If you were to have a few types of grains or other ingredients (hops, yeast, spices, etc...)on hand at all times what would you keep for the types of beer you like. I'm wondering if there are some good, fairly universal ingredients that would be good to have if you had to order more than you needed for one session. I'll admit that at this point I probably enjoy ales / porters the most and am not really a hop head, but I'd like to hear what you would do or are doing.
Heres a short list of what I keep in stock almost always. I like to have the option to be able to brew at least four 10 gallons batches at a time without making a run to the LHBS or online order if I dont want to:
-Roughly 100 lbs of Base grains (2 Row, Pilsner, Vienna, Munich, Maris Otter). Two 5 gallon food grade buckets per sack. Stack the buckets in my cool basement.
-Specialty grains Various crystal malt (20L, 40L, 60L, 120L), Chocolate malt, Carapils, Flaked Wheat, Black Patent, Roasted Barley, etc. Specialty grain is stored in 1 lb ziplock bags and categorized by type in Rubbermaid shoe-boxes stacked on shelf above base grain buckets.
-I usually have a couple different yeast types in currently fermenting batches that I can harvest if needed, but I keep 2-4 packets of dry yeast in the fridge nearly all times (US-04, 05, Nottingham) just in case.
-Multiple pounds of hops that I frequently use are stored in the freezer. I buy all hops by the lb since they are much cheaper. Currently Magnum, Cascade, Centennial, Crystal, Columbus, Willamette, Amarillo, Citra, Nugget, Sterling, Belma, Goldings, Tettnang, Hallertau, and couple of others I cant think of right now.