55 lbs doesn't go very far .....

For Christmas, I bought myself 55lbs of MO from a local brewer. I was given a bunch of other grain as gifts. I just cam to realize that 55 lbs doesn't go anywhere near as far as I thought. I have maybe 15 lbs left, and it's only February!!! I had to go and get another bag.

Just thought I'd vent some.

I'm in the same boat. I buy 40-55 lbs at a time, and it never seems to last long. I get two brew days out of a full bag of base grain.

I find I go through about four bags a year of base malt. I generally brew between 150 and 200 gallons with that.

Yuri_Rage said:

I'm in the same boat. I buy 40-55 lbs at a time, and it never seems to last long. I get two brew days out of a full bag of base grain.

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What kind of quantity are you putting out on brewday?!

I just got my second 50lb bag of base malt for the year on friday, it does seem to go fast, for me it seems like the first half of the bag lasts forever, then wham! I'm out of base malt.. again. but thinking about it, i use 8-10 lbs of base per batch so thats only 5 or 6 batches per bag on average for me.

I just used 30lbs of base malt yesterday. 55lbs doesn't really last long at all here. I have gone through about 150lbs this year and only have 35 gallons to show for it.

Fingers, how do you get 200gallons out of 200lbs of grain? Do you ever make 1.060 beers or are all of yours in the 1.040 range? You are a brewing and drinking machine!

Yea I went through a 50lb bag of 2row in 4 batches (5gal), and I've gone through more than half of the 55lb bag of MO, and some of my 6-row bag, since January.

Assuming 75% efficiency.
Assume 1.036 SG potential for base grains.
Assume most of your recipe is base grain (pils, pale).

• 33.8 gallons of 1.040 beer with 50# of grain.
• 22.5 gallons of 1.060 beer "" ""
• 16.9 gallons of 1.080 beer "" ""

I know this is obvious to many brewers here, but not so for others... just thought I would point it out.

I bought my first 55lb bag of 2-row. I've done 3 beers and have about 15lbs left. 55lbs of 2-row = 4 beers for me. Maybe I'll try to make this last for 5 brews next time.

I've noticed this problem with chocolate.

It's actually humbling to see what is left in the tun after sparging for the batch at your set efficiency.

Once in a while, I will collect runnings in another vessel just to see how far it can go before the numbers bottom out. Sometimes it's surprising even at 80%.

Parti-gyle was developed out of economical motives. It's just a matter of whether or not you want to mess with boiling the additional wort.

david_42 said:

I've noticed this problem with chocolate.

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Malt or chips?

Eric

passedpawn said:

Assuming 75% efficiency.
Assume 1.036 SG potential for base grains.
Assume most of your recipe is base grain (pils, pale).

• 33.8 gallons of 1.040 beer with 50# of grain.
• 22.5 gallons of 1.060 beer "" ""
• 16.9 gallons of 1.080 beer "" ""

I know this is obvious to many brewers here, but not so for others... just thought I would point it out.

I.e., (0.75 * 36 * 50) / 40 = 33.8 gal.​

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I always figure about 28 points per pound per gallon. Keeps me sane.

I get between 4 and 5 five gallon batches from a 55# bag of grain. My beers are almost always at least 1.060. My local homebrew club buys grain in bulk from Mid Country Malts near Chicago 1,000 or 2,000 lbs at a time. Serious price break. Some club members store grain in air tight buckets for extended periods of time (6 months or longer).

david_42 said:

I've noticed this problem with chocolate.

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For me it's salsa. It's the same story every time. I just never seem to have enough of the stuff!!

I was just thinking about this the other day. I'm still doing extract brews so when I heard people buy 55# of grain at a time I couldn't fathom why. I've recently been looking at the composition of AG recipes though, 18# here, 25# there. I now see why you guys buy so much at once!

Fingers said:

I find I go through about four bags a year of base malt. I generally brew between 150 and 200 gallons with that.

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at 75% efficiency, that basically means your average beer is 1.030-1.040? Are you brewing all milds?

Matt Up North said:

Fingers, how do you get 200gallons out of 200lbs of grain? Do you ever make 1.060 beers or are all of yours in the 1.040 range? You are a brewing and drinking machine!

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Synovia said:

at 75% efficiency, that basically means your average beer is 1.030-1.040? Are you brewing all milds?

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My efficiency is about 70% and yes, I brew beers that land in the 1.040 - 1.050 range. I like to have many lighter beers than a few stronger ones. I simply don't brew 1.060 beers, as you suggest. I like to swill but I don't like getting all sloppy and hung over. I find that I can still brew most styles I like in the bottom end of the range and still have lots of flavor. It's one of those 'Brew what you like' scenarios.

Fingers said:

My efficiency is about 70% and yes, I brew beers that land in the 1.040 - 1.050 range. I like to have many lighter beers than a few stronger ones. I simply don't brew 1.060 beers, as you suggest. I like to swill but I don't like getting all sloppy and hung over. I find that I can still brew most styles I like in the bottom end of the range and still have lots of flavor. It's one of those 'Brew what you like' scenarios.

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Then your volume estimates are off. 70% at 1.045 for 220 lbs of grain is like 120 gallons.

Matt Up North said:

I always figure about 28 points per pound per gallon. Keeps me sane.

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The "theoretical" extract from a lb. of grain is the potential SG. This is listed on the malt analysis from the malster. A malt listed as 1.037 from the malster will net you (assuming 75% efficiency) 1.028 per lb. per gallon (0.75 * 1.037). So, you are spot-on!

Most base malts are between 1.035-1.038.

GilaMinumBeer said:

It's actually humbling to see what is left in the tun after sparging for the batch at your set efficiency.

Once in a while, I will collect runnings in another vessel just to see how far it can go before the numbers bottom out. Sometimes it's surprising even at 80%.

Parti-gyle was developed out of economical motives. It's just a matter of whether or not you want to mess with boiling the additional wort.

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I have also boiled up a few 1-gallon batches with second runnings.

Last check I was still getting 1.020 at the end of fly sparging a 1.060 beer.

It takes a little more effort but the beers I have made from second runnings have been quite good. Same flavor profile just lighter and a little watery. IMO worth the effort if you want to get all the value out of your grain.

I have been doing 20-gal per brewday. That is about a 50# sack per brewday. I thought we had a good supply but it goes quick at that volume.

That's only two 10 gallon batches for me. One brew day.

I buy a half pallet of grain at the time, its much cheaper and I would use that much anyway, so buy now-pay less ........

I think I may try the party-gyle brew. Generally when I am done with my last sparge, I may be around 1.030 or so. I have been hitting 80% eff. So I may be able to to a brew 2 gal batch at about 1.030 after boil. I have the hops, I may give this a try next time .... now I need more fermenters .................. it never ends.

lyacovett said:

I think I may try the party-gyle brew. Generally when I am done with my last sparge, I may be around 1.030 or so. I have been hitting 80% eff. So I may be able to to a brew 2 gal batch at about 1.030 after boil. I have the hops, I may give this a try next time .... now I need more fermenters .................. it never ends.

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Try a few 1 gallon glass jugs. Apple cider ect... I found a few by asking relatives and they work great! Some fit a standard carboy bung others I bought a rubber stopper for...then just add an airlock.

lyacovett said:

I think I may try the party-gyle brew. Generally when I am done with my last sparge, I may be around 1.030 or so. I have been hitting 80% eff. So I may be able to to a brew 2 gal batch at about 1.030 after boil. I have the hops, I may give this a try next time .... now I need more fermenters .................. it never ends.

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I did a 1 gallon willamette parti-gyle with the reminiscence of my (I)IIPA my last brew day. Should be ready to bottle right about now. I wonder what it'll taste like, I didn't even take a gravity reading on it. I'm thinking it's around 1.040-1.045. I only got like 67% efficiency on my (I)IIPA due to the huge grain bill and my plan for a parti-gyle. Who knows

Edit: oh yeah, just use 1 gallon jugs man

Synovia said:

Then your volume estimates are off. 70% at 1.045 for 220 lbs of grain is like 120 gallons.

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Okay, I see where the problem is. Checking my recipes, there are some that call for larger quantities of base malt other than 2-row. I make 10 gallon batches and I have a Marzen in there that is made with Pilsner and Munich malt. I made Yooper's Cascade Pale Ale which calls for a bunch of Vienna, the Newcastle clone has only 12 lbs of malt and a bunch of corn, and of course some of them use Maris Otter, etc, etc. There were also a couple of small extract batches last winter that were included in my count.

So while it is true that I use about four bags of malt a year, not all my recipes are made with that malt.