At Brew Dudes, we’re always looking for ways to support local craft and experiment with new ingredients. This week, Mike brewed up a special American Pale Ale (APA) with malt sourced entirely from Valley Malt, one of the original craft maltsters right here in Massachusetts. Thanks to their new online shop, Ground Up, getting their small-batch malt was easier (and cheaper) than ever. Mike got free shipping on 40-pound sacks! With two different malts in hand (Pale 2-Row and Light Munich), Mike put together a simple recipe to see what these local grains are all about.
Brewing With Valley Malt: Recipe Details
For this experimental APA, we kept it simple to really let the malt flavors shine. Here’s the full recipe for the brew:
Grain Bill:
- 80% Valley Malt Pale Two Row
- 20% Valley Malt Light Munich (8°L)
Hops:
- Nugget hops at 60 minutes (for bitterness only)
- No late addition or dry hops (so we could taste the malt)
Yeast:
- Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast
Mash:
- 152°F for 75 minutes
- Mashout at 168°F for 10 minutes
Batch Details:
- 3.5-gallon batch
- OG: 1.046
- FG: 1.010
- ABV: ~4.7%
- IBUs: ~33
- SRM: ~4.5
Mike wanted a clean fermentation to highlight the base malt character, and that’s exactly what he got. No fancy hop aromas or complicated schedules — just good old-fashioned malt-forward beer.
Tasting Notes and Next Steps
This little APA turned out to be a great way to showcase what Valley Malt brings to the table. The beer poured a light golden color and gave off a distinct cereal and biscuit flavor. The flavors are more reminiscent of English pale ales than the super-clean American versions we’ve brewed with bigger maltsters like Briess. The Munich definitely adds a touch of richness, but the backbone is all about that locally malted Pale 2-row. It’s got just a bit more character compared to standard American malts.
From here, the possibilities are wide open. Mike is already dreaming of using this malt combo as a base for a classic American pale ale loaded with C-hops, or maybe even tweaking it into a brown ale recipe. And since Mike impulsively bought a full sack of light Munich, you better believe a Munich-forward summer lager might be coming down the pipeline soon. Stay tuned for more local malt experiments are definitely on the way.
Brew ON!