Maris Otter: The Legendary British Malt

Maris Otter is one of the most celebrated barley varieties in the world today. It is a traditional two-row, low-protein, winter barley and today is considered an heirloom variety. It is praised by brewers for its flavor, low nitrogen, and how easy it is to work with, but disliked by many farmers because of its lower yield (when compared to modern varieties).  

 

Maris Otter had its beginnings in 1965 at the British Plant Breeding Institute (BPI), which, at the time, was situated on Maris Lane, in Trumpington, England.  Here, the director, Dr. G. Bell and a team of researchers were trying to cross a spring barley variety with a winter variety. The idea was to create a barley variety that was both hardy and produced higher yields, similar to winter varieties, but also had some of the valued brewing traits found in spring varieties.   

 

The breakthrough came when Proctor and Pioneer, two older varieties from the BPI were successfully crossed. Proctor, the spring variety, is a cross between a Danish variety called Kenia and a traditional English variety called Plumage Archer. Pioneer dates back to 1943 and carries the distinction of being Britain’s first commercially successful winter variety.   

 

The new variety was dubbed Maris Otter. The name is a homage to the location of the BPI. Though, far less known, there are also Maris Mink, Maris Puma, Maris Dingo, etc.; all bred by the BPI.

 

Maris Otter dominated the British brewing scene until the 1980s when it slowly started to be replaced by newer varieties with higher yields and better disease resistance. At the same time, Maris Otter’s added cost (20 to 25% higher) caused recently consolidated bigger breweries to shy away from using it.

 

Another blow came in 1990 when the protections that made Maris Otter a proprietary variety expired, giving seed companies less reason to carry it. It seemed Maris Otter would fade away completely. 

 

But a few tenacious farmers and brewers hung on, determined to continue producing and using the variety. In 1992, two-grain trading companies, H Banham Ltd and Robin Appel Ltd, bought the rights to the Maris Otter brand. The companies then went back and reselected for a more vigorous seed stock and over the next 27 years managed to revive Maris Otter’s standing, making it one of the best-known malts in the world.

 

Maris Otter is still grown in the same place it was 50 years ago. It does very well in the maritime climate of Norfolk County in East Anglia, England, and the variety has become almost as well known and loved in America as in its country of origin, with near a quarter of any year’s malt supply going to U.S. markets. 

 

Maris Otter celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015 with a celebration that included a competition of 50 beers brewed with Maris Otter. The two companies that helped keep Maris Otter alive have also received a Lifetime Achievement award from the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group.

 

Country of Origin: 

Britain

 

Malt Type:

Base Malt

 

Average Percentage Used:  

Up to 100% of the grain bill 

 

Diastatic Power: 

Diastatic power ranges from 40 to 60OL (Lintner) depending on the manufacturer. So, Maris Otter has above the recommended minimum of 35oL to allow self conversion.  

 

*Note that in the case of Maris Otter some sellers have the diastatic power listed as anywhere from 120oL to 160oL, which is incorrect and is actually the European measurement of Windisch-Kolbach (degrees OWK).

 

You can convert between the two by using Lintner = (WK + 16) / 3.5. 

Thus, if you have 160oWK 

Lintner = (160 +16) / 3.5, which comes out to 50oL.

 

Lovibond: 

Can range from 2.5oL to 7oL (Lovibond) depending on the batch and maltster

 

Color it contributes to the beer: 

A light orange/amber color

 

Flavor:

Strong malt qualities; full-bodied and smooth; rich bread with light toast and nuttiness; with slight earthiness

 

Floor malted Maris Otter is generally considered as having a richer, roaster, and deeper flavor when compared to standard malted Maris Otter, which is described as sweeter, toffee-like, and robust.  

 

Storage/Use Within:

Store Maris Otter in a pest free and dry environment at a temperature below 90oF and preferably between 50oF and 70oF. Use Maris Otter within 6 months of purchase especially if already milled. 

 

Availability (Malt):

Crisp Malting (Floor and Standard Malted available)

Fawcett and Son Malting (Floor)

Warminster Malting (Floor)

Mutons Malting (Standard)

Simpsons Malting (Standard)

 

Availability (Extract):

Mutons (light liquid)

Maillard Malts (liquid)

 

Possible Substitutions for Maris Otter:

• Simpsons Golden Promise
• Gambrinus ESB

 

Brewing With Maris Otter:

Maris Otter can be used in most ale styles although it is most often associated with the English styles like those listed below. It is a well modified malt and easily converted in a single infusion mash. 

 

It can make up 100% of your grain bill or, used at 20 to 30%, in just about any recipe where you want a little more malt character with limited color uptake.

 

Because it is much closer to the lower end of the diastatic power range for self converting malts you may want to do the calculation to figure out the total lintner for your entire mash. This will ensure your batch is above the recommended 30oL minimum diastatic power.  

 

To do this, take the lintner of each of your grains, multiply it by the weight of that grain, and add the results together.  So it looks like this:

 

Lintner_for_mash = [(LintnerGrain1 x WeightGrain1) + (LintnerGrain2 x WeightGrain2) + (LintenrGrain3 x WeightGrain3)… and so on] / TotalBatchWeight.  

 

So, just as an example, say you want to use 4 pounds Maris Otter, 1 pound chocolate malt, 1 pound crystal 40. So 6 pounds total and both chocolate and crystal 40 have diastatic powers of zero.

So, (50L x 4) + (0L x 1) + (0L x 1) = 200 / 6 =  33.3 total Lintner

 

So, our fake grain bill is just barely above the minimum diastatic power needed.

 

In a mini-mash, for an extract base recipe, it has enough diastatic power to convert any specialty grains you are adding and will contribute to the overall malt complexity of the beer. 

 

Beer Styles it is often used in:

Maris Otter can find a place in almost any beer style where a little added maltiness is required, but it is most often associated with the styles listed below:

 

• British Bitters

• British Golden Ale

• English IPA

• Dark Mild

• British Brown Ale

• English Porter

• Scottish Ales

• Irish Ales

• Stouts

• Double IPA

• Old Ales

• Strong Ales

• Barley Wines

• Specialty IPAs

 

 

Commercial Using Only Maris Otter Malt:

• Maris Otter Vintage Ale form Stroud Brewery (UK)
• Single Malt IPA from Blackfoot Brewing Company (USA)
• Troubadour Magma Maris Otter from Brouwerij De Musketiers (Belgium)

 

Commercial Examples – A Combination of Maris Otter and other malts:

• Piper Down from Ballast Point Brewing Company (USA)- Also uses Roasted Raw Barley
• Brooklyn BLAST! from Brooklyn Brewing Company (USA)- Also uses German Pilsner
• Dry Irish Stout from Breckenridge Brewing Company (USA)- Also uses Roasted Barley, Flaked Barley, Dry Irish Malt
• The Barista from Clown Shoes Brewing Company (USA)- Also uses flaked oatmeal
• Pale 31 from Firestone Walker Brewing Company (USA)- Also uses Premium Two-row, Munich, Crystal
• Hop Hash from Sweetwater Brewing Company (USA)- Also uses Pilsner, Wheat, Midnight Wheat
• Jam Session from NoDa Brewing Company- Also uses Caramunich
• Ol’ Puffery from Edmund Oast Brewing Company (USA)-Also uses Crystal malt