Maris Otter in dark beers? Stouts, Porters etc.

[welly2]

Planning a brew and I'm looking at what I've grain I've got on hand. Mainly maris otter, roasted barley and chocolate malt. I was thinking of making a stout or porter. Is maris otter a good base malt for porters/stouts as most of the recipes I see for those tend to use pale malt as the base. Unless, of course, maris otter is considered a pale malt? In which case, I'm good.

 

[Grainer]

I tend to use it in my stouts/RIS as it adds more complexity.

 

[BrewedCrudeandBitter]

I was under the impression that maris otter is THE base for stouts and porters.

 

[seamad]

MO is a pale malt, all good to go.

 

[welly2]

Awesome. A stout it is then. Any thoughts on the recipe?

4.1kg Maris Otter
0.4kg Roasted Barley
0.2kg Chocolate Malt

40g Perle @ 60 minutes
WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast

Pretty simple!

 

[idzy]

Looks good, there are stouts and there are stouts.

What temp you mashing at?
What is your batch size?

With the yeast, assuming you are going for something in the Irish camp. Could add another malt such as Flaked Barley, Caramel, Crystal or Rye to add a bit more to it.

 

[welly2]

Looks good, there are stouts and there are stouts.

What temp you mashing at?
What is your batch size?

With the yeast, assuming you are going for something in the Irish camp. Could add another malt such as Flaked Barley, Caramel, Crystal or Rye to add a bit more to it.

I was thinking of mashing at about 64c, possibly even 62c, to try and make it a bit more dry. Batch size - aiming for 23L. I've got some crystal at home - Baird's Medium crystal (78 EBC), which I could stick perhaps 2-3% in? Maybe 100-150g.

 

[idzy]

Sounds like the makings of a tasty drop. The roasted barley might be a bit high...might be better to go something like:

4.1kg Maris Otter
0.4kg Baird's Medium crystal
0.3kg Chocolate Malt
0.2kg Roasted Barley

Either way it sounds amaze-b.

 

[DU99]

a bit of midnight wheat

 

[Bribie G]

For stouts I generally go at least half a kilo of roasted barley and include a number of spec malts as well as the base malt to add complexity. Even Carapils is good to encourage the creamy head.
I remember when bradsbrew used to put a whole kilo of RB into some of his stouts

 

[MHB]

a bit of midnight wheat

On taste alone I prefer the Weyermann Chocolate/Roast wheat, If you want mellow I would look at any of the Carafa Special from the same supplier, being de-husked they tend to be a lot less bitter.

Maris Otter is a marvellous pale malt, it is used in some of the finest pale malts made in the UK. Mind you, a lot less of it than people suspect. Truth is that if all the beers that say they use Maris used only Maris there wouldn't be enough Maris to make the beer - a large amount of spin being put on what really goes into some beers.
I would save my Maris for classic Pale Ales.

For stouts and porters I find the base malt to be a lot less important, just something good, Golden Promise being a personal favourite.
I love some flake, Oat or Barley in Stouts, some Amber or Brown, and strange as it may sound some Abbey and/or Biscuit
Mark

 

[Bribie G]

Agreed, if the quantities of Maris Otter were as reported, then the UK would be horizon to horizon in waving golden fields of MO. My go to malt for general UK use is Bairds Pearl, with Floor malted GP and MO for specific styles such as Yorkshire Bitters or London ESBs for example.

 

[manticle]

@mhb: doesn't sound strange at all. I love a bit of aromatic and/or biscuit in stouts, porters and dark milds. The toastiness gives an extra something to balance the roast.

I am however a big fan of the character mo gives to beers, from apa to bitter to stout. Made plenty of stouts with jw ale and when I tried MO with the same recipes, it was something else. GP is also a worthy choice.

 

[idzy]

It is going to come down to individual preferences I would say. My suggestion is probably based on my own tastes. I don't like it when they taste like you have scraped all the ash off the bbq and put it in the boil...

 

[MHB]

I like Maris, it may sometimes sound like I'm a bit anti it but that's not the case. Maybe its just a bit of over exposure, I remember when the first genuine American Cascade arrived on the market, it was spectacular and we put it in everything, even stouts - Ones upon a time I was very poor and got a job making Lamingtons by hand, 250-300 Dozen a day, well I haven't eaten a Lamington for a couple of decades - Over exposed.

Maris doesn't make beer good, that's called brewing, not to say you cant make good beer with it - just there are lots of other good base malts out there, every time someone talks about designing a beer on AHB somewhere in the first half dozen replies will be a reflexive "Use Maris". It isn't the answer to every brewing question.
Going back to the Cascade, it is a great hop, just not necessarily the right hop for every beer!
Mark

 

[manticle]

No. If making a tripel I wouldn't use maris.
Wouldn't use it in an alt, hefe, pils or dunkel either.
However most uk styles that I've made, maris has been perfect. One exception being a landlord homage where tf floor malted gp was the winner and I'd tend towards GP for wee heavy but mostly cos it's scottish.

I don't think you sound anti -maris - you do present it as a desirable malt and I think your point is fair and well made.

I think a lot of the 'use maris' response is simply that it's so readily available, it does bring a discernible character to so many beers (distinct from something like joe white for example) and it is quite pronounced and full flavoured.

 

[MHB]

I'm a big fan of GP to, it isn't actually Scottish, tho it is the most widely grown and used malt in Scotland (used in lots of good whiskies to), its one of the few successful mutations achieved by shoving seed barley into a nuclear reactor and planting out the (few) survivors.
Something that was tried a lot by Ag Scientists in the 50's...

No it isn't radioactive
Mark

 

[Diesel80]

my best all grain was 50/50 maris / GP for the base.
Oh how i wish i wrote down what else was in there..... Still kicking myself.

But for a base malt mix that is pretty awesome in the UK style beers i make / try to make.

Cheers,
D80

 

[welly2]

As far as oats go, if I was to make an oatmeal stout, could I literally use rolled oats from Woolies or Coles? Only asking because if it'll save me a bunch of postage money, I'd rather buy a bag of oats locally!

 

[seamad]

yep, use lowan oats in wits/stouts