# Viking Malts



## technobabble66

Has anyone tried these?

Viking Malts

Home Make it in Melbourne has started supplying them, and i'm guessing a few others may be as well.

They appear to have been around for decades (in Finland & the rest of Europe) but there's almost no anecdotal reviews on the various brewing sites about them.

Thoughts?


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## Kumamoto_Ken

Haven't tried it, or heard of it until now.

Sounds like it would be ideal for brewing a SkullSplitter.


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## Mardoo

Have heard of them and their Sahti malt, but no experience. Pretty cool. Love to give the Sahti a whirl.


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## dannymars

I couldn't find any reviews or otherwise on them either...


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## DU99

only stuff i could find was not in english
http://knudsenbeverageconsulting.com/colorado-malting-company-enters-european-markets-in-collaboration-with-viking-malt


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## spog

$


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## technobabble66

spog said:


> $


As in it's cheap and that's the only reason you'd go for it?

It does seem a little odd that an 150 year old maltser has virtually no internet reviews in the English speaking world. [emoji52]


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## Danscraftbeer

I'd think more toward local fresher stuff. Once I've spent all this grain I've over stocked. -_-


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## spog

Nah not cheap as in cheap skate but I had a look at the site and no $ value was shown, actually I got SFA from the site hence the $.

Cheers....spog....


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## technobabble66

Aah ok. 
Check the homemakeit.com.au site. They have it listed there, though only in 100g increments. 
Eg: Pils & pale ale are at $0.35/100g or $3.50/kg, or $87/sack. 
Not sure if they have a better sack price though.


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## DU99

just rang them $55 starting price depends on type


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## Spiesy

Danscraftbeer said:


> I'd think more toward local fresher stuff. Once I've spent all this grain I've over stocked. -_-


I don't think local means its any fresher. Lower carbon footprint, yes, but not necessarily fresher. A container from Europe would get here in 4-6 weeks time, that's not a great deal of time when you consider any malt has to be harvested, malted, distributed and then you're at the mercy of the wholesaler/supplier and retailer to rotate/turnover stock quickly.

And I'd also question the quality of many (not all) local grains versus some of the imported grains we get, I'm not a fan of Joe White personally (but I'm liking Voyager). Just my 2c though.


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## Spiesy

technobabble66 said:


> Aah ok.
> Check the homemakeit.com.au site. They have it listed there, though only in 100g increments.
> Eg: Pils & pale ale are at $0.35/100g or $3.50/kg, or $87/sack.
> Not sure if they have a better sack price though.


Remember when you were a Merri Masher?


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## klangers

Spiesy said:


> I don't think local means its any fresher. Lower carbon footprint, yes, but not necessarily fresher. A container from Europe would get here in 4-6 weeks time, that's not a great deal of time when you consider any malt has to be harvested, malted, distributed and then you're at the mercy of the wholesaler/supplier and retailer to rotate/turnover stock quickly.
> 
> And I'd also question the quality of many (not all) local grains versus some of the imported grains we get, I'm not a fan of Joe White personally (but I'm liking Voyager). Just my 2c though.


The main problem isn't the time to ship, but the fact that the malt spends time on a container on a ship - In the blaring sun/big storms. High temperatures and potential moisture can't be great for it. But yeah, realistically there isn't much difference.

The sad thing is that Australia is the world's biggest exporter of malting-grade barley, but we don't have much in the way of a premium domestic maltster (equivalent of Weyermann).


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## Spiesy

klangers said:


> The main problem isn't the time to ship, but the fact that the malt spends time on a container on a ship - In the blaring sun/big storms. High temperatures and potential moisture can't be great for it. But yeah, realistically there isn't much difference.
> 
> The sad thing is that Australia is the world's biggest exporter of malting-grade barley, but we don't have much in the way of a premium domestic maltster (equivalent of Weyermann).


Some containers are air conditioned. I don't know if that applies to malt. But the same can be said for local grains - some warehouses and homebrew shops are air conditioned - many are not.


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## klangers

Spiesy said:


> Some containers are air conditioned. I don't know if that applies to malt. But the same can be said for local grains - some warehouses and homebrew shops are air conditioned - many are not.


You're right. "Reefers" can be used, but this is very rare for malt due to the low value:volume of grain. Also depends if the malt is delivered in bulk or in sealed sacks.

I've never found an issue with imported grain. As you say, I've been underwhelmed by JW. There's always so many stalks and stones in their malt.


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## DU99

why are doubting the quality of this grain by the way it's transported.HOW many other brand grains are bought over here by ship in containers,


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## klangers

I don't think anyone is?


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## technobabble66

Spiesy said:


> Remember when you were a Merri Masher?


It's all a bit of a distant haze ... The president's booming laugh ringing in my ears and some dreadlocked guy thrusting glasses of draught beer at me... Like some scene out of a David Lynch film. 
Good times. 


Tbh, I just keep missing the Tuesday meetings due to work and stupidity. But I need to contact the treasurer ASAP and sign back on board with my hard earned. Then go hunting the Viking malt. [emoji41]


I'm starting to run low on TFFMMO & Wey Munich 2 (& Yob is too lazy to organize a BB at the mo') so I was eyeing off the Viking Pale Ale as an option (... & their Munich) (... & their Red Ale) [emoji57]. 
The price is certainly appealing, but I'd rather spend extra to get good quality if needed. However, if Viking is both good and cheap then it's Charlie Sheen time ... WINNING!


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## technobabble66

DU99 said:


> why are doubting the quality of this grain by the way it's transported.HOW many other brand grains are bought over here by ship in containers,


I'm not too stressed about it, but I'd certainly note it as a *possible* issue. I use a lot of Weyermann and have been v happy with it, hence I'm not really bothered by the distance at this point. 
I'm more concerned with the basic quality of the grain. 
I guess given the price I'd wonder if they're cutting quality somewhere compared to, say Weyermann - eg: maybe Wey pay more for better transport or better grain, etc?
Conversely, just because something is more or less expensive doesn't always translate into better or poorer quality. They might just be more competitive. 
Hence this thread and the questions really. Theories aside, I was hoping to hear of someone/anyone in the English speaking world who has tried Viking at a homebrew level and what their results are. Hear of some Empirical evidence, n' shit... [emoji5]️


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## mofox1

technobabble66 said:


> if Viking is both good and cheap then it's Charlie Sheen time ... WINNING!


I don't think I'd want that malt now...


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## technobabble66

Haha. Yeah, HIV really takes the shine off Sheen.
Not sure what other name to use. Brad Pitt time ... Jolly!
(um, you know ... Jolie... nah don't worry h34r: :unsure: )


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## Spiesy

technobabble66 said:


> I'm starting to run low on TFFMMO & Wey Munich 2 (& Yob is too lazy to organize a BB at the mo') so I was eyeing off the Viking Pale Ale as an option (... & their Munich) (... & their Red Ale) [emoji57].


FP still selling discounted sacks on the regular?


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## dicko

There is a guy on another forum compiling specs on malts.

I have asked him if he has any info on Viking.

https://forum.braumeisters.net/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=335


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## technobabble66

Spiesy said:


> FP still selling discounted sacks on the regular?


Certainly are, and i'd be very happy to grab another TFFMMO off FullPint in the (near) future.
There's a pretty big price difference though (which i'm generally happy to pay for given the TF quality).
So if Viking is like a Finnish JW they can go stick it, but if it's more in the league of Simpsons/Wey/TF then i'd be tempted to at least try 1 sack.

TBH, as much as anything, i just find it really bizarre there are virtually no reviews of Viking malts anywhere on the English Internets thingy. So this is partly out of intrigued curiosity as well.

PS: cheers, dicko


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## DU99

*Viking Malt* is a Swedish-Finnish mälteriföretag that delivers malt and service to the brewery - and distillery industry.
Viking Malt was formed in 2002 through the merger of Finnish _Lahti Polttimo,_ Swedish _Swedish Malt_ and Lithuanian _Litmalt._ The company has production facilities in Lahti and Raisio in Finland, Panevezys in Lithuania and Halmstad in Sweden. The owners are Finnish Polttimo and Swedish Lantmännen.
Annual production is 340 000 tonnes of malt, of which 48% are sold in the Nordic countries and the remainder in the rest of the world.

Sounds like they could be the Barrett _Burston_ of Finland


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## Spiesy

technobabble66 said:


> i just find it really bizarre there are virtually no reviews of Viking malts anywhere on the English Internets thingy.


For sure.



DU99 said:


> Sounds like they could be the Barrett _Burston_ of Finland


How so?


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## fraser_john

I find it no surprise there are no reviews. They may have just started supplying the home brew market, opening it as another potential revenue stream, if this is the case, of course there will be no reviews.

As for pricing, the importers/distributors/wholesalers all take their slice, current importers/wholesalers have been applying the Australia Tax for years, no reason to stop. A new grey importers knows the stack them high sell them low principle.


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## technobabble66

fraser_john said:


> I find it no surprise there are no reviews. They may have just started supplying the home brew market, opening it as another potential revenue stream, if this is the case, of course there will be no reviews...


True
Except they've been supplying the HB scene (by the sound of it) in Finland and Sweden since 2009 at least. 
http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=72841&start=15


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## DU99

"How so?"
well what do B/B do.i am not saying they are but they could be


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## dannymars

technobabble66 said:


> I'm not too stressed about it, but I'd certainly note it as a *possible* issue. I use a lot of Weyermann and have been v happy with it, hence I'm not really bothered by the distance at this point.
> I'm more concerned with the basic quality of the grain.
> I guess given the price I'd wonder if they're cutting quality somewhere compared to, say Weyermann - eg: maybe Wey pay more for better transport or better grain, etc?
> Conversely, just because something is more or less expensive doesn't always translate into better or poorer quality. They might just be more competitive.
> Hence this thread and the questions really. Theories aside, I was hoping to hear of someone/anyone in the English speaking world who has tried Viking at a homebrew level and what their results are. Hear of some Empirical evidence, n' shit... [emoji5]️


Just ordered some sacks.... Keep you posted


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## cadeb

technobabble66 said:


> It's all a bit of a distant haze ... The president's booming laugh ringing in my ears and some dreadlocked guy thrusting glasses of draught beer at me... Like some scene out of a David Lynch film.
> Good times.
> 
> 
> Tbh, I just keep missing the Tuesday meetings due to work and stupidity. But I need to contact the treasurer ASAP and sign back on board with my hard earned. Then go hunting the Viking malt. [emoji41]
> 
> 
> I'm starting to run low on TFFMMO & Wey Munich 2 (& Yob is too lazy to organize a BB at the mo') so I was eyeing off the Viking Pale Ale as an option (... & their Munich) (... & their Red Ale) [emoji57].
> The price is certainly appealing, but I'd rather spend extra to get good quality if needed. However, if Viking is both good and cheap then it's Charlie Sheen time ... WINNING!


I have a Viking red IPA a yankie Pale in bottle & both hit the og's with good colour. As for freshness, these were all malted mid to late August . I have given a couple of sample recipes to some mashers boys & I have yet to hear back on them .


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## Spiesy

DU99 said:


> "How so?"
> well what do B/B do.i am not saying they are but they could be


Make malt?


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## janox

The grain quality always seems consistent and good, color and efficiency always seems to be spot on for me, it's widely used in sweden among homebrewers and i would guess that they are the most used among with weyermann (in sweden that is). The price is quite a bit lower than weyermann and thats the reason why i use it alot. however i do tend to buy weyermann when i feel i can afford it, not because viking malt is of poor quality but mainly because i always liked weyermann. All about preferences i suppose.

I usually stock up on their pils-malt.

Cheers


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## dave_h

Ive only tried their Crystal 50 and Caramel Pilsner (Carapills) and found nothing wrong with them. But then Im also far from an expert...


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## Fylp

I've been looking at this in a book since I started brewing. I always thought they died off. 

The book is Aussie, published in 1976 by Viking ales.


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## fraser_john

Anyone know who the distributor is for Viking? Just in case a bulk buy could be organised...... h34r:


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## DU99

homemakeit might tell you

http://thebeveragefoodgroup.com/img/sales/viking-tbfg.pdf


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## fraser_john

That pdf did the trick


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## technobabble66

Pulled the trigger on a sack of Viking Pale Ale & Munich.

I'll endeavour to remember to report back as to how they go.


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## Mat B

I bought some Viking malt from Home Maker recently and used it last night. I bought their Pils, Ale, and Crystal 150. I've only just put it in the fermenter, but the colour, efficiency, & taste was all good, and the smell was amazing. 

I think for the whole 4.5kg I paid about $15. Pretty happy with the price. Seems like quality stuff. Now to wait and see what the final product is like.


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## technobabble66

Keen to hear how it ends up. 
Still haven't had a chance to use mine [emoji53]


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## Rosscoe

klangers said:


> The main problem isn't the time to ship, but the fact that the malt spends time on a container on a ship - In the blaring sun/big storms. High temperatures and potential moisture can't be great for it. But yeah, realistically there isn't much difference.
> 
> The sad thing is that Australia is the world's biggest exporter of malting-grade barley, but we don't have much in the way of a premium domestic maltster (equivalent of Weyermann).


Mate, I've worked on the grain harvest and at GrainCorp, etc where Aussie grain comes from. It sits in the sun under a tarp for however many months it takes a buyer to take it. Most sites have limited or no silos, but the tarp bunkers work almost as good in the short term anyway. Short term being up to 6 month. This doesn't make it bad, as it's just what happens all over the world. Same for the wheat that makes your bread. Might be 12 months old before it gets to a mill. Still works and I doubt any of you can tell the difference after its malted or baked.


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## technobabble66

FWIW, finally got a chance to use some of my 25kg Viking Pale Ale.
The Aussie Ale's grist was 91% Viking PA malt. The efficiency was calculated as 75%, though i'd typically hit ~80% efficiency (& dilute out to hit target OG). It's currently cubed, so i'll retest the SG when i pour it into an FV at some later stage; however, the wort had an SG=1.052 (calibrated) as it drained out of the kettle.
That's an efficiency of 91%.
Obviously my awesome brewing skillz are most likely the reason for this; but there's a possibility the Viking malt may've had something to do with it B)

Just thought i'd mention it here as potentially a big tick for the efficient of this stuff.
Will have to see if this is repeated, of course.
And most importantly see what it tastes like later.


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## Mat B

So I finished brewing my ale with the Viking malt, kegged it and have drank about half of it. I LOVE it. It's one of the nicest brews I've made. Not sure whether to attribute that to the yeast, grain, conditions, recipe.. I don't have enough experience (only been AG for about 6 months) but the beer tastes great, so to me that suggests it's a decent ingredient. I'll continue to use it.

Further to this, my mate bought some too and when cubing it we think it got an infection (shouldn't have crash chilled it). While sitting in a cube in his bathroom, it pressurised significantly then exploded with hilarious results. He and his fiance spent a whole Saturday washing walls and ceiling. Nothing to do with the grain, but entertaining I thought.


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## wide eyed and legless

I have bought a sack of the pale malt (still only $55) didn't want to buy just enough for one batch, so bought a sack to give it a fair go. I am interested to see how the English ales turn out using it, I don't suppose it would make much difference with anyone using this malt in an American IPA.
The reason it would be cheaper is that Home Make It are the importers and it is not going through other hands.


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## wide eyed and legless

Got my second sack of Viking Pale ale malt $49.50 club discount rates, aroma is amazing as is the sweetness, diastatic power really does seem to be slightly higher will be using this for my Belgian witbier so will be interesting to see if I hit the numbers with 2.6 kg of flaked wheat to convert.


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## altone

wide eyed and legless said:


> Got my second sack of Viking Pale ale malt $49.50 club discount rates, aroma is amazing as is the sweetness, diastatic power really does seem to be slightly higher will be using this for my Belgian witbier so will be interesting to see if I hit the numbers with 2.6 kg of flaked wheat to convert.
> View attachment 114799



Eh! what's this club discount thing?

Paid $55 for mine, it is a nice malt though, sure as heck better than Joe White


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## DU99

weal you a merri masher


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## wide eyed and legless

DU99 said:


> weal you a merri masher


No mate just a happy drinker.


altone said:


> Eh! what's this club discount thing?
> 
> Paid $55 for mine, it is a nice malt though, sure as heck better than Joe White


I have had a few long chats with Kyle, I think it is a regular buyer club discount.


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## altone

wide eyed and legless said:


> No mate just a happy drinker.
> 
> I have had a few long chats with Kyle, I think it is a regular buyer club discount.


Yeah he's a nice bloke, I've only bought a couple of things from them so I wouldn't qualify.


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## wide eyed and legless

altone said:


> Yeah he's a nice bloke, I've only bought a couple of things from them so I wouldn't qualify.


Yes top bloke, but now gone to where the good blokes go. Will still buy the malt from there though.


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## DU99

that's where they all go..


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## Nullnvoid

wide eyed and legless said:


> Yes top bloke, but now gone to where the good blokes go. Will still buy the malt from there though.



What do you mean? He was there at home make it just the other day?


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## wide eyed and legless

Friday he left and went to a better place.


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## Nullnvoid

Did he die? Or another better place?


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## wide eyed and legless

No not dead, but as from Monday will be in a better place. Not that there was ever anything wrong with Home Make It.


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## malt and barley blues

Got a bag today, I must say it does have a really strong aroma, looking forward to using it. Got it for $49.50 asked for a pensioner discount. I am up for trying some of their other malts to when the time crops up


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## altone

malt and barley blues said:


> Got a bag today, I must say it does have a really strong aroma, looking forward to using it. Got it for $49.50 asked for a pensioner discount. I am up for trying some of their other malts to when the time crops up




Not a pensioner yet but I've got a seniors card - must try flashing that next time I'm at Home Make It - you never know.
I've had a couple of lunch bills discounted after showing it recently.


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## wide eyed and legless

malt and barley blues said:


> Got a bag today, I must say it does have a really strong aroma, looking forward to using it. Got it for $49.50 asked for a pensioner discount. I am up for trying some of their other malts to when the time crops up


You won't be disappointed.


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## Daveykyevad

I was in Home Make It in Reservoir on Friday and they are selling out of date bags of Viking malt at a discount.

Picked up a sack of the Pale Ale malt for $40. Packing date was 08/02/18, so about 3 months out of date.

Worth checking out if you aren't too fussed about malt shelf life.


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