Different maris otter suppliers

[delzep]

Does anyone know the difference between Fawcetts, Bairds, Muntons and Warminster maris otter malt? Prices vary, but is that a good indication of quality?

[Will_D]

Do they/will they supply a specification of the Malts:

Degrees Lintner?

Total Fermentables?

Unfermentables?

All these numbers are relevant to us

[biertourist]

It's all in the spec sheet and the malting method.

With the floor maltsters you're going to get a lot of variation from batch to batch and definitely from year to year; some of the maltsters just change their spec all the time (Fawcetts) and some take the time to blend batches to get a more stable spec (Bairds for sure). 

The big guys like Muntons can set very tight specs from the farmers because of their buying power so the malt itself varies less, the size varies less, which means that the degree of modification varies less so you get less variation between seasons, batches, and between kernels in the same batch.   Munton's isn't floor malting, though.


I've heard a number of people who were quite suprised by the increase in efficiency they got when switching to Muntons but if you want those small maltsters to exist then you need to support them.

-It's a difficult situation because you could make up for the variation from lot to lot if you could get the spec sheets but it's INSANELY difficult for home brewers to get up to date lot analysis spec sheets; you might get the typical range of estimates but very rarely a spec sheet if you're ordering less than a pallet...


The biggest differentiator, IMO, is the FLAVOR for the home brewer and that's just something you have to taste for yourself.


Adam

[biertourist]

Fawcett's is a beer world heritage company, IMHO.

Many believe that their brown malt is the gold standard.


Adam