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Asherweef

Asherweef

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Hi all,

I have recently attempted my first AG brew and produced a DJ full which is currently fermenting (although it may be stuck...!).

I'm looking to try a few more over the next couple of months and would like to order some grain, how do you go about ordering if it is only for small batches? We don't have a local store that I can pop into and the delivery charges can be as much as the ingredients themselves.

Does anyone have any experience in ordering for these small batches who can provide me with some nuggets of wisdom? I'm probably going to try one or two from the Greg Hughes book.
 
It was not a problem I had, because I have 3 local home brew shops, that sell base malts in 3kg bags and speciality malts in 0.5 & 1 kg bags. I would suggest that you plan ahead and build up an order for your next 4 or 5 brews. I did a couple of batches in a DJ, but then moved onto a 15 l fermenting bucket, which could make 12-13 litre brews, after all, it's a lot of work to go through to just make 8 bottles.

If you still need to add more to justify the delivery charges, the sky's the limit. Think about sanitisers, (a small bottle of StarSan will last you years), a hydrometer, a bottle washer and drying tree, mashing bag, digital thermometer etc.
 
Get er brewed is pretty good for ordering grains in more variety of weights.. however I would suggest you formulate about 3 or 4 brews you want to make if they are small batches.. get all the ingredients and order it in one go.
 
I've not got any particular experience of all grain yet but one thing I've noticed from various sources, and have been slightly concerned about myself, is the limited shelf life of ingredients.

Hops are easy as they are vacuum packed and can be frozen easily, so it's more the grain where I've read suggestions that crushed grain should be used within a few weeks, ideally within 4. One observation from buying some grain yesterday is that the packet says best before April 2019 - I assume that this is a relatively fresh batch and it has a shelf-life of 1 year. The other observation was a thread on here recently where people were saying there is no discernible effect on the beer being produced when using older crushed grains with plenty of people saying grain is good after several months.

Dried yeast might be better than liquid if you're looking set to go really long times between brews.

So, a long-winded way of backing up MmmBeer's post above.
 
I started off with 2 gallon batches and would either order grains in combination with new equipment to mitigate delivery as mentioned above, or order 3-4 batches worth. If you order in small bags and store sealed in a dry place you should be able to keep them for quite a while. I've kept open bags of crushed for months without any problems, I guess it could have affected flavour, dulled it or something, but not to the point I noticed.
 
The only way to make it economically viable is to be a bit organised....

It pays to plan the next few brews and order the ingredients together to max out the delivery weight limit!
 
And get a vacuum sealer, they're not expensive. Oh and perhaps a malt mill is an option: uncrushed malt lasts longer than crushed and if you're into ale, consider buying a 25 kg of pale ale malt and some carapils. If I recall correctly that's the base of (a lot of) Greg Hughes' ale.
 
I also think paying postage is more economical than going into a homebrew shop. My 4kg grain and 100g of hops somehow ended up costing me £72 in cash and another £1,500 in dreams...
 
why not check out a few AG kits, most are 5gallon though there are a few 3 gallon jobs too BUT, there is nothing stopping you from spliting down further to make 2 or 3 smaller brews.. after all if you like the beer enough to get the kit your probably going to ienjoy a 2nd and perhaps 3rd batch too. also they will make good indicators of improvement in technique and method perhaps..
 
See if there is anyone else on this forum that does AG living local to you.
They may be willing to sell you a kilo of Maris, 50gm of various speciality malts every so often out of their larger full size orders.
Alternatively group buy between 2 or 3 of you locally
 
I buy a 25kg sack of pale malt then various other bits to make up the recipes I fancy doing. Maltmiller will bag and seal the sack into 5kg portions for you for a few quid.
 
I brew in 1, 2 and 5G batches depending on my mood. I bought a cheap (£20) corona knock off mill and buy a 25kg sack of unmilled grain. Hops I get from CML because theres no postage charges
 
My 5 kg malts come in foodgrade rectangle buckets, if I had 5 empty ones I could divide a 25 kg bag. But €8 for 5 kg works for me: enough for one or two brews.
 

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