Galaxy malt replacement is Commander

[Pat Casey]

Commander is the replacement malt for Galaxy from Barrett Burston. Low beta-glucan, high diastatic power (311 WK), and 4 ebc of colour.View attachment Commander CoA.pdf

Will brew for the shop with it this weekend.

$53 per 25 kg bag, delivery available with Fastway.

Pat

 

[Mardoo]

Galaxy? Commander? Next one will be Kirk.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Very Enterprising Mardoo

 

[Not For Horses]

I immediately thought Keen...

Commander is just another variety of barley.
High yielding high pest tolerance. Flavour will probably fit in there somewhere too.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Ah, good old Commander Keen.

Are we showing our age here?

 

[wessmith]

Just compared the above Commander C of A (certificate of analysis) that Pat posted with some of the old Galaxy C of A's I have from the old Malt Craft days. As NFH has suggested, Commander is just a barley variety albeit with some pretty good malting credentials. Shame the C of A does show the beta glucanase levels (beta glucan content is different). Galaxy was bred as a malting grade barley for the Japanese market with particular emphasis on its beta glucanase content. The malt was also required to meet stringent fermentation attenuation levels and produce a super clean tasting beer for its Japanese brewer customer. I cant see that Commander is filling that particular role given that several other barley varieties having been bred specifically for the same Japanese brewers. The one standout right now is Southern Star which is just coming on stream for brewing here in Australia (Coopers now contract brew for Sapporo). Nothing wrong with Commander - I am sure it will be a great brewing malt. Its just that full flavoursome beer is not what Japanese brewers are into and Galaxy certainly did produce super clean beers.

Wes

 

[Batz]

Just compared the above Commander C of A (certificate of analysis) that Pat posted with some of the old Galaxy C of A's I have from the old Malt Craft days. As NFH has suggested, Commander is just a barley variety albeit with some pretty good malting credentials. Shame the C of A does show the beta glucanase levels (beta glucan content is different). Galaxy was bred as a malting grade barley for the Japanese market with particular emphasis on its beta glucanase content. The malt was also required to meet stringent fermentation attenuation levels and produce a super clean tasting beer for its Japanese brewer customer. I cant see that Commander is filling that particular role given that several other barley varieties having been bred specifically for the same Japanese brewers. The one standout right now is Southern Star which is just coming on stream for brewing here in Australia (Coopers now contract brew for Sapporo). Nothing wrong with Commander - I am sure it will be a great brewing malt. Its just that full flavoursome beer is not what Japanese brewers are into and Galaxy certainly did produce super clean beers.

Wes

Thanks for that Wes, we can always count on you when it comes to malts.

Bugger, I loved Galaxy. I was told once that BB's Pale or Pilsner as it is called sometimes, was the same as Galaxy. Well it's not the same when I brew with it, it's good but it's not Galaxy. Seems Kirn malt from WA maybe close as it's made for the Japanese market.

Batz

 

[wessmith]

Hi Batz, Galaxy was always a different malt contract grown exclusively for BB. The Kirin plant in WA was sold to Graincorp back in 2011. As I recall they had always struggled to meet the parent companies high standards for malt and most of their output went to SE Asia, not Japan. Not sure what the plant produces today but will no doubt find out very soon as we are doing some work on a new brewhouse in WA.

Wes

 

[lukiferj]

I'll be keen to hear feedback on this new malt. I picked up a sack of galaxy in a recent bulk buy and have been using it in my faux lagers. Really nice malt. Disappointing to hear it was end of life.

 

[Donske]

I'll be keen to hear feedback on this new malt. I picked up a sack of galaxy in a recent bulk buy and have been using it in my faux lagers. Really nice malt. Disappointing to hear it was end of life.

I'm down to my last bag, may have to be a bit more selective in what beers I use it for.

 

[Pat Casey]

Brewed with the Commander today.

Wyeast 1318 London Ale 3
Mash 66 deg in 13 litres

Acid malt 100g
CaraHell 150g
Commander 3750
Total 4 kg

20 g each Citra and Hersbrucker @ 45 minutes
30 g Hersbrucker @ 1 minute

OG 1042

All went smoothly enough. Will see how it shapes up. Should be on tap in the shop in about 3 weeks.

 

[hoppy2B]

Speak of the devil. I grew a crop of Commander barley this past season and it came out with nice plump grains. One thing I did notice at the Adelaide Royal show was that the Commander samples on display were quite thin and husky. Sowing rate, soil type and other factors can influence the quality and flavour etc. I also noticed that the Schooner barley samples on display were quite plump and have been told that Schooner barley is a good one for the Japanese market too. Does anyone know if a plump Commander sample will give the same quality malt as a typical Schooner sample?

 

[dr K]

Thanks Pat and in partcular thanks Wes.
Wes put me onto Galaxy over a decade ago and this is not the first time it has been "dropped".
Whilst beta glucan and beta-glucanase are different (as Wes points out when despairing the lack of bga data), the beta glucan levels are of some interest. All the following assays show max Beta-Glucan (for sale) as 200ppm. Commander show 99, the last batch of Galaxy shows 30 and the last batch I have of Pale shows 150.
I frankly do not think that these variances are going make much if any difference to the general homebrewer, even if the grain is used at 100% of the bill.
I do think its a great thing that we here in Australia can have single "named" variety malts though, bummer Quasar never made it.

K

 

[Batz]

Hi Batz, Galaxy was always a different malt contract grown exclusively for BB. The Kirin plant in WA was sold to Graincorp back in 2011. As I recall they had always struggled to meet the parent companies high standards for malt and most of their output went to SE Asia, not Japan. Not sure what the plant produces today but will no doubt find out very soon as we are doing some work on a new brewhouse in WA.

Wes

Wes,
Is there anything available that is similar to Galaxy?

 

[Bribie G]

Over my hb career I have been hearing about Schooner and always thought it was a "retired" variety of barley but obviously I was mistaken.

What hb malts are available that are malted from Schooner?

I see that Commander isn't on CB's site yet. I'm getting my banjo professionally re tuned and thinking of doing a road trip end of March and wouldn't mind picking up a sack. :beerbang:

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I notice that commander is not labeled as such on the bag, just Pale, so I wonder if the original pale malt has also been changed to commander ?
One malt does all?
Nev

 

[Batz]

I notice that commander is not labeled as such on the bag, just Pale, so I wonder if the original pale malt has also been changed to commander ?
One malt does all?
Nev

Wes will be able to tell us.

 

[wessmith]

Commander appears to be a very good yielding barley with an inherent low grain protein. All the info for growers that I have read indicate it is used mostly for malting for Aus brewereries and also exported to Asian breweries. If you look at the popular beer styles today from the big two, they are dominated by "super dry" styles with "cold filtration" etc etc. This indicates to me that any malt must be a very clean attenuator and leave a minimum of proteins and other by products so as to aid filtration and final beer clarity. This is where Galaxy really scored utilising a Beta Glucan rest and low attenuation levels to create a super dry beer. I recall Asahi being the original customer. Commander does not appear to be a direct replacement for Galaxy but more of a general good to high yeilding barley with good malting properties. As such I would not expect it to be marketed as a "specialty malt" as Galaxy was.

As to what BB pale is currently malted from - you would have to ask Dave Cryer.

Bribie G, Schooner is still grown under contract for CUB among others. Schooner produces a malt that gives a good body to a beer and is used as a blend to achieve this. Those of us that used it when nothing eles was available back in the '90s well remember the many futile attempts to get the damn thing to attenuate no matter waht the saach temp.

Wes

 

[wessmith]

Just to add to my earlier post - I should have said "beta glucanase" rest, not beta glucan. Regarding the barley strain a malt is produced from - this should appear on the Certificate of Analysis regardless of who the malt came from.

Wes

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I have confirmation that BB pale malt is Commander, so if you buy Burstons Pale you are getting commander malt.
Nev