whats in your pantry?

[sashurlow]

I am new to all grain. I realize that I can buy ingredients per batch, but am curious about buying in bulk. I also realize that my brewing styles will affect what I buy in bulk but am curious how people handle buying in bulk. What do you buy in bulk and what do you buy per batch? I do have a local home brew store, but its about 45 minutes away and the cost of shipping is ridiculous, so having a small pantry very well might make sense for me.
Thanks,
Scott

 

[RM-MN]

I try to buy my base malt (pale malt or 2-row, depending on how it is labeled) in big bags. Then I look at the kinds of beer I really like and want lots of and buy quantities of that. For my beers i find that they often call for C-20 or C-60 so I buy that in 10 lb bags. Roasted barley for my stouts is purchased in much smaller quantities since I use much less of that. Other specialty grains are available in 1 lb bags so I buy them on an as-needed basis and often choose 2 different beers that take them to make back-to-back to use them in a reasonable time. Some malts are used little so I have small amounts in ziplock bags with labels. i find that these keep very well and some that I have may be over 2 years old. When I next want to use them I need to taste for staling before I start brewing.

 

[kh54s10]

I buy my base malts by the sack from my LHBS. They are cheaper that I can find online when you figure in shipping. I take a recipe I want to do and buy at least twice the amount of specialty malts needed and store the rest in sealed containers. I then have the fixings on hand for another recipe.

 

[murphyslaw]

I buy full bags of base malts and try to buy 5-10lbs of other malts that are in the recipes I brew the most. Recently I've expanded that to include grains I don't use often but might. I want to be able to brew whatever I want, on the spur of the moment.

In a recent brew strong, Jamil and palmer said you can keep whole grains for years with no I'll effect. Denny and Drew also did an experiment, I think, comparing old to fresh grain and couldn't tell the difference. So I'm not too worried about using it right away.

 

[catdaddy66]

I keep base malts on hand and usually split a 55# bag with my brother. We try to have 2-row or pale malt, then any other type that we can get a good deal such as Munich, pilsen etc. This lets me brew a few beers in a style or shared ingredients.

I buy Vienna and Munich (when I don't have a large bag) in 5# bags and C20/60 in 1-2# bags. Rice and corn I do the same cause I brew a cream ale regularly.

I try to by 3-4oz portions if hops to use, maybe 8oz bags if my faves (northern brewer, cascade, centennial etc).

I harvest yeast from my starters and keep 4-6 packets of dry yeast on hand, both lager and ale. And don't forget to make an inventory that you update regularly.