Grain Mishap - Help Appreciated

[awilkes67]

Hello, coming out of an ingredient run at my LHBS I have a small issue going on, but I think its a good opportunity for learning so I thought I would post here. Please keep in mind I am totally new to all grain, but have been making wine for years.

I am making the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone from brewersfriend.com and the grain bill calls for:

11.5lb American Pale 2-Row (92.7%)
14.54oz American Caramel/Crystal 60L (7.3%)

So I went into the shop and asked for 11.5 pounds of the 2-Row and 9 pounds of the Caramel/Crystal (my mistake, I meant 0.9 pounds and I screwed up, thats ok I have extra...)

Here are the problems:

1) The bags are not labeled. They are sealed in vacuum and roughly the same size. I can not tell which is which. See picture!!!

2) I tried to weigh them to get the difference but lo and behold, the weights are not what I ordered. I have 7 pounds of the 2-row and 5 pounds of the Caramel/Crystal.

- Can anyone tell what is what from the picture? How?

- Is the grain mill taking that much away in the milling? Could the home brew shops scale be off?

- Can I scale the recipe to just use all the 2-row? I just need to scale back the strike water right? But the hops are pre-weighed so that might be a problem. I do have a scale.

In the future do I always have to order more in order to get the milled weight yield I need?

Any opinions would help greatly.

 

[passedpawn]

crystal malt wil be darker, and in a blind taste test (do it) will taste sweeter. I'd say by the pic the one on the right is the crystal, but photos like this aren't really trustworthy.

In a general note, get your **** together. Your success as a brewer will be greatly affected by paying attention to details.

 

[JohnSand]

I agree with the taste test.
I suggest you get a vacuum sealer to keep the crushed crystal fresh. One pound bags would be convenient.
Check your receipt. You believe you ordered 20# or grain and came home with 12. That's a huge difference. Is it possible that you did order .9#, and received everything crushed and mixed? 11.5+.9=12.4, about what you have. If you paid for 20 and took home 12, take it back and ask for a refund.

 

[MSK_Chess]

Alas we are human and prone to aberration! Like passedpawn said, pale malt will be pale straw coloured and crystal malt will be slightly darker, sometimes its copper coloured depending on its relative strength. Feel free to nibble a little bit if you are still unsure. Just out of interest what hops are you using? Cascade or Amarillo perhaps?

 

[awilkes67]

Hey, JohnSand was right, they blended the grains and split the blend between two vac seal bags. Chess Hops are Magnum at 60, Perle at 30, and Cascade at 10, 0 and 4 day dry hop.

Thanks! I will taste them tho...

 

[kh54s10]

I suggest that you either watch carefully to make sure you are getting what you wanted, or ask them to bag and label the grains separately.

Next step, get a mill and a scale. Buy your base grains in bulk and specialty on sale then mill on your own. Then you will know exactly what you have. Or it is your mistake and you will have no one to blame.

 

[MaryB]

If you want grains separate most brew shops make you ask for it, otherwise they assume blended... and get an accurate kitchen scale. Mine only goes to 5 pounds which is a bit of a pain. My grain bills are around 20 pounds total so I am weighing multiple batches to add together. I need to upgrade that.

 

[seatazzz]

Also, most shops will let you weigh & mill your grains yourself (YMMV, all the shops in my area do). I was scared to do it myself the first few times I bought grain, but the one time everyone was too busy to help me it was a snap. If yours doesn't, keep a close watch on whoever is helping you. Miscommunication can result in something you may not want to drink.

 

[MaryB]

Living far(250 mile round trip) from a brew shop I decided the $100 spent on a grain mill made sense. Glad I did because now I buy bulk and just do my own blends as needed.

 

[JohnSand]

When you do consider a grain mill, there is a wide variety. I am happy with a $22 corona style.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Even though you asked for the quantities you did and they gave them to you, they should have never mixed them because anyone worth working at a LHBS should know that the grain ratio they were mixing would be worthless.
If you tried to make beer out of it, your grist is 43% crystal malt, which will make an overly-sweet, cloying mess that isn't fit to drink.

You should be able to get your money back, or at least get a fresh replacement bagged separately.

Bottom line: you asked for the wrong amounts, but in the amounts you were asking for, anybody who knows anything should know that they shouldn't have been blended. Your error was not catastrophic (the grains would stil be usable if bagged separately), their error was catastrophic (you now have 21 lb of useless crushed grain).

I'd ask for a replacement.

 

[JohnSand]

Cav, that would be correct if he had 21# of grain. Since he only has 12, I think the original intent was fulfilled, just a few ounces of crystal.

 

[jerbrew]

I can't help but think that if I were working the LHBS and someone asked for 11 lbs two row and 9 pounds of crystal 60 I would ask them what they were intending since its an odd order. Not blaming the dude who milled it since it was ordered but this community seems to check each other pretty effectively just seems odd they wouldn't have a "WTH are you doing?" monent. Anytime I walk into a HBS I'm asked. I guess I'm just used to it. Sometimes I get a "right on" other times they start asking me questions about my techniques and it becomes a learning experience for both of us.

Maybe just walk in with the intent to get some more grain and explain the mishap. Chances are they'd even offer to replace it. Also couldn't hurt to ask.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Cav, that would be correct if he had 21# of grain. Since he only has 12, I think the original intent was fulfilled, just a few ounces of crystal.

Ah. I missed that part - just saw where OP said something to the effect that he got both orders in pounds and combined.

 

[MaryB]

2 roller barley crusher. I have a Corona style mill for flour and they are far to much work unless motorized. And a drill doesn't cut it like I can use on the barley crusher.

When you do consider a grain mill, there is a wide variety. I am happy with a $22 corona style.