What grains to buy in bulk?

[Joe_Re]

Hey all,

I'm jumping into the all grain thing in the near future and my LHBS has a bulk grain buy program. Buy a 50# bag and grab what you need when you need it. Whereas I'm buying 50# of grain and not an actual bag I don't have to store it myself and I always get fresh grain. Seems to make sense so long as I don't need it when they're closed.

My question is this.

I want to buy at least 2 bags of whatever I will use the most. What is a good place to read up on grains, how they relate to different styles of beer and all that good stuff?

Thanks,
Joe.

 

[MagicMatt]

Not sure about the reading material, but I can tell you you'll want to stick to base grains like 2-row, Maris Otter, or Pilsner. One of those is likely to make up >70% of most of your beers.

Personally, I buy sacks of all 3, as well as Red Wheat because I tend to make a lot of sours with it.

My question to you though would be if it is economical for this "pre-purchase" deal. I'd find out what brand and price of each of those 3 types that your LHBS carries, and then compare the price they'll charge you to pre-purchase 50lbs with the price of a sack that you would store yourself. If it's the same price, then that's great! But they might be trying to make some extra money off of you. It may be negligible enough that it's worth it for you though. Myself, I prefer to have it on hand so if I wake up and decide I want to brew, I can.

 

[catdaddy66]

I like those deals where the lhbs stores the grains and you subtract the weight as you use it.

I second the base grain suggestion (2row, pilsner, etc) as a must. I wish I could buy big bags of Munich and Vienna malts as I use these in many batches. Wheat would be a great choice also.