Waht grains and hops to stock up on?

[Rukula]

I just got a sweet deal with a brewery that sells hops and grains. A nice % off on my next order, but only for one order..

So i was thinking about buying allot of things when i have this deal. My question is, what is the most used grains and hops? I already know a recipe i like, so I'm going to stock up on its ingredients, but over all I'm new to AG!

The beers I'm most likely to brew are Amber, India Pale and Brown ales. No plans what so ever on touching Lagers or Pilsners, and I'm waiting with stouts and porters.

Discuss!

 

[ryan]

for grain i'd say... pale malt/maris otter, crystal malt, wheat malt, roasted barley

hops.. depends on which you like really. if you prefer old fashioned english ales then goldings, fuggles, challenger. otherwise i'd get a bag of galaxy, summer, nelson sauvin.. the new austrailian / NZ hops.

 

[bobsbeer]

Big bag of Maris Otter never goes amiss. Have a look at some of the recipes in Wheeler. That's what I did. Then make a list of the ingredients. Just don't go overboard as they don't last forever.

 

[PD]

yes a pleasant few hours spent with Graham Wheeler, a pen and a sheet of paper.
Keep checking the amount your spending lol it soon mounts up.
Whatever you order get a 25kg sack of Crisp Maris Otter if you can. Each brew costs very little then.

 

[graysalchemy]

Crisps MO is a definite winner best base malt around :thumb:

 

[dennisking]

Crisps MO is a definite winner best base malt around :thumb:

Crisps pale malt is cheaper than MO, and can't see any difference. As for hops to many to choose from but galaxy are my hop of the moment.

 

[Rukula]

Money isn't a problem. I don't brew to save money, its just a hobby

 

[andymacintyre]

My advice would be to buy base malt in reasonable bulk, depending on how often you plan to brew, and buy the other malts and hops in small qualtities when you decide what you are brewing next. If you are starting out you will want to experiment with different recipes so there is no sense in buying huge quantities of any one ingredient.
:

 

[andymacintyre]

Also remember, what initially seems a nice % off a huge order, becomes a waste of money if you can't use it fast enough or you get bored of brewing the same thing and it goes past it's best.

 

[wilsoa1111]

i did a big order recently and although i like my malty beers i wish i had ordered more hops- its really easy to go through them and they can last a good 2 years if sealed in the freezer so order a good lot- im esp keen on the stryrian goldings atm, also get one or two high alphas and somekind of citrus hop-cascades meant to be good- also probably worth getting some carapils and some munich and/or vienna malt are in loads of recipes and can be steeped or self converted so always gd for play value

just dont forget to sort out the keg/bottles supply as they fill up quickly :party:

where are you ordering from out of interest?

 

[Rukula]

And there we go. Got me some nice bags of MO, and allot of random specialty grains + some hops. Not sure how they pack their hops, so i didn't order too much. If its not vacuum packed, it doesn't store too well. Its not a huge amount really, but i currently just brew 1 gallon batches, so just some kilos of grains will last a long time.

I got some messages about ordering for other people as well, so i will explain who I'm buying from. It's not a special deal with a brewery, and its not any special prices or huge amounts. The brewery has its own little web-shop, where they sell the same grains as they use in their beers. Its the same prices as you get from a regular brew-supplier. The reason i buy from them, is because i know that the hops and grains are fresh!

The company is called Nøgne Ø, located in Grimstad - Norway. I'm guessing a bunch of you already know about them : )

Thanks for the useful feedback by the way. I'm aiming to get a thread going where i brew a British brown ale, "aged" with oak chips.. Stay tuned for that :