Going AG what hops n grains for a range of beers? Help plea

[aamcle]

Gents.

Some time late next week or maybe the week after I should be having my first AG brew day, I'll be using BIAB, and until I have it well in hand and I decide what I like in AG beers I'll be doing small batches 5 and10 litres. Not too much to pour away if I screw up

What I want is recommendations as to what types of grains and hops I should get, Maris Otter is an obvious choice but what else do I need to give me flexibility so I can do a range of types?

I'm especially thinking of hops cause they are relatively expensive and come in packs and but making small batches I probably won't be able to use a whole pack. So I need to be able to use whatever I buy in a range of beers/stouts /lagers.


Please chip in I don't want to spend a fortune to find that half the hops are never used.

I really appreciate your suggestions and help.

Many thanks. Aamcle

[darkonnis]

Have a look at worcesterhopshop and maybe think about buying some all grain kits. £10 is slightly more expensive than say buying a whole bag of malt but this way you won't end up with drips and drabs left over, nor will you need to worry about using the same hops over and over. Not saying you should do this indefinitely, but it will likely be worth it for the first few times. Then when you better get a feel for what hops, yeast and grains you like you'll be in a position to go out and bulk buy as you suggest. I did this to start and still do this now as I hate having wastage and with me not brewing more than two or three times per quarter with the bigger batches it fits nicely. Just a thought.

Cooky

[boingy]

The only way to minimise leftovers is to plan all your recipes at once. It's usually OK to take a few liberties with the type of bittering hop if that helps to use up whole packs. Also, some retailers will sell you exact quantities of grain if you ask them nicely.

[jmc]

It would help if you told us what styles of beer you're planning to make, however for a range of UK and US brews I'd suggest you include following.
MO/ Pale malt
Medium Crystal
Wheat malt
Munich malt

EKG
Styrian Holdings/ Bobek
Cascade
Willamette

Recently prior to ordering malt and grain I plan next 3 or so brews so I've got what I need. With smaller batches you may need to plan ahead more so that you don't rack up p&p costs

[Matt12398]

+1 to jmc in that the beer style will dictate your choice.

It's good that you're asking this question though because many of us have gone mad on hops and then realise we didn't need to buy so many.

For English styles Maris otter and a few speciality grains such as crystal, chocolate etc are good. You'll get some good mileage out of goldings, fuggles and challenger.

If you're looking at American hops they're all good but cascade particularly is also at home in some of the more English styles as well.

[techtone]

If you don't use a complete pack of hops, you can put the remained back in the freezer and they will keep a long time. I usually double/triple wrap in empty/used foil packs and then secure with a freezer bag. Most hops are good for bittering so even if you didn't have a recipe for that flavour, you can use them up for bittering.

I do as others mentioned and roughly plan the next 6 batches when I place an order, including 25kg maris otter. When this is coming to an end I look at what is available to either make another batch or include any other ingredients I need to use the older stuff up for my next order.

Each order I include ingredients for a Guinness clone which includes 1kg flaked barley, 500g roast barley as well as the hops and maris otter. Should it be worthwhile to get 1kg roast barley, I do so as it will keep and the next order, I just need another 1kg flaked barley. (These tend to be the only two ingredients I use for a single recipe.) My other recipes are a mix of pales and bitter/strong bitters.

Most of my recipes include either wheat malt or torrified wheat, so that is always good. They are quite similar so you might not need both. Crystal malt tends to feature and if you like darker beers some chocolate malt and/or black malt (small quantities) is good. My hops tend to include fuggle/golding/styrian golding/target and for the pales cascade and amarillo. Then anything else is for specific recipes. Also there are websites that says what hop substitutions you can make, if you want to use one hop instead of another and get a similar if not exact clone.

[aamcle]

Thanks Gents.


Atb. Aamcle