Stockpiled ingredients

[brewmedic43]

Hey y'all. As I dive deeper, into this wonderful hobby of brewing, I am left with the idea that the time for a brew day can present itself at the last minute. My lhbs is part time and therefore is not open 7 days a week. With that being said, I was wondering what ingredients y'all keep on hand/buy in bulk, so that when the perfect timing of a brew day presents itself, you are ready to go and don't have to let it pass due to inability to purchase recipe specific ingredients. I am toying with the idea of buying in bulk and splitting it with my brew partner. But would love your list of must have ingredients and how you store them. Thank you in advance.

Grains, hops, yeast and anything else would be greatly appreciated.

Happy brewing. :rockin:

 

[unionrdr]

I keep a bunch of hop packets in a zip lock freezer bag on that lil shelf above the ice maker,out of harm's way. Yeast & LME in the fridge,as well as my bags of grains. Washed/saved yeast in jars on the fridge door. I keep 4lb bags of dextrose in a bag in the pantry with a box of Trulemon,demerara sugar,plain DME,& other various dry brewing ingredients.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

I keep anywhere between 400-500 lbs of misc malts at the house. Most of it is base malt (varying kinds) but I do keep 5-lb bags of specialty malts, about 40 different ones.

That, and 20-lbs of hops. And 25 or so yeast strains.

It all depends what you like to brew. I brew whatever I feel like at the time.

MC

 

[BrickHomestead]

I try to brew a couple times a month but sometimes there are major interruptions. The bulk ingredients I keep on hand are useful in at least half of my recipes and last for over a year in storage.

I usually have some base grains, hops, and dry yeast on hand. Fresh grain will last for at least a year unmilled. Dry yeast is good for over a year. Properly vacuum packed hops will also last a long time. (I had to toss hops that one LHBS self packed in plastic baggies after 4 months of refrigerator storage.)

Base grains were selected based on my two favorite styles and then I just pick up a few pounds of specialty grains and hops for specific recipes. Same with hops. Dry yeast is great and overall underrated. There are some excellent dry yeasts that are cheap, easy, versatile, and last for a long time in the refrigerator. I still buy liquid yeast but dry is awesome to have on hand especially if you have a last minute brew session. Just rehydrate and pitch.

I still end up buying things I don't stockpile but it is very convenient to have the major stuff on hand. Also splitting a bag of grain with someone is a great way to get a bulk order in without overdoing it.

I like to alternate 5 gallon batches (brewed outside with a propane burner) with indoor 3 gallon BIAB sessions (on the stovetop). So keeping some supplies on hand can make it really easy to pull together a short brew session even same day.

Here are my stocked items at the moment:

Grain - Belgian Pills
Grain - American 2-Row
Danstar Nottingham Yeast
Safbrew T-58 Belgian Yeast
Hops - few assorted ounces of hops good for pale ale and Belgian styles

 

[tre9er]

Definitely 2-row and then pale ale malt or maris otter or whatever you want for a slightly darker, more biscuity base malt. I keep C40 on hand in 10-25lbs. range at all times, too. Vienna and/or Munich are nice to have, and I'd say a few pounds of carapils and some flaked wheat are a good idea.

The more hops you have the better, too, but pay attention to their profiles so you don't have too many citrusy hops or too many earthy hops, etc. I bitter with the same hop on just about everything, Nugget, and then my flavor/aroma hops include cascade, willamette, I also use nugget for F/A hops, and I like to have a noble hop on hand, too.

 

[Magic8Ball]

I look at the next 7 beers I want to brew when looking at what to bulk purchase. List out ingredients in a spreadsheet, find items that I need most of. In the past its always been a sack of domestic 2 row + something else (Pilsner). Keep in mind base malts have shorter shelf lives than specialty grains. I always seem to have some Crystal 80, debittered chocolate (color adjust), Rice Hulls(stuck mash), caramunich, carapils, acid malt, Calcium Chloride, a bag of DME (starters and gravity adjustments, US-05 & Nottingham (Dry yeast insurance) & whirlfloc tabs. For Hops depends on your brews but I always keep some EKG, Hallertauer Mittelfrüh & Magnum in the freezer. Storage containers: I like retired 6 gal fermentation buckets outfitted with Gamma Lids for base malts. Store it in a interior closet (air tight,no sunlight, dry, low humidity, low heat).

 

[kh54s10]

I freeze yeast and also keep some dry yeast on hand. I have buckets with Gamma Lids for storing base grains, Lock and Lock containers of specialty grain and hops in vacuum bags in the freezer. I also have light DME for making yeast starters. I plan to can some starter wort made from 2 row at some point.

When I see a recipe that I want to do I buy more of the specialty grains than I need so I always have something on hand that I can make some sort of recipe with.
Which reminds me; I must order some more dry yeast for back up.

 

[justkev52]

I keep anywhere between 400-500 lbs of misc malts at the house. Most of it is base malt (varying kinds) but I do keep 5-lb bags of specialty malts, about 40 different ones.

That, and 20-lbs of hops. And 25 or so yeast strains.

It all depends what you like to brew. I brew whatever I feel like at the time.

MC

Same for me but only around 200 lbs of base grains. Tons of specialty malts. I rarely go to the store. I can brew whatever I want whenever I want.
+1 on some dry yeast.

 

[brewmedic43]

Thank y'all for the great info, I think that gave me some great ideas to begin with.

 

[smonteton]

50# sacks 2 row , DME for starters , tons of yeast , speciality grains , CO2

 

[passedpawn]

Just buy everything.

Large quantities of 2-row, pilsner, light munich, and wheat.

Smaller quantities of every level of crystal, from C10 to Special B.

Get a bready malt like Victory. Definately Melanoiden.

Dark malts, I'd get light and pale chocolate, patent/black, roasted barley (you know you'll be making a guiness clone eventually), and a de-husked choc malt (i.e., carafa II). You'll also need some of those body forming malts like carafoam/carapils. I'd throw at least one smoked malt in there - Weyermann beechwood smoked is traditional, but you might also get some of the Briess cherrywood smoked - man that stuff is good. Finally, you might consider getting some flaked corn, barley, wheat, etc., but you won't use them much. Can't hurt to try the Honey Malt (Gambrinus), experiment with acciculated, and Special Roast / Aromatic.

For impromptu brews, you definately want to have a lot of sachets of S-05 on hand. I used a lot of different yeasts, but this one is by far my favorite.

 

[SavoryChef]

Just get this much of specialty grain and 50# bags of 2 row and marris otter and you will be happy, along will a ton of dry yeast.

 

[smonteton]

nice stash !

 

[RM-MN]

Grains keep very well at room temperature as long as the humidity isn't too high. Think in terms of years for them. They will stale if kept too long or if the humidity is too high. Hops are better frozen and even that won't keep the aroma from changing with time. I'd prefer to keep the hops intended for flavor/aroma for less than 6 months before using. Liquid yeasts are kept refrigerated and lose viability over time so I'd prefer to only have enough on hand to last a couple months. Dry yeast kept in the refrigerator is supposed to remain good for up to 2 years.