Speciality Grains to Stock

[hahnderosa]

Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of a LHBSS; therefore, I must drive a couple of hours, or place the usual flat-rate shipping order to get supplies. I'm also just starting all-grain recipe formulation and have several bags of base and speciality grains I will need for most recipes (2-row, pale, wheat, munich & 40L Crystal). I plan to purchase several 3# bags of other speciality and roasted grains to keep on hand for whatever recipe sounds good w/o the need to order them every time I put a recipe together. I have a mill, so the unmilled grains should keep well in the series of sealed containers I will store them in.

Any suggestions on the basic speciality grains I should keep on hand at all times? Obviously, I don't need a 20L, 40L and a 60L crystal on hand since I can adjust the quantity of the 40L to get pretty close to the 20 or 60, then purchase the exact grain in subsequent batches if I decide to fine tune the recipe. I probably don't need both a Caramunich and a Caravienne, but which one is most versatile? Any suggestions on a base "library" of grains to work from and substitution suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

It all depends entirely on the styles of beers your frequently brew. Take a look at your top 10 recipes, and stock those grains!!

For me I try to keep the following on hand:
2 row domestic
2 row Pilsner
Wheat malt
Crystal 10L, 20L, 40L, 60L, 80L, 120L
Chocolate Malt
Roasted Barley
Munich
Vienna
Caravienne
Caramunich
Carapils
Flaked Oats

The different crystal grains dont just give more or less color, they also contribute different flavors. From light to dark they go from caramel sweet to raisiny roasty sweet. They also go from more sweet (light) to much less sweet (dark).

 

[suprchunk]

I keep:

Chocolate
Roasted Barley
Black Patent
Wheat
Crystal - good mixture of most common L
And multiple base like MO, 2 Row (domestic, belgium, etc)

I also buy in sacks to minimize my trips or shipping. It is nice until you get down to the bottom before you realized you were almost out.

But I like brewing dark beers, mostly RISs.

It really depends on what you like to make frequently. Just as the guitar guy above me said.

 

[hahnderosa]

Thanks for the quick replies. It's funny ... one week I like IPAs and the next, I'm trying to nail down a Dunkelweizen recipe, etc.... It's hard to say what I'll use one week from the next, but the above suggestions appear to be a great place to start an order. My biggest fear, of course, is not having that one ingredient or at least a close cousin when I'm ready to brew (or worse, just AFTER I have placed an order).

Suprchunk: you should get OCD like me and keep an ingredient inventory in Excel. I've been burned digging thru the fridge only to find I won't be brewing the next day as planned, so I now keep a spreadsheet with all my supplies listed. I just need to remember to update it each time I brew, which is a whole different issue ;o)

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

Suprchunk: you should get OCD like me and keep an ingredient inventory in Excel. I've been burned digging thru the fridge only to find I won't be brewing the next day as planned, so I now keep a spreadsheet with all my supplies listed. I just need to remember to update it each time I brew, which is a whole different issue ;o)

most brewing software will keep track of your inventory like that. You can tell it when you brew a specific recipe and it will automatically deduct the stuff from your inventory!

 

[suprchunk]

most brewing software will keep track of your inventory like that. You can tell it when you brew a specific recipe and it will automatically deduct the stuff from your inventory!

Yeah, but you have to add it in. If it had the capability to scan the UPC code and add it for me I would do it. And if it came with the scanner. And does said software have a flashing pop-up alert notifying you of low stock? I would definitely need that.


hahnderosa: the above also applies to spreadsheets for me. I just don't seem to have the drive to keep a detailed stock. But it might be because I often travel and go awhile without brewing which further takes away from me trying to keep track. Visual tracking has worked fairly well so far. I have only had a couple times when I was dangerously close to being out for a batch. I usually write that down when it happens to remind myself to order more. I usually lose that piece of paper though. Which is why I take stock of my next brew before I make it, allowing enough time to get something in if I need it. If it gets delayed I hold off until it arrives. Hmm, I guess my way is the best way. For me. One day I'll get anal about inventory though. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[prosper]

I have a couple of large rubbermaid tubs full of various specialty malts (crystalized and roasted malts will keep indefinitely). Probably a hundred, or hundred-fifty pounds all said.

Mainly, I keep a variety of crystal malts around, of various colours. Lots of caramunich 60, caravienne ~15, carapils, c-80 and few others. I've got a fair bit of Honey malt, biscuit malt, amber malt and brown malt, too. I keep about a half a sack each of wheat, vienna and munich around, though they're technically not 'specialty' malts at all, and smaller amounts of roasted barley, chocolate (pale and dark) and black patent. Enough that I can brew pretty much anything at any time, especially if I'm OK making minor substitutions in recipes (such as subbing Biscuit for Victory, or C-60 for caramunich)


I don't keep really close track of what all is in there, but I'll occasionally take an inventory and top up of any of the malts that are running low. Any time the local shop has a new, interesting specialty malt, I'll usually buy a kilo or two to play with (and more, if I like it), so my stash is always growing. I also find that I'm gravitating towards simpler recipes with less specialty malts in them, so I'm not using them up as fast as I used to; though I will occasionally craft a recipe to use up some of the older malts in the bin

 

[JonK331]

Keep in mind that you can roast your base malt to varying degrees to get your darker malts. Just a thought. Especially if you only need a few ounces.

 

[hahnderosa]

Thanks for the additional suggestions. I have decided to do a little research on my own too since my order from MoreBeer has been delayed (everything is on back-order) and I can add grains today with free shipping.

I grabbed the BYO 150 clone recipe edition and put together a spreadsheet listing each grain weight by beer style. I presumed it was a representative sample of the entire beer universe. Interestingly ... several speciality grains appear often in recipes, but are used in small quantities (black patent, for example). Looks like I'll need a pound of Black Patent and Crystal 120, but 4 pounds of crystal 60L, for instance to make every stout listed. Also of note, you would need 200 pounds of various grains just to make all the stouts listed.

As for the inventory thing, I too travel a lot so I can't remember what I have at home while I'm in the neighborhood of a HBSS. That's the need for the spreadsheet which always goes too. Of course, I have part of the inventory with me since I brew on the road. Anyone else ever cook beer in an campground beside their RV or tent? It does pose a few problems, but sure is nice sitting out in the 'wild' brewing.

 

[prosper]

I have thought about camp brewing, with local water sources before. Maybe someday I'll get around to it.