what to buy at the LHBS

I'm three hours from a homebrew store, but will be going by one tomorrow. If I bought ten pounds of 2 row malt and several smaller amounts of other malts, what might be a good choice, say three small packages of other stuff. I know this isn't specific but I haven't decided what my first ag will be.

That's an impossible question to answer without knowing what you want to brew. The two row is a given, it's the specialty grain that requires you to know what you're going to brew before you shop. If you know the general style (pale ale? stout? porter?) then you can pick up the basic specialty grains and then tweak the amounts in the recipe.

kansasbrew said:

I know this isn't specific but I haven't decided what my first ag will be.

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That's a pretty important detail when you're buying ingredients for a recipe.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/bee-cave-brewery-haus-pale-ale-31793/

this is a good 1st ag recipe.

kansasbrew said:

I'm three hours from a homebrew store, but will be going by one tomorrow. If I bought ten pounds of 2 row malt and several smaller amounts of other malts, what might be a good choice, say three small packages of other stuff. I know this isn't specific but I haven't decided what my first ag will be.

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Crystal 60 and light Munich are good specialty grains that can be used in a wide variety of recipes.

If you like stout or porter Roasted barley, Flaked barley and chocolate malt are good to have on hand.

A few packs of US-05.

Thanks, I know that was a pretty broad question, but I appreciate the thoughts of all. Do you guys always buy specific stuff right at the time you brew or do you develop a surplus and then tweak?

kansasbrew said:

Thanks, I know that was a pretty broad question, but I appreciate the thoughts of all. Do you guys always buy specific stuff right at the time you brew or do you develop a surplus and then tweak?

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I buy grains I like to use in recipe formulation as well as grains I use in recipes I brew often. Doing this gives me the option to brew a house beer, new recipe or tweak an old recipe.

kansasbrew said:

Thanks, I know that was a pretty broad question, but I appreciate the thoughts of all. Do you guys always buy specific stuff right at the time you brew or do you develop a surplus and then tweak?

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I go to the LHBS with a recipe and purchase what I need for that batch. Crush all the grains in store, pick up some hops and if needed some yeast and am good to go. But my LHBS is less than 3 miles away.

If you are going to buy bulk or extra grain you are going to have to have a way to crush it at home.

Suddy said:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/bee-cave-brewery-haus-pale-ale-31793/

this is a good 1st ag recipe.

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+1 This is going to be my first AG this weekend!

StarCityBrewMaster said:

+1 This is going to be my first AG this weekend!

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Another +1. I made 3 batches of this in a row as my first three brews. Wanted to see what my consistency would be. Efficiency went up 5% each batch! :rockin::rockin::rockin:

BendBrewer said:

I go to the LHBS with a recipe and purchase what I need for that batch. Crush all the grains in store, pick up some hops and if needed some yeast and am good to go. But my LHBS is less than 3 miles away.

If you are going to buy bulk or extra grain you are going to have to have a way to crush it at home.

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+1 on this. The grains will keepif they're not crushed, but will start aging quickly if they are.