Whos has a recipe for beer made with the raw grains?

Question

With the high cost of everything going through i've decided to brew my own beer from grain i have access to.I have made it from the kits & have made some real good stuff(taste similar to Samuel Adams & some taset like a rich bud light) better than what i could buy in the store but it wasn't cheaper.Now thats what i'm trying to do (cut cost)by making my beer from the raw ingredients.Since i'm retired(not a lot of $$ i thought i'd cut cost some & have fun at the same time.Any help will be greately appreciated.I plan to use wheat grain (dont have any barley or know where to get any. Thanks

Answer 1

The problem with using grain is that it requires a mash tun which requires an additional investment in your brewing equipment.  If you intend to brew a lot then it's no big deal as it will pay for itself after 10-20 batches.  All grain is cost effective (eventually) though, especially if you cultivate your own yeast.  I know folks that are down to about $14 per 5 gallon batch.

The grain also kind of needs to be malted.  There are beers which use quantities of unmalted wheat but not the full grain bill.  Unmalted wheat makes it kind of doughy in flavor as well so I wouldn't recommend a full grain bill of it anyways.  Malt is pretty d**n cheap though, a 5 gallon batch worth of grain is in the ball park of $15 so I suggest you get some malt.

Anyways, a recipe...

8 lbs of 2-Row Pale Malt

2 lbs. of 40L Caramel Malt

0.5 lbs of rolled oats (for body)

1oz Centennial (60 Minute)

1oz Chinook (15 min.)

1oz Chinook (knock-out)

American Ale yeast of any brand or packaging

You'll want to collect just under 6 gallons of water for this.  I like to do this a day in advance since chlorine will evaporate out of water.

I just pulled this out of my *** but it should be a pale ale of some flavor, roughly 7% ABV without calculating it.

Answer 2

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/index....

http://www.mullerbrau.com/Recipes.htm

http://www.beertwon.org/

You can find many recipes on-line.

Good luck

Answer 3

Hello there!  I am a home brewer, so I hope I can lend a little insight into things.  

I am modifying my original post because I read deeper into your post and found I misread your intent. I thought you wanted to buy your grain.  but if you have your own source, I can help out with some info! I'm leaving the body of my original post too, just for completion.  Wheat grain allows you to make gluten free beer! not only is it healthy, but it DOES taste good.  Here's a site with a recipe and tons of info on brewing with wheat:

http://www.mrgoodbeer.com/gf/

Here's another beer recipe site with a lot of wheat hits:

http://beerrecipes.org/findrecipe.php?be...

I don't know what final stage your wheat needs to be in, as I never paid much attention after the point I shoveled the stuff into silos in my teens working as a farm hand. :P  

I personally think brewing with extracts is better for ease of use, considering you need less equipment.  My original post goes into that, and it starts...

----HERE---

You may think that doing an all grain brew is cost savings, but in the end it is not.  I personally swear by (for cost primarily) an extract with hops added as my primarly, along with a booster to add alcohol.  Coopers has a GREAT assortment of kits, and all valued at 26 dollars per 5 gallons of beer. considering 5 gallons makes about 60 12oz bottles of beer, that's two and a half cases.  Its also better quality than most american mainstream beers. Take Cooper's Mexican Cervesa kit.  It is comparable to Corona, and takes better in my opinion (yes I brewed and bottled my own).  It cost me 28 total with tax from my local brew shop, and will cost a little cheaper(no tax) but shipping added from www.makebeer.net.  Now 28 is what I have to pay for a case of corona, which is 24 12oz bottles. I brewed about 60 12oz bottles. :)  That's a savings in my book, and I didn't need to use whole grains.

Why do whole grains cost more?  its not exactly that they cost more, but there's more to brewing all-grain recipies than extract ones.  You need to purchase yeast, grains, hops, as well as the equipment to make your mash and wort.  you will need a large pot to hold at least 10 quarts of water, if not more.  You will also need a heat source capable of evenly heating that.  Your stovetop may not be capable. Also, if you have a glass top store, don't even consider it.  It *WILL* crack your top.  Most people invest in a propane cooker and buy propane canisters.  You also will need to invest in ice or a wort cooler, as well as straining bags for your grain.  

In my opinion ,that's not only too much work for a hobbiest just wanting to save money on beer, but its far too much money in the short term.  in the long run you will of course break even and perhaps save, but that's going to take a while considering how cheap coopers extract kits are.

I own multiple sets of brew equipment. My first was a coopers microbrew kit, and I also have the typical glass carboy 6.5 gal primary and a 6 gal secondary, with a bottling bucket, associated fermentation locks and tubing, plus my super cool automatic syphon. :)  The coopers kit is great as a starter, and the company reps are bang up fantastic.  So I really think getting their beer kits would be a successful prospect, considering you get the booster, the malt extract, and the yeast all included for the cost of a single case of good beer.