What Is So Good About "floor" Malted

[Darren]

Personally, I doubt anyone can tell the difference between a beer made with floor malted malt.

You may not want to suggest that to the folks doing the BJCP exam tomorrow. I think they'll be figuring that will be part of the job description.


Again I would be interested to hear how many of those examinees pick it by flavour (I undestand floor malted is slightly darker)

 

[Darren]

I don't know. Possibly just because floor maltings tend to be craft producers with the eye on quality[\quote]

Like Powells I guess you are suggesting?

You (presumably) accept that a small, traditional, brewery can produce better beer than CUB, so why should it be a suprise that a small, traditional maltings can make better malt than Joe Whites?[\quote]

Nope, not suggesting that at all. I know no small brewery that can consistently produce crisp clean lagers such as CUB. Joe White has a lab to assess grain quality (prior to malting) worth more than any the entire set-up of any small Aussie maltster. I doubt they produce better malt than Joe White.

Possibly, but consistency isn't everything, particularly in English beers.[\quote]

Unless you wish to make the same beer twice

Most of the brewers I've spoken to who have expressed a preference have been more wedded to using floor-malted barley than are wedded to a particular variety.

Again this is probably just marketing an "ye olde world' thingy that drinkers feel comfortable with.

 

[AndrewQLD]

Nope, not suggesting that at all. I know no small brewery that can consistently produce crisp clean lagers such as CUB. Joe White has a lab to assess grain quality (prior to malting) worth more than any the entire set-up of any small Aussie maltster. I doubt they produce better malt than Joe White.

Perhaps Joe White do produce a consistant malt but that does not mean they produce the better malt. We all know the big brewers prefer consistancy over quality, a bad year for one ingredient can be made up for by production changes to the brew. I like JW malts, and i like them for their consistancy, and for no other reason.

Andrew

 

[Darren]

Nope, not suggesting that at all. I know no small brewery that can consistently produce crisp clean lagers such as CUB. Joe White has a lab to assess grain quality (prior to malting) worth more than any the entire set-up of any small Aussie maltster. I doubt they produce better malt than Joe White.

Perhaps Joe White do produce a consistant malt but that does not mean they produce the better malt. We all know the big brewers prefer consistancy over quality, a bad year for one ingredient can be made up for by production changes to the brew. I like JW malts, and i like them for their consistancy, and for no other reason.

Andrew

[post="68216"][/post]​

I think consistency and quality go hand-in-hand.
My vote for consistency and quality goes to the Germans

 

[tdh]

>My vote for consistency and quality goes to the Germans<


They came second twice and did it in style

tdh

 

[tdh]

I've now made 3 10hl batches of Grumpy's Biggles ESB with Baird's non-floor malted Maris Otter and they are all clear and bright.

tdh

 

[Jazman]

i also have made some goods beers with the bairds maris otter and have used fawcetts halycon malt and both seemed about the same to me

 

[Sean]

Like Powells I guess you are suggesting?

My comment was based on Edwin Tuckers & Thomas Fawcetts (particularly the former as that's the maltings I have most experience with). I hope and expect that Powells will be the same. Incidentally, Tuckers are the smallest and most traditional of the English maltings.

Nope, not suggesting that at all. I know no small brewery that can consistently produce crisp clean lagers such as CUB. Joe White has a lab to assess grain quality (prior to malting) worth more than any the entire set-up of any small Aussie maltster. I doubt they produce better malt than Joe White.

Maybe we need to define "better". From my perspective, "better" means more character, flavour, etc. If you want clean consistancy then yes, Whites probably will do that better.

Possibly, but consistency isn't everything, particularly in English beers.

Unless you wish to make the same beer twice

You need a certain degree of consistancy obviously - not wild variation - but the inconsitancy that is inevitable in real-ale (due to cask conditioning) far outstrips the inconsistancy in the malt output of even the smallest maltings.

Most of the brewers I've spoken to who have expressed a preference have been more wedded to using floor-malted barley than are wedded to a particular variety.

Again this is probably just marketing an "ye olde world' thingy that drinkers feel comfortable with.

This is not in a marketing context - these are professional brewers that I know well enough to count as personal friends and have genuinely frank conversations with. Most of the breweries concerned do not make an issue of their malt source in marketing, so the preference of drinkers doesn't come into it.

 

[Kai]

Nope, not suggesting that at all. I know no small brewery that can consistently produce crisp clean lagers such as CUB.

I don't think CUB are terribly good at it, either.