stockpiling for thriftiness

[ammob1013 0]

I'm gonna spend a little chunk of change (less than $200) outfitting myself to be able to brew cheaper.

I'm picking up a 33 lb. pail of gold malt LME and I bought a 1/2 pound of a few different kinds of hops.

I'm looking to outfit myself for different kinds of beers through steeping grains. What are some ideas of the base grains I should buy 5-10 pounds of while I'll buy smaller quantities of more specialized grains?

[ammob1013 0]

If it helps I drink and brew all kinds of beer. I'm just wondering if you guys like to buy 20 lb. of a certain grain or two to brew with most beers.

[Zebediah 0]

If we had the space I'd consider getting a big bag of a light DME rather than buying it 3 lbs at a time. A lot of darker beers that I like (i.e. dubbels) start with a light malt and add color through other grains and adjuncts.

As for grains to keep on hand, I see a lot of recipes that call for steeped carapils, but other than that it seems to be all over the board. I've only used carapils myself, but my next recipe will use a 60L and Chocolate malt.

[TheConserver 0]

If you do any kind of mashing, you will probably wanna grab a bunch of American 2 row. Every partial mash or BIAB I have done has called for at least a couple pounds of it. If you are only steeping, skip the 2 row and get some Crystal. I usually use 60L

[ammob1013 0]

I ended up getting 3 lb. of each of the C-10 L, 40 L, 80 L and 120 L. I also got some carapils, chocolate, black patent and crisp brown all in 2 lb. quantities.

I'll probably need more bulk LME before I need more grains.

For a mr. beer sized batch is 1 lb. or less of grains an acceptable steep?

[VTGroff 0]

That's a good spread of steeping grains. I usually only do around .5lbs of steeping grains per Mr.B size batch.

[mnstarzz13 1]

VTGroff wrote:

That's a good spread of steeping grains. I usually only do around .5lbs of steeping grains per Mr.B size batch.

+1

Edit: my 500th post should have been a bit more profound....oh well

[d3EP 0]

ammob1013 wrote:

I ended up getting 3 lb. of each of the C-10 L, 40 L, 80 L and 120 L. I also got some carapils, chocolate, black patent and crisp brown all in 2 lb. quantities.

I'll probably need more bulk LME before I need more grains.

For a mr. beer sized batch is 1 lb. or less of grains an acceptable steep?

1/2 is fine for a batch, i think you could be happy with a 1/3 lb as well.

[deckm 0]

you could make any color beer with all of that. Where do you plan on storing all of that? and how long do grains keep?

[ammob1013 0]

deckm wrote:

you could make any color beer with all of that. Where do you plan on storing all of that? and how long do grains keep?

I plan on getting a tub with a snap on lid or a bucket and then storing them in my basement. Being in Michigan the temps should never get above low 70's and with the dehumidifier running it shouldn't be too moist.