I have been using the various types of MCI malt for the last while and have some more en route again - what's not to like cheap and Irish - particularly the stout , managed to get very high extraction rates, pale reasonable enough, lager a bit better but a lot of haze which could be down to a mix of wheat in there as someone pointed out in another post- again wasn't bothered as I used in an ipa/ bipa's and was drank young.
I have noticed that in all cases the malt profile is both subdued as compared to some of the malts being used by our commercial entities , my thinking is that a lot of Munich is used by Irish brewers in pales - would that be a right general assumption to make? Had a few samples the last while, there seems to be a malt profile but not necessarily a sweetness/ toffee that you get from crystal etc. definitely a grainy character that is non existent in most of my latest attempts - not that I am trying to replicate anything. Any one else notice this ?
It could possibly be down to not fining or cold crashing my own beer effectively ie some proteins and yeasties in the end product, have been using Conan yeast/ us05 as a go to the last few brews both of which are a lot like brewers - meticulous during the process - poor at clean up afterwards ;D
Were you using all marris otter before MCI? Re: munich - I use 20% munich in most of my grists. Been using MCI for a year now almost. 72% extraction on the nose everytime with my new setup. Coarse crush & fly sparging. i dont find any extra extraction with the stout malt but again Ive a coarse crush so that could be it. Are you adding salts to your water?
Have you tried 8 degrees full Irish? Only MCI pale malt used and a really tasty beer. Saying that though, it is all about the hops, so not sure I took much notice of the malt profile, but a real freshness to that ale in general, and not at all subdued.
Usually Maris Otter or Pearl or whatever available, mine is a mixture of fly and batch , generally upwards of 70%, with stout was an 80% with a double batch sparge, time is a premium with family commitments so cant be faffing around setting up flow rates and watching. I throw in a Campden tablet and some 5.2 stabiliser(which some say is probably the equivalent of snake oil).
Quote from: Taf on May 23, 2014, 12:52:55 PM
Have you tried 8 degrees full Irish? Only MCI pale malt used and a really tasty beer. Saying that though, it is all about the hops, so not sure I took much notice of the malt profile, but a real freshness to that ale in general, and not at all subdued.
I tried their howling gale so I presume same malt , liked it
Quote from: barkar on May 23, 2014, 12:55:54 PM
Quote from: Taf on May 23, 2014, 12:52:55 PM
Have you tried 8 degrees full Irish? Only MCI pale malt used and a really tasty beer. Saying that though, it is all about the hops, so not sure I took much notice of the malt profile, but a real freshness to that ale in general, and not at all subdued.
I tried their howling gale so I presume same malt , liked it
No, malt not the same, not up until recently anyway, as previously they were buying sacks of malt from the UK. Now they have a big silo to get deliveries by truck from MCI. Full Irish and howling gale completely different beers as well.