Everything You Need to Know about Base Malts - Home Brewing Basics

[@TheBMurph43]

I do really like your newer informational video path. I absolutely love knowing these technical aspects about the ingredients that we use in brewing it really does help understanding certain aspect about the selected topics.

[@GenusBrewing]

We'll keep them coming! Don't be surprised when we throw out some "us drinking just for fun" videos along the way though :)

[@jayo7067]

@@GenusBrewing Please do, because those are great also.

[@TheHomebrewChallenge]

Dammit so my “collection” of 3 base malts in my brewery isn’t quite as comprehensive as I’d hoped 😀. Thanks for the video.

[@GenusBrewing]

Which ones do you use!? If I had to pick 3 it would be Best Malz Heidelberg. TF&S Halcyon. And Great Western 2-row (that might say a bit about the styles of beers I like to make) :p

[@KalosPVP]

I'm glad Bob Ross grew the beard out again.

[@GenusBrewing]

He's a happy little chia pet

[@samstock6565]

Love the Bob Ross analogy...good bangs too!

[@jayo7067]

I would love to hear about the different kinds of rests.

[@GenusBrewing]

Done!

[@willschmit436]

I really expected you guys to touch on the diastatic power vis-a-vis adjuncts. I expected to hear about 2-row vs 6-row vs distillers malt and why we need 6-row (for instance) in classic American beer...

[@Birdmanondaweb]

You guys have been smashing out the videos lately. Keep up the good work! Loving them.

[@GenusBrewing]

Cheers!

[@dudestewbrews]

Great video. One of the toughest hurdles in designing my own recipes was getting familiar with what malts are available, what color they provide, and most importantly, what flavor they provide. Like you said, it's best to learn by using a specific malt yourself, but this video definitely helps clarify some of the differences. Thanks! PS - Heidelberg is the grain I used in the Strawberry Lemon Saison I dropped off for you guys the other day and it made a rock solid beer. Two thumbs up.

[@blackstrobe83]

Outstanding series of videos. Cheers lads!

[@GenusBrewing]

Thanks for watching!

[@ChuckUnderFire]

Man I’ve been trying to get a good source for all the different “rests” for a while. With sort of beer examples to show what it accomplishes. Please please consider doing that rest video. I’ve been trying to get some rest for ages.

[@GenusBrewing]

We did do a rests video!

[@ChuckUnderFire]

Yeah.... turns out I wasn’t caught up, but you can bet I am now. Took notes and everything. 👍🏼

[@brianbarker2670]

Good information on base malts guys. Nice to see one of my local maltsters (Gambrinus) featured, its my "go to" pale malt.

[@GenusBrewing]

Cheers! We use their ESB malt on occasion, but the most common grain we use from them is their Honey Malt :)

[@fox189]

Been watching for awhile and finally subscribed. I'm liking what I've seen and... GO VANDALS!

[@GenusBrewing]

And Cougs! (Wife's a vandal, i'm a coug) :p

[@Jango1989]

Great video! Really useful!

[@TheSarkons]

Woohoo Gambrinus. I live 15 minutes away from the maltery. Amazing malts coming from BC!

[@InvisibleCitizen]

Nice job!

[@nathaningram1779]

Awesome!

[@jpreuss01]

you guys are the bomb!

[@kennygraley824]

Great info! Keep them coming, I’d love to see a working maltster facility! I’m with couple hours drive of two maltster and hope to check them out soon! Cheers

[@GenusBrewing]

We luckily have one that's practically walking distance! We'll be visiting them soon :)

[@koplandavid]

Please do the mashing rests

[@GenusBrewing]

Definitely going to happen in the next couple of months!

[@AldoChinen1975]

congratulations and thanks for the contribution! I have a question: why dont you guys consider wheat, vienna or munich malts basemalts? I had the idea that you could call base malt a malt you can use 100% on a brew. thanks!

[@GenusBrewing]

Mostly because the process for making those is a little different - as is the useage - so we wanted to save those for another video :)

[@cratecruncher4974]

Interesting info on Heidelberg. Here in Austin I use a lot of local Blacklands for my base needs. I like Munich for a little character in the midrange. By the way, I'm not up on the latest NW fashion trends but wouldn't the heat transfer properties of a down jacket and shorts be at cross purposes.

[@GenusBrewing]

That's my running outfit! My legs stay plenty warm when I run as long as my core is warm.

[@allanbrand]

Love you guys and your videos are great! If you are taking votes, would love to see a video on mash profiles/steps.

[@GenusBrewing]

Thanks! We will work on one!

[@imFurbs]

Really like this channel, you guys make good content. Lots of things to help out newer brewers like my self. Only have 3 home brews under my sleeve, but I've been doing a shit ton of homework, and I already ordered some 5 gallon oak barrels for sours, and BA beers. I have a really good sour blonde ale recipe but want to modify the grainbill just a little bit for a pie / cobbler inspired sour. I'm thinking adding some Maris Otter to the grain bill to get some of those pie crusty / graham cracker flavors. Any other malts you guys suggest that might bring some of those pie crust flavors?

[@GenusBrewing]

Halcyon is prolly my favorite if you want to keep it subtle but get some noticeable affect. If you want it to slap you in the face the 1823 MOPA from Bairds has it pretty big.

[@ARCSTREAMS]

something you should have talked about as well and also how many sg points per lb per gallon each kind of grain will yield and efficiency of conversion etc etc etc

[@mothox]

Time to bust out that lederhosen. I’ll be trying some Heidelberg next order. Cheers guys - great vid 🍻

[@GenusBrewing]

Cheers! You'll love it!

[@jacktyrrell2050]

Hi guys I've been brewing an oatmeal stout for about 13 years can you tell me what's the best base malt and can you change the profile of your grains by roasting them in your over how might that change the flavour all i can tell you when I first started i got my base malt from Warminster it was fantastic but now I'm getting them back Ireland not nearly as good i wonder why thanks

[@ipurtleipurtle7021]

I'd love to hear about the different type of rests

[@GenusBrewing]

Cheers! We'll work on it

[@jacktyrrell2050]

Hi guys is there a difference buying maris otter 2 row from different suppliers thanks or as there no difference Ps I'm convinced there's quite a big difference please let me know what you think cheers

[@GenusBrewing]

There for sure is. I use Bairds most often because it is relatively neutral profile - but there are MOPAs that are super crackery or beady too

[@chris42119]

What kind of beer do you drink out of your coffee cup?

[@GenusBrewing]

Cantillon

[@MadMax00215]

Aw he should have said "coffee stout"..... bah dum tisssss. LOL

[@idahofarmhouseales8988]

You lads are awesome! What was the bag the bearded beer mafioso was sitting on? Looked like it said "pure Idaho". Also, I'm not sure you've tried it, but the Irish Malting Company's Stout Malt is one of my favorites. The stuff will convert gravel. Cheers. Wink

[@GenusBrewing]

It is a great western malt made with 100% idaho barley! We've been playing with that stout malt recently and made some tasty beers with it :)

[@ARCSTREAMS]

how high can you go on the lovibond before killing the enzyme? and is there such a thing as degrees of killed enzyme or weaker or is there a line where they are either alive and working efficiently or dead?

[@mleukus]

if i buy grain in bulk - what is the shelf life?

[@bryanbrunk1186]

Please discuss rests and amylase.

[@GenusBrewing]

Done :)

[@Mister-Christer]

I think we use mostly EBC scale here. Greetings from Sweden :)

[@GenusBrewing]

Greetings! We should have mentioned EBC - but honesty we hardly ever see it over here :/

[@ethanmccormick3271]

Yeah get that a lot in Australia but we see all 3

[@HeartPumper]

For interested, EBC is as name suggesting, European color scale. And it's roughly doubling of Lovibond/SRM. So pale malt 2 SRM = 4 EBC and so on :)

[@JoeGraves24]

6 row uses? Also, Vienna malt can be base malt

[@GenusBrewing]

We did mention in our original take (got scrapped) that vienna could go either way - but we will go more in depth with that in our toasted malt video. With the 6 - row, we probably should have mentioned that, good catch, but that also goes into varietal/source grain/heritage, so we can try to fit that into another vid. Thanks for the catch!

[@JoeGraves24]

It might be worth mentioning wheat malt as base malt as well. Another oddball is Munich malt for dunkels (again, just worth a mention when covering kilned malts)

[@TheWinkingPigBarBQ]

I just watched this video and 6-row stood out as an omission to me as well. This past Fall I made a beer with 4 lbs. of baked sweet potato in it and I added a healthy dose of 6-row into the mash to help ensure I had enough diastatic power in it and I still had a 90-minute sacrification rest before I got a clear conversion test.

[@CountDrunkula]

Have you ever compared Special B vs Special X or Special W? I'm doing a test of X against B right now and the grains were very different tasting. I still haven't bought any munich of vienna yet because I forgot on my last order. Cheers.

[@GenusBrewing]

We've used them both plenty - but will have to dona full-on side by side. Lately we've been enjoying special X more because it is drier and still phenomenally complex :)

[@CountDrunkula]

@@GenusBrewing Rah - great because I bought about 2 kilos of it on offer. I didn't want to influence things but the B was like lovely crunchy burnt sugar, the X more dry and biscuitty, a bit like digestives (Graham crackers for you non-limeys).

[@PsyferInc]

Have any of you guys used rice in your mash?

[@jasonlahti7211]

Have you ever tried great western nw pale ale malt? I used it with honey malt and made a really tasty classic NW IPA. But I wonder from a larger volume brewer perspective what the difference between that and traditional Maris otter would be considering the cost savings with the NW pale ale malt.

[@GenusBrewing]

A while ago I actually used NWPA for most of my beers, I still used it for some styles (and prefer it to MOPA for some styles)... but that kind of goes back to just choosing the base I think would work best for my beer... if I think the style needs MOPA I don't worry too much about the cost and I just brew the beer I think needs to be brewed :)

[@Identace445]

I've always called 2-row "Pale" or "Pale Malt"

[@mattxander12]

Opinions on maris otter vs victory for that bready base malt taste?

[@GenusBrewing]

Victory can get pretty aggressive if you use it as a base so I like to keep that below 20% for most styles. A heritage base malt like Bairds 1823 Maris Otter would be a good starting point, and if you wanted extra toast you could supplement with victory - we will be talking a bit more about that style in our Toasted Malt Video (coming Soon)

[@denismorgan9742]

Can organic oats be used instead of a malt in brewing?

[@Pingwinho]

Instead of "a" malt, yeah. But not entirely, they have no enzymes themselves, so you won't be able to convert starches to sugars.

[@SyBernot]

But can you make a couch from them?

[@GenusBrewing]

Is there anything else you do with base grains? I've pretty much just called the "couch grains" my whole life.

[@SyBernot]

@@GenusBrewing you can use them to become Captain Enzyme and master the power of diastatic conversion. To the Mash Tun, and beyond!!!!!!!!!

[@drewviehman5913]

👍

[@GenusBrewing]

thumb

[@nonameDELANEY]

Please do a rests vid

[@GenusBrewing]

Done!

[@MrShnazer]

Just use any barley malt. the rest you are just dabbling.

[@GenusBrewing]

But there are so many different flavors!

[@billastell3753]

I hope you guys didn't fart on the malt!! I'd try almost anything bu there I draw the line.

[@alexkroezendijk8346]

"we're going to talk to an expert so that we don't sound like idiots..." Too late genius.

[@Mike-qd6lb]

Leave the cup in the kitchen.

[@tommygallucci]

Is that Josh Allen?

[@GenusBrewing]

Damn right

[@tommygallucci]

@@GenusBrewing Haha love your content and sense of humor! Keep doing God's work!

[@obrienliam]

Great vid. cringe to "fillet mig-non"!