Story Time: My LHBS messed up...

[arl6280]

So I was working the other day, I'm a delivery driver, and I knew I was going to be near my LHBS, which is not close to where I live, so I called them up and placed an order and asked them to have it ready for me in the afternoon.

I was so pumped. I haven't been able to brew in weeks. When I got there to pick it up, I was running late to get back to my store, so I ran in, exchanged some pleasantries, grabbed my stuff and left.

When I got home that evening, my rabid children were actively trying to destroy my house, so I stowed my supplies and helped my wife banish them to bed.

Yesterday, when I went to assess my ingredients for my brew day tomorrow, I realized that my LHBS did not mark or label any of my stuff.

I have 3 identical tubs of LME, and 3 brown bags of grains with absolutely no identificatation whatsoever.

I'm still a novice at brewing, I'm sure I can figure out which grains are which by smell and looks, but the LME is all the same shade of golden brown.

Most likely I'll just use whatever and my next couple of batches will be fun surprises, at least all the hops are in their own packaging.

I'm not mad at all, just makes brewing more interesting. I was curious if anyone else had something like this happen, and what did you do?

I will definitely brew...something tomorrow, and let you know how it turns out. I'll drink every last drop, regardless, that's the best part.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

That sucks! Are they open today? If so, I'd call them up and let them know that you got home and realized nothing was marked so you're curious if they can help you pinpoint which is which. At the very least, you'll be letting them know that they messed up so they hopefully won't do it again.

 

[BrewingAroundtheRrealm]

Did you order exactly the same weight of each item? Seems like you could weight each one and figure it out.

 

[IslandLizard]

I called them up and placed an order

I'd say chances are they gave you what you ordered. Many brew shops pour LME from larger bulk containers, scoop and mill the selected grains and put in a generic plastic bag. What was ordered together came together. That's your recipe.

Are the amounts correct? Depending on their size, of course, 3 bags of steeping grains may be a lot, or is just right.

Not saying it won't hurt to double check with them, and verify what you got with your order.
Where are the hops?

 

[IslandLizard]

Golden Light LME is the most universal liquid extract used. In a translucent tub or jug it resembles the color of regular (clover or orange blossom) honey in a bottle or jar.

 

[kh54s10]

I'm guessing the LME tubs are for separate recipes and different types. You might be able to differentiate by taste?? If they are all the same type, just weigh what you need. For the steeping grains, if they are different enough you might be able to tell them apart. If the grains were different weights you can weigh them to sort them out.

 

[mongoose33]

The brewer's nightmare: you have an unknown mix of ingredients. You'll brew a batch using some of them, and it will be the greatest beer ever brewed--and you won't know how to reproduce it.

 

[arl6280]

The grains are honey malt, crystal 40, and Munich. So I was able to tell those apart easily. The extract is golden light, Amber, and Maris Otter. The Maris Otter is a bit darker but the golden and Amber look practically the same.

They are for separate batches/recipes. I didn't, however, decide on recipes beforehand. I just got a bunch of ingredients that I knew could work well together and be interchangeable.

I'm brewing today, decided to mix some of each of the grains for steeping, using either the gold or Amber extract, and I'm using lemon drop and citra hops. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[IslandLizard]

Glad you got it sorted out.

The grains are honey malt, crystal 40, and Munich.

[EDIT] The Crystal 40 can be simply steeped.
The Honey malt is a specialty malt. It may be OK just steeped, but it may be better mashed together with an equal amount of a diastatic (base) malt, such as basic 2-row, Pale Malt, etc.
But Munich definitely needs to be mashed, it has enough diastatic power to convert itself. Steeping Munich won't do much good.

Are they milled?

 

[kh54s10]

Glad you got it sorted out.

[EDIT] The Crystal 40 can be simply steeped.
The Honey malt is a specialty malt. It may be OK just steeped, but it may be better mashed together with an equal amount of a diastatic (base) malt, such as basic 2-row, Pale Malt, etc.
But Munich definitely needs to be mashed, it has enough diastatic power to convert itself. Steeping Munich won't do much good.

Are they milled?

It depends on what you want to get out of the grains. If you get almost all your fermentables from the extract you can just steep for color, flavor and aroma they would provide. But yes, being a base grain, the Munich would be better mashed.