what 5 grains to always have on hand

[Steelhorses]

Ok so the title basically says it all. I have very good opportunity to get in on an all grain buy...grains only...no dme or adjuncts.... thru my local HBC (which I just recently joined). Catch is it has to be at least 5 bags per person and the more buy in we have the cheaper it gets needless to say... so I got no clue here since I just started doing all grain about 2 months ago but the winter brewing season is coming and I'd love to save a few bucks.... Thanks all for the feed back cause I know it's probably so noob I should know...

 

[corkybstewart]

Base malt: 2 row pale, pilsner, wheat, Munich, Maris Otter
Buy specialty grains in small amounts as needed

 

[grathan]

What kinda beer will you brew? IF you don't know then I would buy base grains like corkybstewart suggests. Perhaps instead of wheat and munich, I would get 2 bags of pilsner and 2 bags of pale.

 

[RM-MN]

How much brewing do you intend to do in the next 6 months? 5 bags of grain seems like a lot to me as I go through about 1 1/2 bags of base malt per year but I may not drink as much as you. What does a bag of base malt cost at your local store and how much can you save by going with the group buy? Will the cost savings make up for a bag of grain if it goes bad on you in storage?

 

[hogwash]

Depends on the beer you want to brew. I brew lots of American style ales (IPA, pale, stout, brown), usually at least one porter and a few Belgians per year. So for me, I'd get 3 bags of pale ale malt, a bag of maris otter, and a bag of belgian pils or possibly a bag of belgian pale instead of the 3rd bag of US pale.

 

[Steelhorses]

K thanks everyone for the suggestions...After 3 years if lurking and reading it's the community here that induced me to join more than anything else, feed back and the willingness to help are phenomenal!
Basically I like German wheat, Belgian wit, Irish ales and a couple of lagers. Lighter beers for the most part, really don't care for IPA's so much... and hopefully might be able to find a porter or stout I like to round out the Keezer. Excess will be no trouble to get rid of.... I'm mostly looking at getting a sizeable stash at a very economical price so I can start practicing and refining my all grain skills and maybe try some recipe ideas as well thru the winter.

A man can only do so much hunting thru the winter so what better things to do than swap lies and share free beer?

 

[grathan]

I like maris otter or golden promise in porters, and stouts.

 

[chickypad]

Sounds like you should load up the most on continental pilsner as most of your styles will use that. Then maybe a sack of wheat and a sack of MO for your Irish ales, stouts and porters. Depending on what kind of lagers you do you might be able to use a whole sack of Munich.

 

[Foothiller]

I would include Vienna as a base malt. It has high diastatic power, and is highly converted so it needs lower mash and boil times than 2-row or pilsner - besides tasting great. Although your buy doesn't include DME, you could still use DME or LME when a style needs 2-row or pilsner, buying these separately, or substitute maris otter.