Base Grain For Pale Ale?

[joecast]

hey guys,
as my first ag batch draws ever nearer (god i cant stand the wait!!), i am starting to look for what grains i want to use. had a look at two HBS recently and i can get some marris otter or plain ale malted grains. the marris otter is a bit more expensive but i thought maybe splitting 50/50 between them and maybe another Kg of munich. would that work out ok, or am i better off going all one or the other?
joe


my thoughts os far..

3Kg marris otter
2Kg ale malt
1Kg munich

hops: goldings + fuggles. (havent finalised the amounts yet)

 

[JasonY]

Joe, personally I would just go for a more 'vanilla' pale malt first up something like IMC or the like. I grabbed marris otter on my first AG and to be honest I don't know if it made a difference.

Your first AG will no doubt have its problems along the way (mine did) so I would save the more expensive grain for when you have your setup working well. Also having made some brews with the 'vanilla' pale malt you will hopefully be able to appreciate any difference offered by Marris Otter and the like.

I am working my way through 25kg of IMC after that I may give Maris Otter another crack and see if I can see (taste) a difference. May even see what other malts I can get ....

 

[Barry]

Good Day
I don't know if there is a definite answer to your question. I will brew two pale ales shortly using maris otter in one and Joe White pale in the other so as to judge the difference. You will make good beer with either. If you are still getting use to mashing it might be wise to use the cheaper local malt but then again the MO is a good malt (it is definately darker the Joe White pale ale malt).

 

[joecast]

thanks for the advice. i will probably end up going with mostly the "vanilla" and maybe 1Kg MO, at least for some color (as well as the munich).
joe