Type of grains

[imalostboy]

Hey everyone I am very new to the home brewing experience. I have brewed two batches barely and they are being conditioned right now. I want to start doing more batches and I was looking into buying grain in bulk. I am still not 100% with the jargon so just correct me if i get something wrong. I am still learning so please don't be rude about it. Anyways I was looking to buy malts in bulk but i have absolutely no idea what to buy. I like drinkings IPA's and amber or blonde ales. Can someone please recommend a type of malt to me that i should buy in bulk?

 

[IslandLizard]

Basic "2-row" (ale malt) is a good start. Or any Pale malt for that matter.
You can brew any kind of ale with those.

You may be able to buy sacks of malt from a (local) brewery, especially when you know the brewer or have an inside connection.

You will need a grain mill too or someone who will mil it for you. Sacks of grain don't come milled, typically.

 

[imalostboy]

Basic "2-row" (ale malt) is a good start. Or any Pale malt for that matter.
You can brew any kind of ale with those.

You may be able to buy sacks of malt from a (local) brewery, especially when you know the brewer or have an inside connection.

You will need a grain mill too or someone who will mil it for you. Sacks of grain don't come milled, typically.

Thank you for the advice! I appreciate it. love the name btw as well as the pic.

 

[IslandLizard]

Thank you for the advice! I appreciate it. love the name btw as well as the pic.

Thanks for the compliments!

Buying (sacks of) malt locally could save you quite a bit of money as you don't have to pay for shipping. Maybe there's a group grain buy in your area, organized by a homebrew club or so. We used to have them twice a year when malt was $33 a sack, including shipping, when ordered per full pallet (42-44 sacks). Then we had them about once a year, and lately, none.

Most of the larger online sellers won't ship sacks of grain for free, which makes them far less lucrative for the homebrewer as a source for whole sacks. Now at Morebeer, for example, you can order as many 10# bags as you want, that will all ship for "free," but indirectly you pay for shipping due to inflated pricing of those.

For reference, last time, at our (semi-local) group grain buy, 3 years ago, most sacks were $55-70 (Rahr, Weyermann, Simpson, Muntons, etc.) depending on type and maltster. Now malt pricing has gone up since, from what I gathered.

 

[Sammy86]

As @IslandLizard said any standard pale ale malt will work.

Here is a list I think will help you:

Beer Grains: The Complete Guide for Homebrewers

 

[NSMikeD]

I would hold off on buying in bulk until you try different malts and you know how long the bulk purchase will last you. I would agree that pale 2-row would be the choice as it's the base malt (80-90% of the grain bill) for most brews, if you like to brew say English style beers or certain German beers, then you may want to use a different base 2 row make like Maris Otter or similar where it's described as having a "bread-like " taste character.

Also, while you certainly can save money buying in bulk, consider how and for how long you will need to store your malt. It is still a grain and subject to the laws of nature.

That being said, 2-row American pale will likely work (keep it stored air tight and rodent proof) and then buy other base and specialty malts for specific brews.

 

[imalostboy]

Thanks for the compliments!

Buying (sacks of) malt locally could save you quite a bit of money as you don't have to pay for shipping. Maybe there's a group grain buy in your area, organized by a homebrew club or so. We used to have them twice a year when malt was $33 a sack, including shipping, when ordered per full pallet (42-44 sacks). Then we had them about once a year, and lately, none.

Most of the larger online sellers won't ship sacks of grain for free, which makes them far less lucrative for the homebrewer as a source for whole sacks. Now at Morebeer, for example, you can order as many 10# bags as you want, that will all ship for "free," but indirectly you pay for shipping due to inflated pricing of those.

For reference, last time, at our (semi-local) group grain buy, 3 years ago, most sacks were $55-70 (Rahr, Weyermann, Simpson, Muntons, etc.) depending on type and maltster. Now malt pricing has gone up since, from what I gathered.

I would hold off on buying in bulk until you try different malts and you know how long the bulk purchase will last you. I would agree that pale 2-row would be the choice as it's the base malt (80-90% of the grain bill) for most brews, if you like to brew say English style beers or certain German beers, then you may want to use a different base 2 row make like Maris Otter or similar where it's described as having a "bread-like " taste character.

Also, while you certainly can save money buying in bulk, consider how and for how long you will need to store your malt. It is still a grain and subject to the laws of nature.

That being said, 2-row American pale will likely work (keep it stored air tight and rodent proof) and then buy other base and specialty malts for specific brews.

Very great advice, see so when j see things like Marris otter and all these different grains I start to get confused. Is marris otter also a malt but maybe toasted a little longer? Does that add more body?

 

[imalostboy]

Basic "2-row" (ale malt) is a good start. Or any Pale malt for that matter.
You can brew any kind of ale with those.

You may be able to buy sacks of malt from a (local) brewery, especially when you know the brewer or have an inside connection.

You will need a grain mill too or someone who will mil it for you. Sacks of grain don't come milled, typically.

Thank you! I went out to different breweries around me today and I basically told them I'd volunteer my free time to help them brew and in return I just want knowledge and experience and they said they'd take me. They said they'd compensate me with beer lol sounds like a good deal to me.

 

[Sammy86]

Very great advice, see so when j see things like Marris otter and all these different grains I start to get confused. Is marris otter also a malt but maybe toasted a little longer? Does that add more body?

I wouldn't say it adds more body but different flavor...MO IMO gives more bready flavor to beers great for a good IPA, Stout or American Wheat beer.

 

[NSMikeD]

@imalostboy . Very great advice, see so when j see things like Marris otter and all these different grains I start to get confused. Is marris otter also a malt but maybe toasted a little longer? Does that add more body?

A quick write up from another site:

Maris Otter is one of the better-known brand names among specialty base malts. It generally has very nice characteristics for brewing across the board. Maris Otter imparts slightly more color than 2-row pale malt and has a mildly malty flavor with slight nuttiness. Beer made with Maris Otter tend to have a little more body than those made with pale malt. This richer character will be less noticeable in beers with lots of specialty grains but can add substantial character to pale ales.


Research the styles of beers you will brew. BYO site is really good at explaining the why's and hows of the ingredients and give you an idea how the different ingredients play together. As you can see from the above, Marris otter should give a basic pale ale boy. but that can get lost if you add more specialty grains. Yeast and fermentation technique can also affect a beers character.

Keeping track of all the different options can be maddening. I like to use BYOs site (and a few others) to research a style or a clone I plan to brew to learn what ingredient and techniques are typical and more importantly why. BYO is good at that. If I am just getting a list, I won't learn why those ingredients are being use. But once I have an idea, I can then tweak recipes for my own liking.

One thing I recommend from trail and error. Dont rush. Better to keep things simple and master a basic style first. Once you understand all the things that go into making a great basic beer, you can take that knowledge to other styles.

 

[kevin58]

I always keep a bag of basic, Briess Brewers Malt on hand. For one thing its a good all-around malt and secondly it is among the least expensive. My LHBS occasionally places it on sale for $40+ per sack.

I like Maris Otter and Golden Promise for English ales but a sack of those costs nearly double what I pay for Briess. I like them but in my opinion they do not offer enough benefit to justify twice the expense. But I will buy a sack on occasion when I find it on sale.