Odds and Ends - What Should I Do?

[iamleescott]

After my first full year of brewing, I now have a lot of different speciality grains and hops left over.

Looking through a bunch of recipes, I don't seem to have enough of one thing or another for a complete recipe....what do I do at this stage?

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[Robert65]

If you have room, keep unmilled grains stored airtight and cool, and hop pellets vacuum sealed in the freezer. Eventually they'll come in handy. They'll keep like this for a year or two more. If you're sure you'll never use something again, or feel you need the space, no shame in tossing it. Keeping 3 oz of grain just because you bought it is a step to being on one of those hoarder intervention shows.

 

[bracconiere]

if you have the base malt to get a good OG, throw it in a pot and see what you get.....it's beer, not rocket science...have fun!

 

[iamleescott]

if you have the base malt to get a good OG, throw it in a pot and see what you get.....it's beer, not rocket science...have fun!

Are there any guides or references I should follow when throwing random things together? E.g ratios

Thanks for the help

 

[bracconiere]

Are there any guides or references I should follow when throwing random things together? E.g ratios

Thanks for the help

sorta...i shoot for about a 1.060 10 gallon batch so i use 20lb's of pale malt, crystal give or take half to a pound for an amber, when i'm in the mood for a dark beer usually go with a pound of crystal, and 1-2 pounds something black....


i'd reccomend just perusing some recipes...treat it like it's food, not drugs,

 

[day_trippr]

For one, I'd definitely stay below 10% crystal malts in the grist (in practice I stay below 5%, but this is a different situation, allowances may be made).

And it's not the OG, it's the FG. Be sure to have enough fermentables that you don't end up with pancake syrup...

Cheers!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Looking through a bunch of recipes, I don't seem to have enough of one thing or another for a complete recipe....what do I do at this stage?

what @Robert65 said, but with an emphasis on "no shame in tossing [them]".

 

[ESBrewer]

Buy some base grain and brew a couple of batches of your favourite styles/recipes changing the specialty malt composition to see how they affect the taste. For example you could brew the same recipe with either lighter or darker crystal, chocolate malt or roast barley or with one hop variety or the other. You can replace crystal with rye crystal or add some wheat malt to the recipe for head retention.

 

[ESBrewer]

Also, you can find use for specialty grains by combining those in new ways like this

7 % light crystal + ~0,4-0,5 % dark chocolate or roast barley in a recipe ain't far from ~7% medium crystal, it makes a closely related beer with a slightly different twist. The color could be indistinguishable.

 

[kh54s10]

If you have room, keep unmilled grains stored airtight and cool, and hop pellets vacuum sealed in the freezer. Eventually they'll come in handy. They'll keep like this for a year or two more. If you're sure you'll never use something again, or feel you need the space, no shame in tossing it. Keeping 3 oz of grain just because you bought it is a step to being on one of those hoarder intervention shows.

Shame on tossing any. Use it. Even if just a tiny bit in each brew for a long while. Or find a recipe that would use those 3 oz. in one batch.

From experience airtight and not cool, grains will last for many years. Same with vacuum bagged and frozen hops. Fresh would be better but....

One of my best beers, a brown ale, was leftovers. Most at least a year old. I brewed it in various iterations and it was never as good, so I did it again with the original recipe - great again!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Shame on tossing any.

Give guilt-free homebrewing a try: there is no shame, just good beer.

 

[Steveruch]

After my first full year of brewing, I now have a lot of different speciality grains and hops left over.

Looking through a bunch of recipes, I don't seem to have enough of one thing or another for a complete recipe....what do I do at this stage?

Thanks for your suggestions!

What exactly do you have on hand?

 

[Ridenour64]

I’m in the same boat. I’m not really brewing my own recipes yet, just following from books I’ve purchased and now I have several varieties of specialty malts on hand. I need to get creative and start experimenting.

 

[S-Met]

if you have the base malt to get a good OG, throw it in a pot and see what you get.....it's beer, not rocket science...have fun!

I’m in the same boat. I’m not really brewing my own recipes yet, just following from books I’ve purchased and now I have several varieties of specialty malts on hand. I need to get creative and start experimenting.

What better time to do what @bracconiere just said.

Also no shame in using some dme to boost your og with your remnants or doing an extract or partial mash. Make it an annual "ends" pub house ale. Every year will be unique

 

[IslandLizard]

Make it an annual "ends" pub house ale. Every year will be unique

Great idea!
Save a few bottles from each year so a few years down the road you can start throwing a Years' End Vertical showcase at a beer centered party or other beer aficionado gathering. Use bombers or caged 750s for extra impact while boosting beer ethos.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

You never said if it was milled or unmilled? If it's unmilled I'd try to figure out a way to use it up(although not all in one batch). Shouldn't be too hard unless it's something weird. If your 2 row or main base malt is pretty fresh I don't think you'll majorly affect your beer flavor by using older specialty malts.

If it's milled and has been sitting around a year I'd toss it.

 

[thorbeinn]

Are there any guides or references I should follow when throwing random things together? E.g ratios

Thanks for the help

I like to use beersmith, it gives me an idea of where to start. I just used the last of all my speciality grains into something i called everything stout.