Snow days, why you need to keep an ingredients inventory

[SoonerMike]

Soonerland has been hit by three snow storms since saturday. I'm a teacher by trade, and have been to work one day this week. I live in a small rural town on top of a steep hill, so I can't get to town. small towns don't budget much money for sand and snow/ice removal. Needless to say, I'm starting to feel like Jack Nicholson's character in "The Shining" . After shoveling the driveway, there's not much to do. This got me to thinking about how I need to "stock up" on ingredients. I coulda/shoulda been brewing all week. My LHBS is 60 miles away in Tulsa. So, if the snow ever ends, I'm going to buy 5 fermenting buckets, 3 carboys,and a variety of grains, hops, and yeasts. Any suggestions for buying ingredients that would allow me to produce a wide variety of beers without spending an arm and a leg? I was thinking about buying 3 different grains ( how much of each?), 5 varieties of hops, and 2-3 types yeast. My thought is I can mix and match to create a few styles similar,but different. Any and all input is appreciated.

[FrozenInTime]

I bought a 50 lb sac of 2-row, that allows me to brew alot of beers, couple pounds of carapils for head/lacing/body, few pounds of 20/60/120, etc for color and flavor, bout a pound of different *C* hops. For an all around yeast, I keep a lot of US-05 on hand, some notty, winsor, pack of S-04, US-06. The -05 is my go to yeast for bout everything I brew. Got a pound or so of Munich, couple others I can't remember right now. Have some DME, light, dark, wheat.

Dang nabbit... I need to brew SOMETHING.... dayum honey do list, never ends.

[Brewbirds]

Well if the weather is that bad I'd want to brew inside which I understand is hard to do for 5 gallon batches.

What about getting some recipe kits for partial mashes or extract with steeping grains? Some suppliers will package the ingredients so you can split them into two 2.5 gal. batches.

Two kits split in half gives you four snowed in brew days and you know what the end result should be so you don't discover at the last minute that you are missing an essential item.

Toss into the inventory a few different hop varieties and yeast strains and you could noodle one half vs. the other.

Brew warm

[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

That's what I did Tuesday. Went down to the basement and checked out the supplies. Ended up brewing a PHP mod that afternoon. It's nice to have stock.

[FedoraDave]

Mike, you know your circumstances best, so you are the only one who can correctly create a standing inventory for yourself. You'll get lots of good advice based on what each individual does, but you'll have to sift through them and assess whether or not they'll work for you.

For instance, buying a 50 pound bag of 2-row works for Frozen. Wouldn't work for me. May not work for you, I dunno. But I'll throw my two cents into the mix, just to give you some more stuff to ruminate over.

Keep a couple of packets of dry yeast in the fridge at all times. It'll keep for a long time, so don't worry. Standard ale yeasts, like S-04 will serve you well for many, if not most, ale styles. And it's good to have a back-up in case you have a stuck fermentation, or spill your yeast, or whatever.

Keep some basics around, like 2-row, Light DME/LME, Carapils, 10L, 20L, 40L, and maybe some chocolate malt. Not a lot, but enough to enhance a recipe. It depends on your storage space. I also have a small stockpile of hops in my freezer; nothing elaborate, but I could brew a standard blonde ale at nearly any time with what I have. For the circumstances you indicated, I'd recommend nothing fancy anyway. A simple, straightforward beer is always welcome, especially when you're brewing on the fly. Save the more elaborate recipes for when you've had time to plan them out.

Keep in mind that your hops is going to influence the character/style of your beer, so you may want to research which hops are used for which styles. Hallertau and Tettnang are pretty standard hops, though. If you want something more along the lines of a Pale Ale or an IPA, you'll want "C" hops; Centennial, Cascade, Citra, Columbus. And Northern Brewer is a very good all-purpose-type of hops. I'd recommend visiting Northern Brewer's website (the supplier, not the hops). They have descriptions of their hops, as well as what styles they are used in.

One thing I'd definitely recommend is a vacuum-sealer. I've got specialty grains that I only use small measurements of, such as Biscuit or Honey Malt. Before I switched to a LHBS that carries bulk grains (and thus measures to order), I was buying a pound at a time, even if I only wanted to use 2 ounces of it. Vacuum sealing them saved me plenty. If you're buying crushed grains, this is essential, but it is still a good idea for whole grains, IMO. Also, as you move into things like yeast starters, you'll want to keep DME on hand for that specific purpose, and you'll have surplus DME to store, so you want an airtight/moisture-tight seal.

One other thing I do is brew small batches. 2.5 gallons. I have three batches going all the time (I brew just about every weekend), and two of them are 2.5 gallon batches, which are often extract recipes or BIAB, to keep it simpler. My fiver is reserved for original AG batches.

These are just my own techniques, and if they don't fit your style, that's cool. But I wanted to give you some things that I've found work for me.

[SoonerMike]

Thanks for all your input. I was looking for the basic ingredients to keep.on hand that, as in my current situation, I could brew a basic recipe, or get creative and try something new. In the end, I will begin stockpiling ingredients. While a 50 lb. Sack of 2-row is a bit much for me, I can see where it is a good idea to keep at least enough for my next brew on hand. As I sit now, I must travel an hour when I'm ready to brew. Has anyone done business with Midwest Brewing? They are the closest online source I've found, and their prices seem reasonable.

[FedoraDave]

There had been a security breach on Midwest's website. There's a thread here somewhere about it (check Info and Announcements or do a search for "Midwest"). I don't know if it's a concern by now.

I've dealt with them, and have never had a problem. Whenever I buy online, I tend to go with Northern Brewer, but that's only because I've dealt with them more.

Interestingly, my own LHBS is nearly an hour's drive away, and that isn't a problem for me. Maybe the difference in living in the NYC suburbs; an hour's drive doesn't seem like a big deal when you consider many people commute to work for longer.

I also tend to plan my brews out a couple of weeks in advance, and plan my trips to the LHBS as well. Of course, if you're snowbound, that's a different can of Cheez Whiz. But I found I was adapting myself to my own circumstances. I usually go to the LHBS every other week, and buy what I need for the next two recipes. I've had the grains for my next 2.5 batch (to be brewed on Sunday) for a whole week now.

[jimjohson]

dayum honey do list, never ends.

I feel your pain.

[SoonerMike]

We actually drive to Tulsa all th time. My family and wife's family live in and around tulsa. Just don't do it in bad weather anymore. Not worth the risk, IMO. I'm heading up there this weekend to see my nephew who was born this evening. Taking your advice, I'm going to the ole LHBS to pick up the basics, and get the ingredients for my next two brews as the forecast calls for another big snowstorm coming in on Monday and Tuesday. I will probably be out of school most of next week if it holds true.
Thanks again everyone

[BigPapaG]

Congrats on the birth of your nephew, SoonerMike!

The other guys have given some good suggestions...

I pretty mush also have some DME and LME around, usually some Pilsen Light, some Golden and some Wheat.

Also keep a bunch of hops in the freezer and yeasts in the fridge.

Most importantly though, it's good to have some finished brews around... In case all else fails!

[mashani]

I've always got some dme, hops in the freezer, dry yeast, and usually some kind of HME for brewing in a time crunch sitting around. A lot of times some candi syrup too, IE right now I still have some homemade dandelion candi syrup I could toss into anything.

So I just frankenbrew with it.

[FedoraDave]

Congratulations on the new family addition, Mike!

As I mentioned upthread, everyone's circumstances differ. Even if I'm snowbound (which I was twice this week), I don't really do anything brew-related. I usually have all my fermenters full, and I've fallen into a routine where Saturday is my bottling day, and Sunday is my brewing day. This fits my schedule, and my family's schedule, too. So it's maybe a little easier for me to plan ahead and buy ahead. The only time I've broken this routine was when I was on vacation. SWMBO still had work, and I just had the time off, so I brewed in the middle of the week. But even then, I could plan it out.

[Gymrat]

There had been a security breach on Midwest's website. There's a thread here somewhere about it (check Info and Announcements or do a search for "Midwest"). I don't know if it's a concern by now.

That was months ago. It was dealt with immediately. Plus Midwestsupplies takes paypal so if you do have any concerns you always have that option.

[Gymrat]

I buy 2 row by the 50lb sack, I keep 10lbs of white wheat, 10lbs of munich, 5 pounds of Caramel 40, 5 lbs of chocolate malt, 5 pounds of roasted barley, 5lbs of black patent on hand at all times. with these grains I can do just about anything at any time. As for hops I have the following on hand.
Fuggle 8 oz
Galaxy 8oz
Williamette 8oz
Amarillo 4 oz
Simco 4 oz
Sterling 4 oz
Citra 4 oz
Columbus 10 oz
Centinial 8 oz

I much prefer working from my own inventory over putting something together and having to order what I need or drive out to get it.

[FedoraDave]

There had been a security breach on Midwest's website. There's a thread here somewhere about it (check Info and Announcements or do a search for "Midwest"). I don't know if it's a concern by now.

That was months ago. It was dealt with immediately. Plus Midwestsupplies takes paypal so if you do have any concerns you always have that option.

This is good to know. It would figure that Midwest would set things right ASAP; they're a high-quality concern, and I didn't intend to sully their reputation. Thanks for the update, Roger.