What ingredients do you always have available?

[monkeydan]

Hey howdy hey my brewing brothers and sisters,

As soon as I get paid in a couple of weeks time (I swear the months get longer and longer!) I will be putting in an order for some ingredients. I kind of want to 'future proof' my stash and not have to make a separate order for every recipe I want to make.

So basically I'm just wondering what you guys ALWAYS have available that will allow you to whip up a batch of pretty much whatever you want.

I do like all styles of beer and would like to brew stouts, bitters and LOTS of pale ales.

I don't have a mill so will there be any issue with storage of crushed grains? I have a big fermenting bucket with snap-on lid in which I can store them but I'm not sure whether this is ideal.

Thanks for any suggestions you may have

Cheers

Dan

 

[Scruffy1207]

I don't have a stockpile going yet but as for the grains you can keep em crushed in an air tight container I believe. Just treat them like a mogwai.
1. Don't get them wet.
2. Don't expose them to sunlight.
3. DON'T FEED THEM AFTER MIDNIGHT.

 

[SpottedDogBrewing]

I Keep mostly basemalts on hand and get everything else from my LHBS.
Ingredients on hands:
55lb of 2Row
55lb of Pilsner
10lb of 30L
10lb vienna
10lb white wheat
10lb honey malt
& 3-4 lbs of different hops !

And I would like to store more
Bulk is cheaper!!

 

[Pappers_]

My advice is, if you must purchase milled grain, to continue ordering ingredients by the batch, not in bulk for storage. When you get a mill, then begin buying grains in bulk.

 

[iron_city_ap]

I have some oatmeal I keep in the freezer, and yeast, but that's it. I don't have a mill, so I order 2 batches at a time. I should probably step that up to 3. Anyhow, I try to keep my 2 fermenters going at all times. Problem is, the kegs empty pretty quickly. They must have a hole in them somewhere.....

 

[LKABrewer]

my advice is, if you must purchase milled grain, to continue ordering ingredients by the batch, not in bulk for storage. When you get a mill, then begin buying grains in bulk.

+1

 

[KoedBrew]

I like to keep a bag of corn sugar...3 to 6 lbs on hand
keep at least 3lbs of DME (I keep both in sealed baggies in a sealed bucket or else the ants will come.)

at least 10-15 lbs of unmilled 2row once I get to ~25lbs its time to order more
And since I have been buying hops by the pound I try to keep some extras in the freezer.

 

[monkeydan]

My advice is, if you must purchase milled grain, to continue ordering ingredients by the batch, not in bulk for storage. When you get a mill, then begin buying grains in bulk.

Hmmm... not really the answer I wanted to hear but of course that doesn't mean it's not the right one!

Not quite at the stage where I will be milling my own grains so might get ingredients for 2-3 brews at a time (I'm trying to get a pipeline going but am early on in my brewing career and just get through them too quickly!). Just like iron_city_ap's kegs with holes, I swear someone drank loads of bottles from my last batch. Oh yeah... it was me

I plan to brew every three weeks or so, can you foresee any issue with keeping the crushed grains for 6 weeks? They are in sealed bags anyway.

 

[phenry]

Getting a mill won't only help you with grain storage, but can also help you with efficiency. Brew shops aren't always the best with crushing, and having your own mill lets you dictate how fine of a crush you get.

Since getting one, I always have a 50 lb bag of 2 row in store. Specialty grains come and go, as do hops, but I'm really just waiting to find a list of recipes worth brewing frequently before I commit to increased volumes of those.

 

[Misfit]

I always seem to have some yeast, hops and dme on hand

 

[Native302]

Sack of pilsner
Sack of 2 row
Sack of Marris Otter
Sack of rye
Sack of wheat
10lbs of C15
Sack of flaked corn
Sack of munich
Sack of Vienna
10lbs of various hops
6 different yeasts
various specialty malts
some kind of extract
starsan
5.2
candi sugar
priming sugar

So much to list, but it's always on hand ready for my next brew

 

[nutty_gnome]

I don't have a mill. But I do stockpile hops in 4 ounce baggies from farmhouse brewing supply. I also stockpile the chemicals needed for brewing as well as pressure canned starter wort, and priming solution.

When I want to brew all I need is the grain bill and (if I'm not reusing yeast) yeast. And then I order two recipes at once so I feel better about the shipping cost.

I know this wasn't the point of the OP, but I got interested in typing this:

If you figure that the cost of stockpiling the hops, chemicals, and pressure canned stuff as a sunk cost, then the cost to brew an interesting 5.5 gal all grain batch is generally under 22 bucks when ordered online. In april I got a 1.070 IPA grain bill with a WLP yeast for under 20 bucks and an american brown malt bill with dry yeast for under 16. with shipping it would be ~$23 and ~$19 respectively ($7 shipping split for the two malt bills).

If you piece it out and figure in about a $1.00 per ounce for hops, $1 for WLP yeast nutrient capsule, $0.10 for finings, $0.25 for pH control in the mash, $0.35 for starsan, $1.50 for the starter and priming solution, and $1.00 for caps. Lets say its between 6 and 10 bucks depennding on the amount of hops used.

Thats still 5 gallons of beer for ~30 for the big IPA and ~25 for an american brown. Pretty good deal.

That was intersting to me anyway.

 

[zachary80]

I normally try to keep 4oz of centennial, 2 packets safale 05, 1 packet safale 04, 1 packet montrachet, 1 packet nottingham, 2 pounds DME, 3 pounds priming sugar, at least 60 extra caps.

Then there are the extras and ingredients that are used for multiple batches - citra, maltodextrin, lactose, multiple nutrients, Fermcap-S, whirlfloc, and campden tablets