A Load of Ingredients but What to Brew?

[Petrolhead]

I have been brewing AG for a good while now but mostly used kit packs from the usual suspects and more recently been ordering the ingredients for recipes found on this forum and the interwebby. This means that I have no experience of 'designing' my own brews, however, I have been given a fair few ingredients from a brewer who is hanging up his kettle for a few years.

Can anyone suggest a way forward? Either some recipes which can be brewed from these ingredients or how I should tackle my first effort at making up a recipe?

I have put my stock list below and thank you guy's in advance for any advice given.

MALTS
Chateau Biscuit Malt 1 kg
Melanoidin Malt 500g
Cara Munich Malt Type 1 1 kg
Black Malt 1 kg
BestMaltz Pilsner 3 kgs
Pale Crystal 1 kg
Caraamber 1 kg
Brown Malt 3 kgs
Mild Ale Malt 1 kg
Crystal Malt 500 g
Pale Crystal 3 kgs
Carapils 500 g
Carafa Special Type 3 500 g
Chocolate Whole Malt 250 g

GRAINS
Roasted Barley 1 kg
Torrified Wheat 2 kgs
Flaked Wheat 1 kg
Maris Otter 500 g
Pale Wheat 500 g
Oat Husks 500 g
Roasted Wheat 1 kg

HOPS
Motucha Whole Hops 100 g
Columbia 100 g
East Kent Goldings 100 g
Target 100 g
Pekko 100 g

ADDITIONS
Liquorice Root 50 g
Cocoa Nibs 200 g

 

[Clint]

Hmmmm....lots of the dark side I see.

 

[An Ankoù]

You've got lots of bits and pieces there, but not much base malt. If I were you, I'd buy a sack or 10kg of crushed pale malt and start looking through some recipes. Greg Hughes would be a great place to start. While you're waiting for your malt to come you could make two brews, a light and a dark. Bear in mind that as a rough rule of thumb, you need 4Kg base malt to make a 20 litres batch with OG 1050.
1- You could use the pilsner malt with 250 g of the carapils and some of the wheat and Maris Otter to make up the grain bill (I presume they're crushed- if not, you'll have to crush them). Apart from the Target and EKGs, I don't know the hops, but check out which ones give a good clean bittering and which ones are used for aroma and Bob's your Uncle Sid. Go to it with a lager-
2- Put the Brown and the Mild together with 250g Crystal and 120g Melanoidin and use the some of the EKGs for bittering and late hopping to make a luscious brown ale. Owsat? Save the target for when your bag of malt arrives to go into a bitter.

3- Chew on the liquorice root next time you need a good clear out. Give the cocoa nibs to the missus to decorate her next chocolate cake with.

EDIT: Sorry Petrolhead. I got the quantities of Mild and Brown malts round the wrong way. The Brown isn't diastatic so it won't convert. Wait until your pale arrives or use some of it (max 20% in a porter as the Baron suggests below.

 

[The Baron]

"you are on the dark side" with that lot. Have you got the bible by Greg Hughes it will have loads of recipes in there that you can use as a base or brew as is. I would suggest a Porter or English ale style like hob goblin which should be ready for crimbo. Good Luck as regards a recipe just have a go on one of the brewing apps like Brewers Friend and post for critique you will get some good ideas and advice

 

[Sadfield]

The 10kg crushed pale is a good call, but I'd suggest Randy Moshers Mastering Homebrew as a better book if you want to know what each of those ingredients will do, and how to design a recipe with them.

OK, there are plenty of dark malts in there, but don't have to use them all at once. So you aren't committed to brewing dark beers, small amounts of some can be used to tweak the colour of pales, and to add some more complex malt flavours without any flavour being obviously dominant.

 

[Petrolhead]

Thank you for all that advice and I forgot to say that I have a mill so a sack of mo is probably a good call. My try a local microbrewery for a deal.

I think the Greg Hughes book is a good starter but tweak a recipe or two to get me feeling that I am in control, haha.

But a brown ale and larger seem a good call especially as I want to do a brew this weekend.

Cheers again.

 

[HarryFlatters]

You've got the grains for a wheat beer of some sort.

 

[ACBEV]

I've rearranged your list a bit too see some light. You have so many options. But I can see an Old Ale for New Year maybe...

23L batch... 90 minute boil... ABV 5-5.5%... IBUs 40-45

Use up all your base malts I.E. 5kg... and a bit of some others
Maris Otter 500 g
Pale Wheat 500 g
BestMaltz Pilsner 3 kgs
Mild Ale Malt 1 kg
Carafa Special Type 3 100 g
Crystal Malt 400 g

Hops... Maybe...

14g Target @ 90 minutes
18g Goldings @ 30 minutes
18g Goldings @ 20 minutes
18g Goldings @ 10 minutes
12g Target @ 10 minutes


Base Malts...
Maris Otter 500 g
Pale Wheat 500 g
BestMaltz Pilsner 3 kgs
Mild Ale Malt 1 kg

Roast Malts...
Chateau Biscuit Malt 1 kg
Melanoidin Malt 500g
Brown Malt 3 kgs
Chocolate Whole Malt 250 g
Carafa Special Type 3 500 g
Black Malt 1 kg

Crystal Malts...
Cara Munich Malt Type 1 1 kg
Pale Crystal 1 kg
Caraamber 1 kg
Crystal Malt 500 g
Pale Crystal 3 kgs
Carapils 500 g

GRAINS
Roasted Barley 1 kg
Torrified Wheat 2 kgs
Flaked Wheat 1 kg
Oat Husks 500 g
Roasted Wheat 1 kg

 

[Petrolhead]

Thank you ACBEV that is probably better than any attempt by me. I'll let you know the result if I try it.