basic grain stock?

I am getting ready to go all grain. What kind of stock do most of you carry? Im thinking of:
55lbs of 2 row
55lbs of munich
30lbs of crystal 60L
30lbs of 120L
20lbs of roasted malt
and maybe 15lbs of a couple of others. Might reduce some. Any help would be appreciated. I've searched this forum but maybe im not asking the search engine the right question

Thanks Mike

Well, of course it depends on the kinds of beer you make most! If I was purchasing in bulk, I'd buy maris otter for a base grain, and some US 2-row. I use much less Munich malt, but I do use some. I don't use roasted barley or much crystal 120L at all.

I'd agree that the Crystal 60L is useful. So, what kinds of beers do you like to make, and what kind of hops are you using? That will help in determining a good buy on base grains.

Good point. Basically I'm all over the place as far as style. right now, mostly IPA and a couple of experimental ales. I would like to try some porters and stouts.

What is the difference between Maris Otter and 2 row? Or any of the base grains for that matter.

I simply bought a 50 lb. bag of my base grain for my first Batch, and I brewed the same Batch 3 times over the course of a month to get to know my system. Now that I have 3 AG Batches under my belt, and I am more comfortable with my AG system, I'm going to use the left over UK 2 Row for a Batch of Stout.


I think that a 50 lb bag of UK 2 row and another 50lb bag of American 2 row would work well. I just make a trip to my LHBS for my soecialty Grains.. I always need odds and ends anyhow. Also, it's Stress relief for me as I tend to hang out with the owner and shoot the Breeze about anything and everything.

Joker said:

What is the difference between Maris Otter and 2 row? Or any of the base grains for that matter.

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From what I have been told, UK 2 Row is "Juicier" then American 2 Row. Whatever the hell that means...:cross:

Joker said:

What is the difference between Maris Otter and 2 row? Or any of the base grains for that matter.

Click to expand...

Well, this is a good synopsis of grain: http://www.realbeer.com/jjpalmer/Malt101.html

If you like IPAs, and want to do stouts and porters, why are you thinking of such a load of Munich malt? I use it in German bocks, but I can only think of a couple of times I used it in other beers (and that was in small quantities).

Like RlinNH said, maybe 55# of MO, and US 2-row, if you want to have two versatile base malts.

Heres another good resource on grains

http://www.brewsupplies.com/grain_profiles.htm

YooperBrew said:

Well, of course it depends on the kinds of beer you make most! If I was purchasing in bulk, I'd buy maris otter for a base grain, and some US 2-row. I use much less Munich malt, but I do use some. I don't use roasted barley or much crystal 120L at all.

I'd agree that the Crystal 60L is useful. So, what kinds of beers do you like to make, and what kind of hops are you using? That will help in determining a good buy on base grains.

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Me too. My base malt is Maris Otter, because I like the maltier beers, with high hops (my kids like the Blonde Ale though).
If you get into lagers, you have to go with German malts.
Again, it depends on what you brew most often.

I buy 2 sacks (50 Kg) M.O. and 10 lbs crystal 60 at a time, but everything else, I buy by the pound.

-a.

55lbs Crisp Maris Otter
55lbs Dingeman's Pils

RLinNH said:

From what I have been told, UK 2 Row is "Juicier" then American 2 Row. Whatever the hell that means...:cross:

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I looked at both links form SuperiorBrew and Yooper, and still did not see Maris Otter. I have been watching this thread to find out the difference, and I have looked at all the links in the ingredients thread, and maris otter is not in any.

My last purchase was:
55lbs Durst Pils
55lbs Durst Munich
55lbs Golden Promise
+2lbs of each crystal malt

I tend to brew IPA's and German lagers. I use Munich in alot of my IPA's and will be trying an all Munich Bock in the near future.
It really depends what you brew but I think some type of 2-row is needed.

+1 at what RabidGerbil pointed out. In "one" of the Jamil shows, Jamil described MO as a variety, a cultivar of two row barley that is kinda tricky to grow.

Sounds like there are other cultivars that are hardier or more disease resistant than MO.

Similar to corn I reckon. You got your sweet corn and your field corn, but among the sweet corns there is Silver Queen...

/jack

@OP, If was AG all the time (which I am not) I would go with what I would definitely use before it went bad. I really like ales better than lagers, so I would start with a big sack of MO or UK 2row. If I had room for both I would get both, but it would take me a while to work through 110 pounds of grain, even at 10-11#s per batch. No way am I brewing enough to keep bulk specialty grains fresh.

There is some info on the maltsters site

http://www.fawcett-maltsters.co.uk/welcom.htm

50 lb 2 Row (or M.O.)
50 lb Pilsen

10 lb Munich
10 lb Vienna
10 lb Crystal 1 & II & III & IV
10 lb Roasted Barley
10 lb Chocolate

That is a little under $100.00 worth, depending on your supplier.

If you do belgiums, maybe some aromatic and biscuit

If you have moneys left Caramunich, CaraPils, Wheat, Melanoiden, & Special B

This will get you started, then as you pick up other adjuncts, just add a couple lb's and you will flush out your stock pretty quick.

Best idea is to plan out your brewing schedule and buy with that in mind, easier said then done sometimes.

EDIT: Sorry, more like $125.00 ish, forgot there were actually 4 crystals in there.

I generally stick to the British and American ale styles. I use US 2-row, US pale ale malt, and Maris Otter as my base malts - whatever I get the best deal on. I keep some Vienna, Munich, Crystal 60°, Roasted Barley, Chocolate, Black Patent, and Biscuit on hand but don't need to purchase 55lb sacks of those. I also keep a decent supply of dry yeasts. This allows me to make ales, IPAs, bitters, porters and stouts without a trip to the LHBS.

Doc Thirst said:

50 lb 2 Row (or M.O.)
50 lb Pilsen

10 lb Munich
10 lb Vienna
10 lb Crystal 1 & II & III & IV
10 lb Roasted Barley
10 lb Chocolate
[snip]

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Good list! Here's a pic of Doc Thirst's grain "library" - it's a beautiful sight!



Base malts are in the big bins with specialty grains up top. Note the barley crusher mounted where you can slide a bucket in/out when you mill - and the Mac for posting on the forums while you brew!

I like to buy my specialty grains in 5 lb lots, 2 lbs or less for the roasted malts. I like to have 3-5 55 lb bags of base malt around. Always at least one Pilsner and one Pale, then a Munich, a Vienna, a diferent Pils, and a wheat (in descending order of how quickly I go through them)

A typical grain bill is going to be:
8 lbs base
.5 - 2 lbs specialty grains, typically in .5 lb increments (i.e. 2 lbs = 4 different grains @ .5 lbs each)

You can't go wrong with an 8:1 ratio of base to specialty malts, so for every 55 lb bag, buy ~ 7 lbs total of specialy malts.

attitude said:

I am getting ready to go all grain. What kind of stock do most of you carry? Im thinking of:
55lbs of 2 row
55lbs of munich
30lbs of crystal 60L
30lbs of 120L
20lbs of roasted malt
and maybe 15lbs of a couple of others. Might reduce some. Any help would be appreciated. I've searched this forum but maybe im not asking the search engine the right question

Thanks Mike

Click to expand...

What kind of beers do you like to brew?

If I were starting out again I'd go:
2 full sacks of 2-row and pilsner
1 half sack each of Munich and Vienna
10# each of 10, 40, 80 and 120
10# of Pale Choclate and Roast
10# of Carapils
And some various 10# adjuncts like Flaked wheat and flaked barley.