Marris Otter Compared To Jw Trad Ale

[mark_m]

Hi fellow brewers.

I've use Marris Otter as the base malt in most of my brews to date, simply on the basis that it was the first ale malt I used & results have been good. Regular brews are APA variations, summer ale, porter & brown ale.

I'm looking at substituting J.W. Trad ale as a staple.

What differences should I expect in flavour / body? Other noteable differences?

All feedback gratefully received.

Cheers
Mark.

 

[T.D.]

No doubt there will be plenty of people here who claim there to be dramatic differences. I have to say this is not my experience. I have used both in a variety of styles and frankly I find it hard to justify the extra cost for the MO. It is better I think, but only marginally, and I don't think sufficiently better to justify the extra cost. When using it in recipes I had previously done with JW ale I kept expecting an appreciable difference, but I was always left wondering why everybody raved so much about the stuff!

MO is nice malt and I may use it from time to time, but these days I use JW ale malt for most beers.

 

[hoohaaman]

If your using MO stick with it man.Have tried many different grains the only grain melted me at the knees was golden promise floor malted.

Didn't have the right yeast to throw aTTLLA so went a Wychwood Brewery,hobgoblin

 

[christmasbender]

so m.o. would be a bit better than j.w. ale malt

then would j.w. be the same bit better than powells ale malt?

thinking of switching to powells (have been using m.o. and golden promise) for the price but don't want to get a shock if it's noticablly different in quality. maybe j.w. is a happy medium?

i guess in the end like most things it boils down to taste. some poeple probably think powells is a fine malt while others woldn't touch it and only use imported stuff.

anyone done side by side tests a couple or even all three of these ale malts?

cheers

christmasbender

 

[hoohaaman]

so m.o. would be a bit better than j.w. ale malt

then would j.w. be the same bit better than powells ale malt?

thinking of switching to powells (have been using m.o. and golden promise) for the price but don't want to get a shock if it's noticablly different in quality. maybe j.w. is a happy medium?

i guess in the end like most things it boils down to taste. some poeple probably think powells is a fine malt while others woldn't touch it and only use imported stuff.

anyone done side by side tests a couple or even all three of these ale malts?

cheers

christmasbender

Xmas you can taste the difference,is the difference worth the taste?Some beers I import special grain for,others I don't

 

[Cocko]

I reckon it depends on how much you use and what you are brewing with it - whole recipe = yeast, hops etc..

I am working on a recipe that uses a bit of both... who knows why but it is what we have come up with.

My main point would be a little to do with placebo too IMO.. it affects more than we realise, again, IMO!

So for a true answer, brew 2 brews in identical conditions.. IDENTICAL! Can't be done, close yes but come on...

Sorry, got ranting - My simple opinion in my pretty limited experience is the difference is minimal but matters in certain situations.. obviously depending on your own brewery.

EDIT: Re-Read - gave nothing sorry! :huh:

 

[Fourstar]

IMO some recipes call for a neutral base malt like JW Ale and all base malts have their place. E.g. Cream Ale or an APA for that matter. MO has a distinct 'nuttiness' that helps the malt profile stand up, this is not required in all styles. If you want to 'boost' your base malt profile but not add a nuttiness, do as i do, add around 8% Munich malt to your grist, it adds a fuller clean malt aroma.

If you want to brew 'to style' go the Trad ale for APA's, Cream Ales, Aussie Ales etc and leavethe MO for British Ales (bitters, stout etc) or something that requests a malt forward beer. As i said, they all have their place.

Some people consider using a 'bland pale malt' not worth the effort in the quest for 'good beer'. I'll let you know that i have made some of my best beers to date with a good portion of JW Trad Ale, others with MO.

 

[Cocko]

Phew lucky 4 star posted... now I am not the last!






Hang on :blink:

 

[jayse]

No doubt there will be plenty of people here who claim there to be dramatic differences. I have to say this is not my experience. I have used both in a variety of styles and frankly I find it hard to justify the extra cost for the MO. It is better I think, but only marginally, and I don't think sufficiently better to justify the extra cost. When using it in recipes I had previously done with JW ale I kept expecting an appreciable difference, but I was always left wondering why everybody raved so much about the stuff!

MO is nice malt and I may use it from time to time, but these days I use JW ale malt for most beers.

What MO are you talking about, TF floor malted?

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

No doubt there will be plenty of people here who claim there to be dramatic differences. I have to say this is not my experience. I have used both in a variety of styles and frankly I find it hard to justify the extra cost for the MO.

Yes price justification is right.
FWIW I used JW Ale in an English style that I entered in SABSOSA last year. That beer came a creditable 3rd. That same beer I then entered in the National Comp in Melbourne and it also came a creditable 3rd! Missed 1st by 1.5pts. Using English Malt may have been that X factor that could have got me over the line. For the average brewer such as myself I still go for the JW Ale. At aorund $30 a bag cheaper its a saving worth taking. Can't say I won't ever not use MO just won't be in a hurry to.


BYB

 

[Duff]

I miss Trad Ale

Shops just can't seem to get it up here.

 

[mje1980]

Nothing wrong with JW malt at all. But, i brew a lot of bitters, and while you can make good bitters with just about any base malt ( im using IMC pils malt at the moment, just adding a touch of brown malt to boost up the nutty/yummy flavour ), i can't wait til im out, so i can get my hands on some more Maris Otter. Just has an extra "character" about it. Bloody good malt.

I'll use pils, or JW for apa's, blondes, no worries at all.

 

[jbirbeck]

I've use MO, JW and Powells. I went from powells to MO and if you listen to the hype (ignoring brewers skills for just a mo) then there should have been a huge difference. there wasn't. I then stepped back to JW because thats the easiest thing to get - again no real difference.

MO no doubt a nice malt but for me not worth the extras.
JW is my current standard and its working well. I do as Fourstar mentioned as well - add a bit of munich but I love the stuff.
Powells - I used it pretty early

In saying that though I've got a string of brews planned (SMASH - acronym of of the week) where a comparison may be in order. Powells vs JW vs MO.

I just wish there was somewhere I could get a sack of Powells here in Adelaide :icon_offtopic: Anyone know if there is anywhere?

 

[T.D.]

Powells is lovely malt in my opinion. By far the nicest domestic malt I have tried. But there is a big downside in that it is not well modified, so efficiency suffers. That said, it is cheaper so the cost per brew is actually almost identical (to JW).

I used Powells for a while and ended up going back to JW. Partly because I liked the convenience of not having to crush the grain within an inch of its life to get any decent extraction, but also because my LHBS started stocking JW again instead!

I would definitely give it another shot if my LHBS started stocking it again.

 

[drsmurto]

English ales are mainly what i brew and i found that JW trad was lacking in oomph, Bairds MO was better but then i got my hands on the floor malted Thomas Fawcetts and :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2:

 

[T.D.]

I think it would be VERY interesting to see if people could pick the difference in a blind tasting.

To me the difference is not really in body or flavour per se, but more the fact that beers done with MO have seemed more smooth and balanced. But as I say, this may be placebo...

 

[seemax]

I've brewed english beers (pale, bitter) with JW, MO & Powells.

The end results were all good, I couldn't pick any significant difference.

It comes down to what are you trying to achieve - beer you enjoy drinking or beer to win a comp?

Personally, I think Powells is the best value for money, but you do get slightly less effiency than JW.

 

[Bribie G]

I notice nobody has mentioned Barrett Burston yet. I'm tending to use it for everything nowadays, the Ale, the Pilsener and the Galaxy. :icon_drool2: Also It keeps the dollar onshore. I made an American Amber with MO and it's far too biscuity / chewy compared to BB Ale. My house beer is now BB Pilsener and Superpride. I have one 5kg shrink of MO left that I'll be using in a Ringwood FortyNiner but won't be ordering any more for the foreseeable.

 

[jayse]

English ales are mainly what i brew and i found that JW trad was lacking in oomph, Bairds MO was better but then i got my hands on the floor malted Thomas Fawcetts and :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2:

This is why this thread is all over the shop, people are talking about Maris otter as if it is one specific malt product which it is not all it is is barley, you could get Maris otter that could be no more than stock food if given a bad lot.
For this thread to work people have to list the actaull malting company there talking about not just say 'Maris otter is not worth it'.
In the end one company my make great malt out of MO that shits all over any JWM malts and one company could just turn the MO in nothing more then stock food.

 

[drsmurto]

I think it would be VERY interesting to see if people could pick the difference in a blind tasting.

To me the difference is not really in body or flavour per se, but more the fact that beers done with MO have seemed more smooth and balanced. But as I say, this may be placebo...

Fair point TD

I've made the same beer (TTL) with the only diff being the base malt - JW trad vs Bairds MO vs TF FM MO

I think i can taste the different but a blind tasting would be an interesting test.