Pale Malt v Extra Pale v Marris Otter, which malts to buy?

[cjibbo]

Hi All.

Looking for some advise.

I'm planning my next malt purchase, and In Greg Hughes's "Home Brew Beer" he refences pale malt for many of the recipes I like the look off, including English golden ales / blondes.

I want a variety of malts to work with but I don't want to be buying malts that are just too similar.

For those who have used both, is there enough distinction between a standard Pale Ale malt and a MO one, or would it be better to get say an extra pale and MO.

Thanks

 

[An Ankoù]

I haven't used extra pale MO for years and years. When I did, I found I got less extract from the pale malt and I supposed that this was down to a higher water content due to a lower kilning temperature. I think the extra pale is made for the colour and the flavour is not all that much different although it might be discernable in a SMaSH. Looking at the data from Crisp's for both varieties, there is a difference in maximum water content: 4.5% and 3.5% for the fully kilned M. O. On the other hand, they claim to get the same amount of extract from each unless I'm reading the data wrong.
https://crispmalt.com/malts/extra-pale-maris-otter-malt/https://crispmalt.com/malts/finest-maris-otter-ale-malt/If I wanted to try different malts, I'd try Golden Promise or Crisp's Best Ale malt.

 

[Sandimas]

The term "malt" is generic i.e you can get pale and extra pale versions of Maris Otter, and other malts of you choose. MO is a great base malt and the one many of us choose, there is a colour difference: I accidentally ordered extra-pale last time instead of pale, it wasn't an issue because I used other grains to compensate for the lighter colour, but practially-speaking there are very few beers that are light enough to require extra-light. It was useful when I made a clone of Wye Valley HPA which is almost straw-like (discussion here, with some pics towards the end of the thread where you can see the colour difference Wye Valley Hereford Pale Ale (HPA) Clone Recipe) but for most recipes the pale version is the best one.

 

[An Ankoù]

It was useful when I made a clone of Wye Valley HPA which is almost straw-like (discussion here, with some pics towards the end of the thread where you can see the colour difference Wye Valley Hereford Pale Ale (HPA) Clone Recipe) but for most recipes the pale version is the best one.

Another great beer using extra pale is Oakham's Bishop's Farewell. It used to be my favourite beer, and I think I'll have another go at it, but I'll take the colour down with a bit of Bestmalz Heidelberg rather than order EPMO.

 

[MrRook]

It depends on what you regularly brew. If you do a lot of stouts and porters the base grain has way less of an impact than if you brew only blonde ale or pilsner.

 

[Sadfield]

Depends on the quantity you're buying. If it's a 25kg sacks, then there's probably a decision to be made. Otherwise get them all and see which you prefer, get the best results with or discovers whether it matters at all. I don't see having a range of too similar base malts as problem, as it has a long shelf life and is needed in every brew.

Another great beer using extra pale is Oakham's Bishop's Farewell. It used to be my favourite beer, and I think I'll have another go at it, but I'll take the colour down with a bit of Bestmalz Heidelberg rather than order EPMO.

A good point here, that the differences can be adjusted for with other malts when required. And there are many ways to skin cats. I use extra pale and adjust with british munich malt.

 

[cjibbo]

Thanks all. I was planning on 3 x 25kg sacks. There cheap enough so will likley experiment with MO, pilsner and and Extra pale ale malt, I stead of a standard pale ale.