Malting is both a science and an art, and striking the perfect balance of both of these disciplines is our English Pale Ale.
Root Shoot’s alternative to the traditional Maris Otter malt, English Pale Ale may not have the long and storied history of Maris Otter, but it is a malt through which we have begun to tell our own story…and the story of so many spectacular local beers.
Designed to be the gold standard for our brewers, English Pale Ale was created with the goal of building a malt with a little more color than traditional Marris Otter. Color and flavor often follow each other in the kilning process and with our English Pale, we shoot for a color of 4-6 SRM as we find the most flavorful beer happens here. We hit the sweet spot, literally: a little color but also still holding onto all the potential extract inside the kernels. The chew on this malt is full of flavor, and the hot steep….beautiful.
When incorporated into brew days, the English Pale hits the figurative sweet spot every time and it especially shines in dark beers, giving them a depth of character and a magical toasty breadiness. Case in point? Upslope’s Oatmeal Stout, a Craft Malt Certified beer that hinges on English Pale’s goodness. Liquid Mechanics has an oatmeal stout out as well: one featuring Root Shoot’s English Pale and Honey malts, as well as some of our Malted Oats.
But English Pale isn’t just for dark beer. Zwei Brewing has Pale in Comparison: a clean and crisp ale with a malty body and notes of tangerine and tropical fruit..and even our distillers get in on the action. Bendt Distilling Company in Texas is such a fan that they’re making whiskey with full drum batches of English Pale.
However much we may wax poetic about our English Pale Ale malt (which, we know, is a lot) it’s really the numbers that speak most clearly. English Pale is our fastest-growing malt, hitting 100% growth in year-over-year data.
As the prices of Maris Otter continue to rise, we see an even greater opportunity to spread the English Pale gospel. It’s locally grown, lovingly crafted, rooted in family farms, and designed specifically for small businesses who know that brewing the perfect beer - and distilling the perfect spirit - happen at the intersection where art and science meet.
English Pale curious? Reach out, give us a shout, come to the malthouse for a taste or to try a hot steep.
We would love to introduce you.
