Malt group buy (25KG bags - €18.45 incl. VAT)

Khannie

I'll be in Cork at the end of next week and was thinking of heading to the malting company of Ireland to get some malt.

Anyone want malt? I'd be looking for payment up front but I guess I'm around long enough that people know I'm not going to do a runner with their money.

MCI do 4 malts according to this PDF:
Ale malt
Lager malt
Stout malt and
Distillers malt.

I dropped them a mail so I'm waiting on prices from them.

update - 25KG bags are 15 euro

Hingo

Hmm... Not sure how many AG brewers are on Boards (well exclusively anyway)that may already be involved in other Group Buys elsewhere, but if there's some interest I may get involved.

I'm curious about the stout malt, is it just a loada roasted malts or is there any base malt qualities to it? I don't think I'd have any use for 25KGs of roasted malts, at least I'd struggle to use it.. (some of us aren't doing 50L batches )

Could always look at the likes of simpsons/ bairds / fawcetts and see if there's any benefit of a group buy from them if this doesn't look right

Also might be worth looking at a Boards.ie Home Brew comp? - it crossed my mind a few weeks back and this thread reminded me. Might be worth discussing that in another thread though.

Khannie

Just got a reply from them. They have an introductory price on at the moment - 15 euro for 25KG bag of malt.

Hingo wrote: »

I'm curious about the stout malt, is it just a loada roasted malts or is there any base malt qualities to it? I don't think I'd have any use for 25KGs of roasted malts, at least I'd struggle to use it.. (some of us aren't doing 50L batches )

Not sure to be honest. I've attached the information sheet I got from them on the stout malt.

Hingo wrote: »

Also might be worth looking at a Boards.ie Home Brew comp? - it crossed my mind a few weeks back and this thread reminded me. Might be worth discussing that in another thread though.

Definitely interested.

Khannie

Information on the various malts attached.

blueshed

im no expert but the stout malt is a very light malt, even lighter than the pale malt.

drumswan

Wouldnt you be better off doing this through the NHC?

Sparks43

So what do you need to add to this and how much ale would a 25kg bag make

Id be up for a homebrew comp later in the year after i get a couple of brews made

Khannie

drumswan wrote: »

Wouldnt you be better off doing this through the NHC?

Nah. Not everyone here is a member there (myself included). Though they're a fine bunch and I'm sure I'll join up some day. Also, we're talking about my boot space, so it wont be a massive buy, like.

Khannie

Sparks43 wrote: »

So what do you need to add to this and how much ale would a 25kg bag make

I'm guessing, but 25KG would probably make the base for like 100 litres ish. More experienced all grain people, does that sound about right?

Khannie

Khannie wrote: »

I'm guessing, but 25KG would probably make the base for like 100 litres ish. More experienced all grain people, does that sound about right?

Yeah, this recipe calls for 11lb for 19L. 11lb is more or less exactly 5KG so 5 x 19L would get you 95L from the bag.

Sparks43

Nice so a potential 190 bottles of ale goodness

Have to see if I get a few quid on Tuesday but if I do then I would be in for a couple of bags

RasTa

Yeah the stout malt would need to be stronger for me to join the party.

BabyEater

Stout malt is normally lighter than pale malt so that it has enough diastatic power to convert all the dark grains and unmalted grains that you add

RasTa

Actually what malt listed would be closed to Maris Otter? Does anyone have a grain mill as well?

Khannie

I'm going to buy a small mill to get myself started. You'd be welcome to use it.

Tube

Buy a proper roller mill from the outset. You can get one for around €130. You'll probably end up buying one eventually anyway, but they give a better crush and when attached to a drill can get through a bag fairly quickly.

That malt price is ex VAT. It's €18.45 inc VAT.

In terms of colour (and flavour) it's
ale > lager > stout > distillers
due to kilning temperatures with ale being kilned at the highest and distillers at the lowest. Higher temperature equals more colour and more flavour but less diastatic power. Stout malt could really be considered "super" lager malt.

Maris Otter is a variety of barley known for its flavour, but yields poorly. It's not on the Dept of Ag approved list. MCI barley malt is usually Propino which is approved, and is grown here as was bred for our soil types and weather conditions. It's not as flavoursome.

An average brew would use 4 to 5kg of base malt.

Khannie

Tube wrote: »

Buy a proper roller mill from the outset. You can get one for around €130. You'll probably end up buying one eventually anyway, but they give a better crush and when attached to a drill can get through a bag fairly quickly.

I've already bought the corona mill to get started. It was on offer. I'll probably sell it on after a bit, but with the other expenses of moving up to an all grain brew I couldn't justify the 130.

Tube wrote: »

That malt price is ex VAT. It's €18.45 inc VAT.

Thank you!

Tube wrote: »

MCI barley malt is usually Propino which is approved, and is grown here as was bred for our soil types and weather conditions. It's not as flavoursome.

More crystal to balance?

Tube

Khannie wrote: »

More crystal to balance?

No, not really. You'd need to do a side by side tasting of brews done with the various different varieties to understand the differences.

Khannie

Makes sense. I may just do that actually.

edit: Could you change that a bit with the mash temperature? I know we're getting off topic, but sure not to worry.

Tube

No, mash temp will only really affect how fermentable (or not) your wort is, although Irish/UK malt is so well modified that temp doesn't affect the outcome that much.

Khannie

Yeah, my thinking was that a less fermentable wort would leave more flavour. Sure I've a bit of learning to do. It'll be fun.

Tube

Maybe but it's mostly body and sweetness that it will leave.

oblivious

RasTa wrote: »

Actually what malt listed would be closed to Maris Otter?

Ale malt looks to be kilned to a similar colour to MO, but you will get more extract from stout malt. Swings and roundabouts I suppose

3dsteel

RasTa wrote: »

Actually what malt listed would be closed to Maris Otter?

The ale malt would be MCI's "maris otter". In fact, I'd say the ale malt is the pick of the bunch for beer brewers. There were a few people complaining about the lager malt's efficiency over on the NHC forum. I don't see the point in the stout malt myself, you can make a fine stout using the ale malt.

The homebrew shops here are charging over €35 for a 25kg bag of ale malt so the MCI malt is excellent value.

RasTa

Yeah I'd go halves then with anyone or Khainne on a 25k bag of that so. May just grab the full bag if you're still offering

Sparks43

Won't have any funds till next Tuesday sadly as I've been messed around with work

Would be up for a group buy in the future though

drumswan

Id be interested in a bag of the Ale Malt

Tube

3dsteel wrote: »

The ale malt would be MCI's "maris otter". In fact, I'd say the ale malt is the pick of the bunch for beer brewers. There were a few people complaining about the lager malt's efficiency over on the NHC forum.

My efficiency has always been slightly above average with MCI malt, which I put down to the larger kernel exposing more flour when crushed. That's not to say it's perfect though as I'm finding a lot of stones and other foreign objects in it lately.

Khannie

Tube wrote: »

I'm finding a lot of stones and other foreign objects in it lately.

Tell me more....I'd imagine they're not good for your mill.

Khannie

I overestimated how much space I would have. D'oh! I have a 7 seater, but there will be 6 of us, plus our stuff (I had thought for some reason that I'd have the full boot...whoops ). I'll fit some on the floor with the kids and some in the boot. I reckon 100KG will be my limit though lads, so we're at that.

RasTa wrote: »

Yeah I'd go halves then with anyone or Khainne on a 25k bag of that so. May just grab the full bag if you're still offering

If you're OK with going halfs, I'll do that if you don't mind? I had 75KG in my head for myself so I'll end up with half of that.

So then we have:
Myself - 37.5KG
Groom - 25KG
drumswan - 25KG
RasTa - 12.5KG (preference for 25?)

If I can squeeze an extra bag in I'll bump yours to 25KG RasTa if you'd prefer that?

Can someone who has seen these bags tell me approximately how large they are?

Khannie

Khannie wrote: »

Can someone who has seen these bags tell me approximately how large they are?

From what I can gather from here, it looks like ~40 litres by volume, does that sound right?

That's quite a bit larger than I thought, I think.