What should I stock?

Hey gang,

Well, I'm officially addicted - and all it took was 3 batches in the kegs to get me back into brewing and wanting more - it's amazing what selling off your Grolsch and Kulmbacher swing-tops can do for your enthusiasm for this hobby.

I'm looking to buy some bulk supplies because (a) I am cheap and want the most beer for least money, and (b) I want to be able to brew on the spur of the moment - I live in a small town and my LHBS is an hour away.

Other than the obvious big ol' sack of pale malt, what should I stock and how much?

Specialty grains - I like to brew pale ales, IPAs, the occasional brown ale, and the odd wheat beer. What should I grab for these types of recipes and how much, since most of the recipes are mostly pale.

I do go into town often enough that if I want to brew something special I can go and grab the grains needed, but would like to be self-sufficient for the most part.

Hops - Obviously it'll depend on the recipe, but what is a good all-round hop for 'normal' pale ales and regular ol' brews - not a 'take-your-face-off' IPA.

Yeast - this is the tough one - but can anyone recommend a good general Wyeast strain, or are you fond of a dry yeast that you could recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Get Amarillo. I use it in everything. It's beautiful.

I do a similar thing, I have some crystal 20, 40 and 120 right now. Some pale chocolate, roasted barley, special b and I just bought 3 pounds each of just random stuff. Bought 4 pkgs of 8 oz hops such as cascade, ekg, chinook and centenial and am repitching a wpl001 over and over. Just messing around right now, working on my process

I wouldn't worry about stocking yeast unless you're going to keep a bank going. Buy a packet or vial whenever you're in town, and then repitch over and over. If you're like me, by the third or fourth repitch, you'll be sick of it and will want to do something that requires a different strain.

For hops, I usually have some Cascade, Willamette, EKG and Fuggles in the freezer.

Besides that - what flexbrew said!

I like to use noble type hops for my wheat beers/blondes/light lagers. I am currently using Crystal and had been using Hallertau for this purpose. I think Liberty is my favorite though. Munich malt would be good to have around. Don't forget the yeast. Start harvesting, big money saver!

Specialty grains: I keep most of the Crystals on hand (10°L for a Blonde, 45° for IPAs, PAs, 120°L for my Irish Red, and 20, 60, 80 as well for no good reason). Also have Roasted Barley, Acid Malt, Melanoiden, Carapils/Dextrin, Honey Malt, and some others. I usually don't stock other malts (Chocolate, Carafa, Special Roast, Special B, etc.) unless I have a beer in mind for them. For the crystals, I usually have maybe max 3 lbs or so (I do 5G batches)...most of the time just 1 to 2 lbs. RB, Melanoiden, and Acid Malt - usually 1lb or less. I order from Northern Brewer a lot and re-use their resealable bags...I take those bags and put them in clear rectangular sterilite boxes and label them.

Yeast - I keep dry yeast on hand since they keep for a long time. I usually have a few packs of S04, maybe 3-5 packs of US05, and a few packs of Notty. Then I wash two yeasts (WLP001 California Ale and WY1084 Irish Ale). After washing, I store in mason jars in the fridge and make starters before brewing.

Hops - I now have a decent variety since I like ordering 4oz packs from Farmhouse Brewing. That or 8oz packs from Northern Brewer. I did a group buy last year for Cascade and Centennial and a pound of each is a lot for a 5G brewer. I'd buy a clean bittering hop (Magnum or Warrior) and then some American 'C' hops - Centennial, Cascade, Chinook, etc. If I'm doing a beer I don't do too often (wheat or something), I'll just buy hops at my LHBS since those beers don't take that much hops anyway.