Whats everyone's inventories look like?

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IrregularPulse

IrregularPulse

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I am wanting to start buying bulk grain and hops and yeast so that when I get a random day to brew I don't have to drive an hour to the "L"HBS to get ingredients or have to find the time for the trip on saturday to brew sunday when planning a brew.

My question is what kind of inventory do you all keep as a base of grains,adjuncts,hops and yeast so that you can generally brew whatever whenever?

I'm definitely willing to buy the containers to keep it all fresh. I do not have a grain mill yet though. Is it not worth it to buy pre-crushed bulk? If not still share your inventories for i plan on adding a grain mill eventually.
 
You'll definitely want to get a grain mill. Even if you do go with a bargain priced non-adjustable it's worth it. The best analogy I can make is like the difference between packaged ground coffe and whole bean you grind at brew time. The freshness speaks for itself but, both will still make coffee.

I have 3 sacks of Base Grain on hand at all times;

MO, Munich, and Brewers 2-row. Those 3 have become my preference as of late although I may add Pils at some point for an even lighter option.

I also keep anywhere from 1 to 4 pounds of a variety of specialty and base on hand. Currently;

Crystal 40, 80, 120, Roasted, Chocolate, Black, Toasted, Vienna, and Biscuit.

As for hops I have at least 2 ounces of half a dozen varieties and differeing AA. IIRC, Cascade, Brewers Gold,Sterling, Kent Golding, Simcoe, Centennial, etc... If you keep these in a deep freeze they will last a very long time with little degredation.
 
I keep 55lbs of Crisp Maris Otter, 55lbs Dingemans Belgian Pils, 6lbs of Ultralight DME(starters). I have quite a few packets of S-05 and nottingham at all times as well.

Then I only need to order hops, specialty grains, and adjuncts. This year Ill definitely be stock pilling hops once they become available.
 
Make a list of the beers you like to brew and maybe a mock schedule so you have an idea of your next few brews. Look at the recipe and determine what specialty grain, yeast and hops you need. If you don't want to invest a lot of money in base grain just buy MO it's versatile and could be used in most recipes.
I usually start with one pack of American ale yeast. I'll brew a Scottish and split the yeast and pitch half into a pale and the other in a stout. Then I'll take the yeast out of the pale ale and pitch it into 10 gallons of IPA and I'll transfer the stout into the secondary and put my barley wine on the yeast cake. So I get about five or six brews per pack of yeast. You could do the same thing with English, Belgian or lager yeast just start with a small beer and go up.
 
If you are going to keep an inventory you are going to want to get a grain mill. Buying uncrushed grain allows it to last longer.

I brew mostly english ales and I've built my next 12 brews or so out in software, so it was easy to pick what I needed to inventory. I still need a few items here and there, like some Special B and the hop bill for the 999 Barley Wine, but I'm sitting pretty right now.

Code: 
Pale Malt, Maris Otter 		Grain		46 lbs
Vanguard 			Hops 		21.70 oz
Williamette 			Hops		20.20 oz
Galena				Hops 		18.80 oz
Pilsner (2 Row) UK 		Grain 		5 lbs
SafAle American Ale 		Yeast-Ale	4 Pkgs
SafAle English Ale 		Yeast-Ale 	4 Pkgs
Black Barley (Stout) 		Grain 		3 lbs
Munich Malt - 10L 		Grain 		3 lbs
Vienna Malt 			Grain 		3 lbs
Barley, Flaked 			Grain 		2 lbs
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L 	Grain 		2 lbs
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L 	Grain 		2 lbs
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 90L 	Grain 		2 lbs
Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L 	Grain 		2 lbs
Chocolate Malt 			Grain		2 lbs
Victory Malt 			Grain 		2 lbs
Aromatic Malt 			Grain 		1 lbs
Cara-Pils/Dextrine		Grain 		1 lbs

I love BeerSmith, BTW. :D
 
I have lots of dry yeast and a few pounds of my favorite hops on hand, but very little grain. When I got my mill, the plan was to keep a few sacks of base malt around, but I've changed my tune. Why worry about storing and preserving all of these bulky ingredients, when my LHBS is reasonably priced and just 15 minutes away? Now when I go, I bring a few buckets, assemble the grain bill for a recipe in each one, and snap the lids on. That way my next few batches are ready to mill and mash, whenever the mood and opportunity to brew happen to coincide.

Ditto with hops...my LHBS keeps a good variety on hand, and despite the shortage, sells them at a reasonable price. They do a brisk business, so everything is nice and fresh. So beyond the hops that I use on a consistent basis, I see no need to maintain my own inventory.
 
I wish I wasn't so lazy, I'd input my inventory into BeerSmith for a nice fancy list like mmb did. :D

I have sacks of Briess 2 row, Briess Wheat, Briess Pils and M&F MO pretty much all the time. I try to keep at least 10# of rye, Munich, Vienna, crystal 20, crystal 60 & Aromatic. 5# of crystal 90, crystal 10, biscuit, carapils and chocolate. I always have at least 1-3# of roasted barley, black patent, special roast, melanoidin, carafa II, caravienne, caramunich, acid, torrified wheat and victory.

I have about 5# of hops with 15 or so different kinds. 8 or so cultures of yeast washed and ready to go, plus Nottingham, Munich and Windsor dry yeasts.

I can pretty much brew anything I want whenever I want, and it freaking rocks. :rockin:
 
Promash exports recipes to the clipboard but not inventories. So....here you go. The number on the far right is the amount in pounds:

Code: 
Grain Munich Malt(light) 1.033 10 Yes 58.25
Grain Pale Malt(2-row) 1.036 2 Yes 43.63
Grain Maris Otter Pale Malt 1.038 3 Yes 39.00
Grain Pilsener 1.037 2 Yes 29.00
Sugar Malto Dextrin 1.030 0 No 9.62
Grain Smoked(Bamberg) 1.037 9 Yes 8.00
Grain Vienna Malt 1.035 4 Yes 6.00
Grain White Wheat 1.040 3 Yes 5.00
Sugar Corn Sugar 1.046 0 No 4.41
Grain Melanoidin Malt 1.033 35 Yes 4.00
Grain Roasted Barley 1.028 500 No 3.75
Extract Generic LME - Extra Light 1.035 7 No 3.50
Grain Aromatic Malt 1.036 25 Yes 3.00
Grain Victory Malt 1.034 25 Yes 2.87
Other Flaked Oats 1.033 2 Yes 2.63
Grain Crystal 40L 1.034 40 No 2.50
Grain CaraPilsner 1.035 10 No 2.00
Grain Crystal 120L 1.033 120 No 2.00
Extract Generic DME - Light 1.046 8 No 1.88
Grain Carafa Special 1.030 600 No 1.87
Grain Carafa II (Dehusked) 1.030 400 No 1.81
Grain CaraMunich 60 1.034 60 No 1.38
Grain Biscuit Malt 1.035 24 Yes 1.25
Other Flaked Barley 1.032 2 Yes 1.25
Grain Crystal 60L 1.034 60 No 1.13
Grain Crystal 10L 1.035 10 No 1.00
Grain Debittered Black Patent Malt 1.028 525 No 1.00
Grain Honey Malt 1.030 18 Yes 1.00
Sugar Lactose 1.030 0 No 1.00
Grain Special Roast Malt 1.033 40 Yes 1.00
Extract Generic LME - Weizen 1.035 7 No 0.90
Grain Moravian Black Malt 1.030 600 Yes 0.75
Other Rice Hulls 1.000 0 Yes 0.63
Grain Scottish Peated Malt 1.038 5 Yes 0.52
Grain Black Patent Malt 1.028 525 No 0.52
Sugar Candi Sugar (dark) 1.046 275 No 0.50
Other Honey 1.042 0 No 0.50
Sugar Maple Syrup 1.031 35 No 0.50
Grain Crystal 90L 1.033 90 No 0.50
Grain Chocolate Wheat 1.030 450 Yes 0.08

hops, in ounces (second from the right):

Code: 
Cascade USA 5.75 Bitt/Aroma 16.50 Whole
Willamette USA 4.10 Aroma 15.55 Whole
Hallertauer USA 4.00 Aroma 14.40 Whole
Amarillo Gold USA, Yakima 10.00 Aroma 7.25 Whole
Goldings - E.K. England 6.00 Bitt/Aroma 7.25 Pellet
Crystal USA 4.50 Aroma 5.25 Whole
Galena USA 13.00 Bitt/Aroma 4.35 Whole
Fuggle England 4.00 Aroma 3.00 Pellet
Hallertau Select USA 1.50 Aroma 2.25 Pellet
Styrian Goldings England 3.50 Aroma 2.25 Whole
Columbus USA 15.00 Bitt/Aroma 1.25 Whole
Goldings - E.K. England 6.00 Bitt/Aroma 1.25 Whole
Amarillo Gold USA, Yakima 10.00 Aroma 1.00 Pellet
Simcoe USA 14.40 Bitt/Aroma 1.00 Whole
Sorachi Ace Sapporo 15.00 N/A 1.00 Whole
Fuggle England 5.00 Aroma 0.50 Whole
Tettnanger USA 4.00 Aroma 0.50 Pellet
Hallertau Hersbrucker Germany 4.75 Aroma 0.25 Whole
 
Wow Evan, Nice stash. I hope to stock up soon. Probably start with some Pale Malt, MO, and some Wheat for base grains, then some black, and chocolate. then start with a basic yeast and start washing. My start washing with the yeast bed from my Jamil's Chocolate hazllnut. I Hoppy ales and porters over all
 
20+ lbs of assorted grains
150+ lbs Wheat and Extra Light DME
several assorted unused vials of yeast
over 40 vials of washed yeasts
about 3-5 lbs of assorted hops :D

I can brew almost anything I want at anytime...except I'm too low on chocolate malt to brew a stout right now.
 
With all these specialty grains, it was bad timing to discover that my SMaSH recipe is one of my all time favorites. :D

Inventory5.JPG
 
What do you all use the melanoidan for? Is it for mostly mouthfeel or does it add some maltiness flavor as well. And what % of the grain bill is usually added?
 
melanoidan is like "Super Munich" add up to a pound for five gallons. I use it in a lot for different styles but mostly german beers
 
melanoidan said:
Much like Munich, but with more aroma. Lends mouthfeel and great aromatics to the beer. Has a nice almost biscuit flavor. Use to help replicate the maltiness and mouthfeel found in decoction mashes. Could be overpowering if used as more than 20% of the grain bill. Must be mashed. Improves flavor stability, fullness, and imparts a reddish color to dark, amber, and red-colored beers. 23-34 Lovibond. Great for use in Dark Lagers and Red Ales.
Click to expand...

1234565787990
 
My local truely is, it's about 4 miles away (then there's another 8 miles away, but that's too far ;) )
I have 20 oz of various hops on hand, just got a 50 lb sack of us 2-row, and have a bunch of 1-5 lb bags of: crystal 10, 40, 60, 120, vienna, victory, munich, otter, dextrine, rye, wheat, chocolate, roast barley, black patent... hmm, there's probably more. I'm pretty set.
Hooray beer!
 

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