I later looked on the 'net and saw several different brands for each malt. Does it matter? Should I go with what is less expensive? Thanks.
I don't brew the same recipe more than once or twice very often, so I've never done a real comparison of malts from different suppliers. So what follows is just what I've picked up over the years on this site and others. A lot of people can tell the difference between malts from different maltsters, and of course that means a lot of people have preferences as between them. This is particularly true for something like Maris Otter, which is characterful and which can be processed in different ways (e.g. it can be floor-malted or malted with more modern methods). I would say it is also true of pilsner malt—people have preferences between German pils malt, Belgian pils malt, US pils malt, etc. (although those preferences may change depending on the style of beer being brewed). Same goes for caramel malt and dark malt (a lot of people prefer British suppliers of these malts). On top of that, when brewing with characterful malt, brewers often emphasize the malt character (that is, they brew the beer with the intention that the drinker will experience a prominent malt character). So in other words, not only are the malts different, but their differences are emphasized by the styles for which they are used. What we call "US 2-row" can be made with lots of different barley strains, or a blend of them, and it can vary quite a bit. However, unlike with the premium malts described above, a lot of brewers use US 2-row in a way that suppresses its contribution to the beer. For instance, they use it as the base malt in very hoppy beers or very dark beers, where many/most drinkers would have a hard time detecting any character contributed by the base malt. If that's how you use US 2-row, then there is some justification for choosing the cheapest brand available (so long as it otherwise meets your quality standards). And of course choosing the cheapest malt is always a respectable choice, if you like the beer it produces. Just because a lot of people have preferences among premium malts doesn't mean that will be your experience. I guess you're going to be brewing with Crisp MO for a while - next time, why not ask for Munton's (or whatever) and see if you notice a difference? Ultimately it's your palate (and your friends' palates I guess) that will determine whether brands matter for you.
Like most things I'm sure this is a matter of opinion and personal taste. Depending on what you are brewing as well. If you are looking purely for extract potential and limited color contribution I would purchase any old 2 row/pale/pilsner malt and be happy. When I'm brewing a recipe where I'm looking for more malt character, I would consider different brands and varieties. I would say within the large maltsters you will find a fairly homogenous product if you're comparing 2 row and 2 row. I have seen variation among smaller boutique maltsters as well. So for me brewing is a matter of exploration and experimentation. Malt is another dimension of flavor and character.
At the homebrew-level the importance of Brand is reduced (IMO). Your technique will vary enough to override any nuances of quality from different maltsters. If you were to brew back-to-back batches with different Brands of malt and drink them side-by-side it's possible you might notice a difference. However, only a true blind testing would confirm this and my opinion is it would be slight and likely skewed by variations in your process. That said, I buy in bulk and tend to go the pricier route: Fawcett for MO and GP and Franco-Belges for Pilsner. I get wholesale prices from a local brewer so the slight increase in price is negligible (true if paying full retail). In almost all cases the local brew house is using a more economical Brand for their 40 barrel batches. That's my story and I'm sticking to it . . .
Something else to consider is running taste tests. Several years ago I purchased 12 different base and specialty malts in small amounts. I heated up a couple gallons of distilled water, and made mini-mashes in travel coffee mugs. I let them sit for 15-30 minutes, ran them thru separate coffee filters, and tasted the result. This gave me more insight into what base malts bring to your flavor profile.
As far as base malt, I've used Rahr, Great Western and Briess and never really noticed any noticeable difference. However, if I am brewing a German lager (which I do a lot of), I won’t use anything but continental pils malt… Weyermann, mostly. Likewise, if I do an English porter, I use English yeast strains, English malts and hops, etc… It’s just part of the beer style itself.
“Like most things I'm sure this is a matter of opinion and personal taste.” I agree with that statement with an emphasis on the aspect on “personal taste”. In some beer styles the selection of a specific base malt is of lesser concern since those beer styles feature flavors other than the base malt. For example American style IPA/DIPA. For those sorts of beers any North American 2-row/Pale Malt will likely suffice. For the beer styles that feature malt flavors then malt selection is of higher importance in my opinion. For example, when I brew my Kolsch beers I always utilize Continental Pilsner Malt with a preference for malts produced in Germany. I have brewed with a variety of different Continental Pilsner Malts and I can certainly taste the differences in a beer style such as a Kolsch. I would not necessarily say one Malting Company is ‘better’ than another but they all have noticeably different flavor profiles. It should also be pointed out that how a base malt will present itself will depend on how it is used. For example, what percentage of the grain bill is that base malt? What is the mashing scheme? Etc. Cheers!
Below is a link which includes a video that might be useful to @GeeL (and others): https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/testing-malt-grain-teas/ The tricky part is that what you are actually tasting here is wort vs. beer so... I make it a habit to taste the wort I produce from my OG hydrometer sample. Needless to say these OG samples do not taste exactly like the finished product (beer). Cheers!
Go out at taste some of the Resilience IPAs everyone is brewing. Same recipe, but none of them will taste the same. Micro and macro differences in equipment and process equal unique flavors. Malt houses are no different, even if they start out with the same green barley. Every maltster has their own idea of what, say, Pilsner malt should be. Firstly, the color can vary widely. Pilsner malt can vary by over 2 lovibond depending on supplier. In a very pale beer, that can make a huuuge difference. Spec charts indicating moisture, protein, etc. are all different. Different flavors and aromas can also vary greatly. Some swing more towards nutty, or honey, or toasty. Then there are unintended variations. Some maltsters just have better equipment and produce more consistent product. Of course, in a massively hopped IPA or a Russian imperial stout, are you going to taste or see the difference between Rahr 2-row and Breiss 2-row? Probably not. But in a subtly flavored Pilsner, kolsch, or cream ale, the differences could be huge.
I used to think it made a huge difference, but lately I've been getting base malt from a local maltster that grows his own Copeland and malts on premises with a setup he fabricated himself...no floor malting, no advertising budget, no branding. Evidently, for most barley, the crappier your soil is...the better. Too much nitrogen can result in too high of protein levels and too much FAN. I wouldn't hesitate to use his Pilsner malt for a cream ale. https://www.probrewer.com/library/malt/malting-barley-varieties-copeland/
It makes enough difference to me that I sometimes split online HBS orders between two suppliers to get exactly what I want for a batch. Mostly for malt focused beers.
When I need another sack of base, I drive out to the further of the two LHBS in my area to get Fawcett GP
I think I tend to notice it in pilsner malts he most. I use a lot of Canadian pilsner for American ipas but when making something like a pils lager I can taste the drop off. I can taste the difference when I’m chewing the grains between domestic malt and weyermann so there is definitely a taste difference. I play around with base Malta. I always have CMC pils on hand but I routinely get a random sack of something I want to try out.
Is a carrot a carrot? Depending on your answer to this question, I think you'll find the answer to yours. Some people can tell the difference, some can't. And then there are people like my wife who think beer is beer. As someone above mentioned, try a couple. See what you think. You may find you have a favorite.
I think the answer is it depends. You'll need to decide for yourself if you can taste the difference between two malts and if you have a preference. With all the malts available these days, you could dedicate a lot of time to exploring your preferences. But before you do, something else worth considering is that there are batch to batch differences in malt, and crop to crop difference in barley.I believe it was a brewer from Fullers who said in an interview that they alter a blend of multiple base malts to try to keep the beer consistent. So clearly they that these variations matter.
