What Specialty Grains Do You Stock Up On?

My Monster Mill should be here by the end of the week and I'm thinking about going to the LHBS this weekend to stock up my grain cabinet. For those who mill at home, what specialty grains have you found particularly useful to have on-hand at all times?

I always stock Carapils, Crystal 60, roasted barley and Caramunich. A simple inventory for sure, but they are most of what I need for the kind of ales I like.

nicknunns said:

My Monster Mill should be here by the end of the week and I'm thinking about going to the LHBS this weekend to stock up my grain cabinet. For those who mill at home, what specialty grains have you found particularly useful to have on-hand at all times?

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Hmmmm. That's a great question. I guess the answer really depends on what each individual brews, but I have a few "standards".

I always have a few varieties of crystal- 20L, 40L, 60L, 80L, and 120L. I have more 40L than anything else- but I brew mostly APAs and IPAs.

I have some chocolate malt, some biscuit malt, and a few flaked oats and flaked barley. I have some flaked maize, and aromatic malt, along with brown malt, amber malt and special roast.

I keep on hand Munich malt, maris otter, Vienna malt, pilsner malt and US 2-row for base malts.

My goal is to say, "I wanna brew tomorrow- what am I going to make?" and be able to do.

Beerbeque said:

I always stock Carapils, Crystal 60, roasted barley and Caramunich. A simple inventory for sure, but they are most of what I need for the kind of ales I like.

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Interestly enough (to me!), I quit buying carapils a year or so ago. I haven't missed it. But the rest- yes!

Crystal 60L (lots, seems to go into every brew)
Crystal 15L
Black Patent
Roasted Barley
Chocolate Malt
Carapils (lots)

Base malts:
US 2-row
Bestmalz Pilsner
Vienna
Munich
White Wheat Malt

Munich
Vienna
20l
40l
60l
120l
Black Malt
Caravienne
Honey Malt
Chocolate Malt
Special B
Carapils
Biscuit
Aromatic
Flaked Corn

Base:
2-Row
MO
Wheat
Pilsner

That is all...

I don't exactly stock up on stuff but I do usually keep a pound or two of some grains on hand.

Crystal 40, 60, 120
Chocolate malt
Black patent
roasted barley
biscuit or victory
caramunich

Always have some crystal 20 and 40.

Have really been adding some biscuit or victory to alot of things. So have been keeping a few # around to add here and there.

Overall I love simple grain bills and really all together simple recipes.

What I've got right now include:

Specialty Grains:
Crystal 20 and 40
Roasted Barley
Chocolate

Base Malts:
Pilsner
Munich
Wheat

I bought a larger bulk amount of wheat malt (27.5lbs) and Munich(13.75lbs) malt to keep around. I use wheat quite a bit and planned on a few wheat recipes. I usually have smaller amounts (1-1.5lbs) of 40 and 60 crystal and carapils. I usually have a few ounces (4-8) of things like 120, Victory, honey malt and chocolate around.

BTW- 2 LHBS in town that between them are open 7 days a week, so I don't really worry about specialty grains to much.

Like Yooper, I like to be ready to brew whatever I want, whenever I want. The closest LHBS is around 80 miles away and all shipping places take at least 3 days. I've anywhere from 1/4lb of Aromatic to 100lbs of Maris Otter. Beersmith Inventory feature comes in handy for sure...

Aromatic
Barley, Flaked
Black Patent Malt
Black Barley
Dextrine
C10L
C20L
C40L
C60L
C90L
C120
Chocolate Malt
Munich 10L
Munich 20L
Oats, Flaked
Pale Malt, Maris Otter
Pilsner, German
Roasted Barley
Special B
Special Roast
Victory
White Wheat Malt

I order things I can't get at the LHBS. pale chocolate, brown malt, melanoiden, special roast etc..

My LHBS is about 15 minutes away... but, since they charge $1 to $1.50 per pound MORE than Mid Country Malt, I dont shop there unless they are having a huge sale, or I am in a pinch. In fact I bought about 5 pounds of every specialty malt I have in stock from the LHBS, because they had thier ONCE a year grain sale, they were finally competitive.

I used to spend $30 for an AG brew... now it is down to $12 including yeast. This means more brewery dollars to pay for cool equipment.