Online Bulk Shopping List - thoughts?

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aeonderdonk

aeonderdonk

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I am considering going online and stocking up on grains/hops to avoid frequent and costly trips to the LHBS. Here is my initial pass at the list:

GRAINS:
2-Row - 50 lb (maybe 100)
White Wheat - 20 lb
Vienna - 15 lb
Munich - 5 lb
Rye - 5 lb (to experiment)
Caramel 20 - 10 lb
Caramel 60 - 10 lb
Caramel 120 - 10 lb
Carapils - 10 lb (too much?)
Victory - 5lb
Biscuit - 5lb

HOPS (all 1 lb):
Cascade
Centennial
Fuggles
Kent Goldings
Tett
Perle


Not sure what else I will need. Wanting to brew some nut brown ale for the fall, and a trippel, and a porter, and a stout, and an IPA, and, and, and :ban:
 
I'd go with one bag of 2 row, and one bag of MO. Or one bag of Pils and one bag of MO. Use the MO for 2 row when you need it.

B
 
I never use carapils anymore, so I'd ditch that.

It really depends on what you like to make, but I'll give you my thoughts on supplies.

I like to have maris otter malt, US 2-row, Vienna malt, pilsner malt, and Munich malt always on hand. You can make just about any beer you can think of with those base malts. If you usually make lagers, you may not need the maris otter, but I find that it's an ideal base malt for many beers, not just English beers.

As far as crystal, I'm learning that I like a mix of them in my APAs. I would get either 10L or 20L, 60L, 80L, and a little 120L if you use it. I only use 120L in my Arrogant Bastard clone, so I rarely use it.

I like special roast, and like to have a little on hand. I also keep some biscuit malt (or victory malt) on hand. If you want to make nut browns, porters, stouts, etc, you will want some chocolate malt and some roasted barley. I like flaked barley for head retention, but don't use it that much. I never make wheat beers, but I keep a little flaked wheat on hand for some recipes.

As far as hops, if you think about what styles you want to make, you can get by with fewer varieties. For English beers, I keep EKG on hand. I make mostly American IPAs and APAs so I have a good mix of US "C" hops. I also use amarillo hops often. I have several varieties of German hops for my lagers, but I don't have too many.

I wouldn't get a pound of fuggles and EKG, unless you were an English beer/ESB fanatic. That's alot of English hops.

Take a look at some recipes you're hoping to brew, and begin from there.
 
YooperBrew said:
I never use carapils anymore, so I'd ditch that.

It really depends on what you like to make, but I'll give you my thoughts on supplies.

I like to have maris otter malt, US 2-row, Vienna malt, pilsner malt, and Munich malt always on hand. You can make just about any beer you can think of with those base malts. If you usually make lagers, you may not need the maris otter, but I find that it's an ideal base malt for many beers, not just English beers.

As far as crystal, I'm learning that I like a mix of them in my APAs. I would get either 10L or 20L, 60L, 80L, and a little 120L if you use it. I only use 120L in my Arrogant Bastard clone, so I rarely use it.

I like special roast, and like to have a little on hand. I also keep some biscuit malt (or victory malt) on hand. If you want to make nut browns, porters, stouts, etc, you will want some chocolate malt and some roasted barley. I like flaked barley for head retention, but don't use it that much. I never make wheat beers, but I keep a little flaked wheat on hand for some recipes.

As far as hops, if you think about what styles you want to make, you can get by with fewer varieties. For English beers, I keep EKG on hand. I make mostly American IPAs and APAs so I have a good mix of US "C" hops. I also use amarillo hops often. I have several varieties of German hops for my lagers, but I don't have too many.

I wouldn't get a pound of fuggles and EKG, unless you were an English beer/ESB fanatic. That's alot of English hops.

Take a look at some recipes you're hoping to brew, and begin from there.
Click to expand...

Why do you no longer use Carapils?
 
aeonderdonk said:
I am considering going online and stocking up on grains/hops to avoid frequent and costly trips to the LHBS. Here is my initial pass at the list:

GRAINS:
2-Row - 50 lb (maybe 100)
White Wheat - 20 lb
Vienna - 15 lb
Munich - 5 lb
Rye - 5 lb (to experiment)
Caramel 20 - 10 lb
Caramel 60 - 10 lb
Caramel 120 - 10 lb
Carapils - 10 lb (too much?)
Victory - 5lb
Biscuit - 5lb

HOPS (all 1 lb):
Cascade
Centennial
Fuggles
Kent Goldings
Tett
Perle


Not sure what else I will need. Wanting to brew some nut brown ale for the fall, and a trippel, and a porter, and a stout, and an IPA, and, and, and :ban:
Click to expand...

Damn, you can afford all that in one trip? Musta won the lottery or have gotten a nice inheritance. My hats off to ya!

Assuming you have a malt mill or barley crusher it does look like a lot of grain to be stored for an extended period of time. But since I don't know you and how often you brew I won't be judgemental. I do say: go for all that you can get.

I do like the idea of the other post(s) of getting some MO. IMHO a very good base malt for just about anything. Your Victory Malt can take the place of Biscuit in my opinion. As far as the White wheat why not go ahead and get a 50 lb sack. I've found that even if your not making wheat beers that a pound/recipe will help in head retention. For specialty grains I like Caramel/Crystal 10, 20, 40, 80, and 120. I'm also partial to Special B or some would call it extra dark crystal. I even keep about 5 lbs of Caramunich. I agree with Yooper and ditch the Carapils, unless you really want it.

I like all your hops selection but would add one. Target is a dual hop and is usually a high AA hop too. A little can go a long ways. That's all just MHO, and $.02 worth. Good luck and happy brewing.
 
zman said:
Why do you no longer use Carapils?
Click to expand...

I've never found a reason to use it. If you're already using crystal malts (carapils is a crystal malt), then you're duplicating. If you're not using crystal malts, and you have a beer unlikely to have good head retention, I guess you could use it. But I almost always use specialty grains in my beers, so don't find it necessary.
 
i brew probably 2 batches a month maybe a 3rd if i have the grains. Sounds like some great input so far, keep it coming please.
 
Also consider what specialty malts your LHBS doesn't carry. For example neither of the local shops to me carry pale chocolate (which shows up in several of Jamil's recipes) so whenever I order online I pick up some of that. One of my recipes (Actually The Pols Fat Tire Clone) Uses 5# Munich in a 5 gallon batch so I started buying that in 50# bags also.
 
Someone else mentioned it, but you definitely want a small amount of Chocolate, Roasted Barley, and maybe Black Patent for your stouts. I also get Pale Chocolate always. Its delish and critical in a couple of my recipes.

I like Special B alot but its pretty close to C120.

If you're going to make many continental beers, you really need some Pilsner malt. A big ol' bag.

Also get a nice high Alpha hop variety. It will go a long way and last a long time for bittering additions. I use Summit in my American Ales (18.5%AA).

cheers
 
Have you looked to see if someone sells bulk locally? The shipping online pretty much kills it for dealing with Bulk 2-Row (or other 55lb bags). Most places will charge $20+ per bag to ship, and the guys who do fixed shipping just build it into the grain prices.
 
Places like northern brewer or brewmaster warehouse have a flat shipping rate of ~$7. In bulk at the LHBS is $54 for 50 lb, online it is as low as $43. Once I get a big enough order the shipping fee is worth it.
 
Synovia said:
Have you looked to see if someone sells bulk locally? The shipping online pretty much kills it for dealing with Bulk 2-Row (or other 55lb bags). Most places will charge $20+ per bag to ship, and the guys who do fixed shipping just build it into the grain prices.
Click to expand...

Good point, I just checked one of the popular online shops and a 50# bag of 2-row was 59.99. My LHBS sells a 50# bag of 2-row for $45 or so. That $15 is your shipping built into the price.

Best bet is if you know other brewers in your area (Home brew club?) and can get a full pallet order (40 bags IIRC) do a group buy from North Country Malt. Our home brew club does a group buy once or twice a year.
 
aeonderdonk said:
Places like northern brewer or brewmaster warehouse have a flat shipping rate of ~$7, online it is as low as $43.
Click to expand...

You will not find cheap grain and flat shipping at the same place. If its $7 flat shipping, expect to pay $55+ for a bag of 2-row. If its $43 for a bag of 2-row, expect to pay $20+ to ship it.


Now, the flat shipping places tend to have pretty good prices on specialty grain. Crystal 40L (first thing I checked) is $1.35/lb at Brewmasterswarehouse, and I can't get it for lower than about $2.50 a pound here, unless I want to buy a 55lb bag (yeah, right). So, there definitely are some savings to be had online, but its not with bulk base malt.
 
For what it's worth, I buy bulk Maris Otter and Pilsner as my two main base malts. One of my reasons for buying by the 55# bag is that I can get organic malt that way. I also have the advantage of being a reasonably short drive from Mid-Country Malt, so I don't have shipping costs.
 
YooperBrew said:
I've never found a reason to use it. If you're already using crystal malts (carapils is a crystal malt), then you're duplicating. If you're not using crystal malts, and you have a beer unlikely to have good head retention, I guess you could use it. But I almost always use specialty grains in my beers, so don't find it necessary.
Click to expand...

Carapils and Crystal malt aren't the same. Carapils is kilned while crystal malt is roasted. If you eat the kernels they taste different.
 
camiller said:
Good point, I just checked one of the popular online shops and a 50# bag of 2-row was 59.99. My LHBS sells a 50# bag of 2-row for $45 or so. That $15 is your shipping built into the price.

Best bet is if you know other brewers in your area (Home brew club?) and can get a full pallet order (40 bags IIRC) do a group buy from North Country Malt. Our home brew club does a group buy once or twice a year.
Click to expand...

Yeah, looks like you are right on the shipping jacking up actual malt price.
 
I will be the first to admit that there is no free lunch with flat rate shipping, especially with base malts. The price we charge for a sack or 2-row + shipping is certainly not cheap compared to the price of picking it up locally. For specialty malts that you are looking for 5-10 lbs of, then I think we have some great deals to be had.

Ed
 
Although it depends on your lhbs, its cheaper by far for me to pay any sort of shipping than pick it up there
 
marc06 said:
Although it depends on your lhbs, its cheaper by far for me to pay any sort of shipping than pick it up there
Click to expand...

Have you actually asked if you LHBS does bulk rates? A lot of people just don't realize that a LHBS will sell a 55lb sack of 2-row for $40. They just assume the $1.80/lb on the 1lb bags scales.

most LHBS don't exactly have big signs pointing out that a 55lb bag is as cheap as 20lbs
 
It certainly does depend. I know that some LHBS will not sell grains any cheaper than ~2 lb. Some will not sell in bulk since they figure that you will just end up buying 50 lbs at full price from them anyway. Of course there are a lot of LHBS that simply do not understand that customers have choices, and will reward the stores that treat them right. My entire business is based on great prices, selection, and most importantly service.

Ed
 
I finally got around to forecasting my next 10 beers. I know recipes will be tweaked so I am going a little high on my estimates and any leftovers can be made into an experiment beer.

I am planning to make: Nut Brown, RIS, Tripel, Dubbel, IPA, Fruit Wheat, Rye, Irish Red, Oberon Clone, Xmas Spiced Ale, and Porter.

Here is my list, please let me know what you think.

MALTS (All numbers are in pounds)
Belgian Pils - 30
Biscuit - 2
Black Patent - 2
Cara Munich - 2
Carapils - 4
Chocolate - 4
Crystal 120 - 4
Crystal 20 - 5
Crystal 40 - 4
Crystal 60 - 4
Crystal 90 - 4
Honey - 2
Munich - 15
Flaked Oats - 2
Roasted Barley - 5
Rye - 9
Special B - 2
Victory - 2
White Wheat - 18

HOPS (All numbers are in ounces)
Cascade - 5
Centennial - 13
Goldings - 10
Hallertau - 12
Saaz - 6

Other (All numbers are in pounds)
Corn Sugar - 5
Rice Hulls - 5
 
Do you already have a bunch of Maris Otter and 2-Row Pale? I feel like you need more base malt to make all those beers.
 
makes sense.


Ditch the hops from wherever you're ordering and order a pound of each from hopsdirect. It'll be much cheaper.
 

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