Just got my grain mill!

[storytyme]

Hey everyone. Just got my grain mill in the mail and will start milling my own. I can figure out ways to store it, but what should my grain list look like starting off fresh? Would like to get a nice supply on hand to get things going. I brew everything, but probably lean towards IPAs. All I got in my head to get is 2-row. I don't formulate my own recipes. Usually just do recipes found online or in magazines. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

**UPDATE**
Hey everyone. Got the grain supply dialed in. My first batch I am doing a wheat/rye (6lb 2-row, 3.75lb rye malt, 3lb wheat malt). I also put in .5lb rice hulls. So last night I did my first mill of grains with the Barley Crusher. Tried to attach my very old electric drill to it and it did not have enough power. So I used my cordless and it was great, but I was inconsistent on speed. Not even sure how fast to go. Anyways I got the grains milled and they looked almost too crushed (very little husks left if any). So I scoured the internet on grain milling on too fine of a crush and basically found the same info: if you get a stuck sparge then it is too fine. No stuck sparge then continue with that same crush. Well today I mashed in (batch sparge) and my first runnings went fine. The sparge though got stuck. I eventually got it unstuck and had a little extra clean-up, but hit my numbers and they were actually a bit higher than normal (78% eff). So my conclusion is that my crush was too fine (even the rice hulls didn't help with the stuck sparge). I did not change the settings on the rollers when I got it. The instructions say that the rollers are set at .39 thousands of an inch (1 mm) at assembly. Now that I think that I need to adjust them, how the heck do I measure that gap? How much adjustment do I do? Just need a little guidance. Thanks everyone. Looking forward to seeing the replies. Cheers.

 

[microbusbrewery]

I mostly just keep base malt on hand and pick up specialty grains as needed per recipe. So I usually have American 2-row, German Pilsner, and Maris Otter on hand. Sometimes I'll swap the German Pils for Belgian. Those base malts will pretty much let you brew almost any style. As for storage, I use food grade buckets with Gamma lids.

 

[Sadu]

Depends what you brew and how handy your HBS is really. I try not to hold much stock of roast or crystal malts since the age quicker than base malts. But I try to keep a pound of every specialty malt that I use plus a sack of pilsner and pale ale. I like making my own recipes so I will just tweak the recipe if something runs out.

 

[bschot]

We keep 2-row, pale ale, pilsner, Maris Otter, wheat malt and munich on hand. I also have the common specialty grains on hand that we most commonly use. We use Homer buckets for storage, we'd like to upgrade to Vittles Vaults but haven't pulled the trigger yet.



-Brian

 

[Hudini56]

I buy my base 2 row 50lb bags, so always have that around. Specialty malts I get as needed. My hbs is good and always have in Stock what I am looking for. I haven't found a good reason to store extra grains when I can buy them as needed. All depends how good or close your supplier is.

 

[Murphys_Law]

I stock maris otter and pale so I'm covered for stouts, porters, ESB, APA/IPA, etc. I have a few food safe buckets with gamma lids and a nice zip lock storage bin with a rubber seal. The latter will hold a 55 # bag of MO.

Add a vacuum sealer to your shopping list and start buying hops in bulk next!!

 

[Weezy]

I have everything on hand. +1 on the vacuum sealer. I vacuum seal everything. I divide up base grain into smaller packages and I'll seal specialty grains in big enough bags so that I can use some and reseal.

 

[beernutz]

These come in handy and they are stackable. I have 2, one for base grains and one for specialty malts:

As is one of these:

 

[Black Island Brewer]

I keep base malts on hand, buying 50 or 55 lb bags: pale 2-row, maris otter, pilsner malt, vienna, light munich, wheat and rye, all stored in 5-gallon buckets with gamma seal lids. I also keep 5-10 lbs of acidulated, patagonia especial, C40,all in 1 or 2 gallon buckets. Other specialty malts I order in 1-2 pound increments and store in 1 qt mason jars.

Periodically I brew a "back of the closet" beer to use up the dribs and drabs. Made one up last year, entered it as an English Mild and medaled.

 

[storytyme]

Thanks everyone. Great ideas and tips. Looking forward to getting things going. Lucky for me I have a great home-brew shop about 5 min away. Cheers everyone!!

 

[imasickboy]

Pils, vienna, munich, 2 row, a MO-type, and a pale ale malt are what I have in bulk.

For specialty grains, when I buy for a recipe, I buy them packaged separately, in whole pound increments. I save the rest for re-brews and for other beers.

 

[mclardass]

Mostly a me-too post, 60# Vittles Vaults with 2-row and Maris, specialty grains in 3G or 5G buckets with gamma lids. Think links to non-sponsors are frowned upon but check pricing using a deal site (hbf), Vaults and lids are periodically on sale. Saving up for an 180rpm motor myself to give a finished look to my milling table.

 

[brewcat]

If you're only thinking 2-row, that's all you need to start. You can easily add as you go along. Especially since you have a nearby shop.

Is there anything you brew continually?

 

[eric19312]

I use homer buckets with gamma seal lids. They are stackable and cheap. 2 buckets holds one full sack of grain.

 

[beergolf]

Start slowly and decide which grains you use most. I like having enouh in stock so that I can brew when I want. I buy sacks of two row and Belgian pils. Then also keep Munich, Vienna, wheat, rye in stock. Then small amounts of other specialty grains that I use often. I keep them all in vittles vaults, food safe buckets with gamma seal lids. I keep the smaller amounts in airtight containers. works great for me.

Also think about buying hops in bulk. I also make bigger starters than I need and keep some yeast in stock also. Makes it very easy to do a brew day without a trip the LHBS. That is the beauty of having your own mill. Along with being able to dial in your crush to get the efficiency you want.

 

[rwc_617]

I use <www.fleetfarm.com/detail/iris-50-lb-wheeled-airtight-pet-food-container/0000000094435> for 2 row base grain and store specialty grains and hops in a couple of <http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/iris-10-lb-airtight-pet-food-container/0000000094431>. They seal well and suit my needs -- I'm only doing 5-gal batches once or twice a month, so I haven't built my own grain silo (yet).

 

[Toga]

I am lucky enough to have a homebrew shop right down the road. I typically just by a sack of pale ale malt when needed. I store it in food grade 5 gallon buckets with lids that have a rubber gasket. Bucket and lid is around $5.50 at Lowes (yes they have plain white food grade buckets in the paint department next to the blue and silver ones) I typically buy my specialty grains by the batch as others do. I get a couple batches every trip to the store along with yeast and hops if I do not already have the hops in the freezer. This allows me to brew whenever I have time or the itch

 

[storytyme]

**update to original post

 

[kh54s10]

To the update. Go to the hardware store and buy a set of feeler gauges.

Like these.

You will want to set the gap a little closer for wheat and rye which are harder and smaller than barley malts.

To the original. I keep a couple of base malts, and when I order a specialty malt for a recipe I order at least twice what I need, then I have some on hand for the next recipe. I use lock and lock storage boxes in various sizes to store the smaller amounts. 5 gallon buckets with Gamma lids for the sacks of base grains.

 

[PADave]

I also just got a grain mill a couple months ago. Made a huge difference in my efficiency, as I do BIAB and the finer the better. As far as grain stocking goes, my strategy is to plan out my next 2-4 brews and order the ingredients for them. I order in at least 1 pound increments, and always order extra base malts. A lot of the recipes I do use .5 lb of specialty grains, so next time I order I should already have some of the grains and can order less. I figure on always having ingredients on hand for a brew or two, but don't need the hassle of stocking a mini homebrew shop full of grains. To me that's just a waste of money and space. Morebeer can have ingredients on my porch in 2 days with free shipping, so I'll do a little planning and let them do the storage.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

I also just got a grain mill a couple months ago. Made a huge difference in my efficiency, as I do BIAB and the finer the better. As far as grain stocking goes, my strategy is to plan out my next 2-4 brews and order the ingredients for them. I order in at least 1 pound increments, and always order extra base malts. A lot of the recipes I do use .5 lb of specialty grains, so next time I order I should already have some of the grains and can order less. I figure on always having ingredients on hand for a brew or two, but don't need the hassle of stocking a mini homebrew shop full of grains. To me that's just a waste of money and space. Morebeer can have ingredients on my porch in 2 days with free shipping, so I'll do a little planning and let them do the storage.

I'm totally with you on the specialty grains - I plan my next 3-4 brews, and buy my one-off specialty grains with a free shipping special. Sometimes I buy more of one particular grain or another to get to the free shipping threshold - I almost always need acidulated malt, and many of my beers use Patagonia Malting Especial, so I usually have plenty of those on hand (5# or so).

We part ways, however, on the base malts. The savings varies by the brew shop, malster and variety, but, for example, I can by 50# of Great Western 2-row for $35 a bag - 70 cents a pound- and MoreBeer has it for $1.19 a pound (if you buy 10# - it's $1.39 if you get a pound), so at a savings of $24 for 50#, even accounting for buying 2 buckets with Gamma Seal lids, I still save, and once the buckets and lids are purchased, the gross savings are all mine. So, yes, I have $200 invested in buckets and lids, and give up a 6 foot space against one wall of my garage store room, but for me, I like my "storage fee" to go to me and not MoreBeer!

Plus, each time I empty a bag it gets stapled to the rafters of my unfinished garage - free decorations!:rockin:

 

[PADave]

We part ways, however, on the base malts. The savings varies by the brew shop, malster and variety, but, for example, I can by 50# of Great Western 2-row for $35 a bag - 70 cents a pound- and MoreBeer has it for $1.19 a pound (if you buy 10# - it's $1.39 if you get a pound), so at a savings of $24 for 50#, even accounting for buying 2 buckets with Gamma Seal lids, I still save, and once the buckets and lids are purchased, the gross savings are all mine. So, yes, I have $200 invested in buckets and lids, and give up a 6 foot space against one wall of my garage store room, but for me, I like my "storage fee" to go to me and not MoreBeer!

I would probably buy base malt in bulk, but I can't find it locally for much cheaper than I can order 10# bags for. The 2 nearest shops actually cost more when you factor in the fuel to make the 45 min drive one way.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

I would probably buy base malt in bulk, but I can't find it locally for much cheaper than I can order 10# bags for. The 2 nearest shops actually cost more when you factor in the fuel to make the 45 min drive one way.

Totally get that. My two closest shops WAY overprice their bulk bags, so I plan my shopping on base malts. Our club does a group buy, and the guy with the truck picks up all the bags - we even get a discount for buying larger quantities - from a shop in Portland (we're in the Seattle/Tacoma area). I also know some of the local brewers (with whom I share by homebrew) who will either let me buy a bag, or tack a bag of something they don't have onto their next order. I've even had one of the local brewers get a hold of me with 2 bags of Baird Maris Otter they were ceasing to use - two bags for $50!

 

[jmill]

I have a barley crusher as well, and it has saved me a bit of cash buying in bulk. Well, saving cash is relative, and may happen after I also pay for the new drill I had to buy, and the food safe buckets with gamma lids.

I've used it at the factory setting without issue or stuck sparges.

For the gamma lids, look for the 6+ packs on homedepot.com. Much cheaper than individually. I get my buckets from Lowe's. Luckily, I have a good LHBS and can stock 2 row, MO, and German pilsner, along with some white wheat.

 

[storytyme]

Thank you everyone for all the replies and suggestions. It has been a huge help. Much appreciated.