Maris Otter as base malt?

[manticle]

Are you sure they are husk particles in the finished beer? That would be odd.
I have no trouble with clarity of wort or beer (I use Simpsons mostly but have used tf too) but I do step mash and I do boil 90+ mins

 

[MHB]

That is interesting point MHB. I don't use a 90 minute boil, I use a 60 but I do let it settle about 20 minutes and then whirlpool. Always crystal clear wort.

Is that a heat related effect for the older varieties?

I have noticed Gordon Strong has a similar view of TF MO as MHB. Gordon Strong goes for the Crisp MO, of which we don't have a supplier of in Victoria even though it is available in NSW.

There isn't a single answer, it's part of a complex. Malt is breed to satisfy the needs of maltsters and brewers, and malting processes have evolved to give us the modern products that are very uniform, consistent and predictable, which let some brewers get away with short mashes and boils (60 minutes is short for both).
Older breeds and floor malting (an older process) yield malt with more variance in the amount of modification, enzymes, protein degradation, glucan digestion..... and flavour.
When we are talking about the double whammy of and old malt and an old process (TF floor malted MO) you will get better and more consistent beer by brewing the old way (longer mashes and boils)
Most of the MO on the market isn't floor malted like the Thomas Fawcett's so you are more likely to getaway with short processes, trade-off is that floor malted and long process brewing makes for more complex flavourful beer.
Personally I'm a huge fan of the TF Floor malted Golden Promise, just for its elegant simplicity of flavour and flexibility in most any UK style beer (killer in US PA, IAPA... to) mind you Mo has its place.
Mark

 

[Midnight Brew]

Thank you for the insight MHB, time to try out 90 minute boils with TF.

 

[MHB]

Do your self a favour, try 120 minutes first if you are using the TF Floor Malted.
Mark

 

[pcqypcqy]

Do your self a favour, try 120 minutes first if you are using the TF Floor Malted.
Mark

This is interesting. I'm about to keg my first smash done with the TF MO so I'll be keen to see how it's gone. I think I did a 60 min mash but may have boiled longer to achieve my gravity/volumes to fit in a cube. Probably ended up at 90 minutes, so maybe I got lucky.

 

[dr K]

A few points here (and yes I could google but thats your job dear reader).
MO is not "that" old, it was first relaesed when I was in primary school..but not old enough to drink...
It is actually owned by a company who sells the (is seeds the correct word?)
It maintains its popularity because it is pretty much bullet proof for more "traditional" styles.
You should not get a lot of difference between Simpsons, Bairds and Thomas Fawcetts but anecdotally, certainly here in Canbeera TF floor malted although more expensive is preferred (I have over ten years of data to work on as well).
AS MHB pointed out problems would seem to be more with process than grain.
Even with a 60 minute mash and 60 minute boil you will notice just how good it is, and realise why it so popular in certain types of beers.

 

[Doctormcbrewdle]

Yea I'm confident they are, albeit very small. Though I've only used Maris Otter once so far, it's possible something funky happened but we'll see.

They're very small particles, not many but a few in most bottles that float near the top. Like small pieces of dry husk that splintered off at milling. Nothing too serious

Are you sure they are husk particles in the finished beer? That would be odd.
I have no trouble with clarity of wort or beer (I use Simpsons mostly but have used tf too) but I do step mash and I do boil 90+ mins

 

[Doctormcbrewdle]

2 hours!? Wow, that's an effort. Though I do trust what you're saying.

Pirate life actually told me to use MO and mentioned Golden promise too so I'm keen to give that a go after the MO now! Specially now you mention it for pales. I was struggling with how they got their base malt flavour because mine was never quite the same. It all made sense when I popped the cap off that first ale last week

I fear the bag of Barrett Burston will probably sit and rot now..it's not 'bad' stuff but the MO is just so interesting

Do your self a favour, try 120 minutes first if you are using the TF Floor Malted.
Mark

 

[Midnight Brew]

Do your self a favour, try 120 minutes first if you are using the TF Floor Malted.
Mark

Putting this into practice today with a house grain bill. Actually needed to spare this time (usually don't bother and mash full volume) due to the extra water + bigger grain bill.

 

[MHB]

dr K
Maris Otter is the oldest variety still grown for malting, there have been several attempts to de-list it as a malting grain. The only older grains being malted are some historic Emmer's and Spelt.
Really in agronomic terms, its a bit of a dog, it also happens to taste pretty good and people are willing to put up with its problems to get its unique flavour.
It isn't a modern malt, to get the most out of it requires special handling.

Don't worry, Golden Promise isn't quite as old, but remains the only malt produced by shoving barley seeds into a nuclear reactor and hoping for beneficial mutations.
Mark

 

[Zorco]

Thanks for all this knowledge mark.

 

[Jazman]

marris otter is a good base malt for ale ales but i just use pils malt for everything the german stuff