All About Grain

Mashing
1

I am a new brewer and I tend to get a little lost when planning out a brew day concerning the grain bill. I see the grains listed in the recipe but I can’t seem to always find that grain in BeerSmith then when I am on my local brewery supply website I seem to drift even further. I can guess that grains have more than one name based on your local and I may also be so bold as to guess that a lot of the different varieties of grains are really not so different at all so I am wondering where can I find a book or online resource that gives a good insight to all the major beer grains. I see some good reviews on books about Hops, Yeast and now even Water but I can’t seem to find something similar simply dealing with Grain.

I would think this would be easy to find if it is out there but so far I have not turned up anything that has been very helpful. All I find when searching is “How to Brew” type books, which are great, but wanting something more specific.

2

This should help you with the hops. Question do you have Beersmith 2 ?

http://www.hopsdirect.com/hops-info/
3

I doubt there is a cross reference chart for malts. Each maltser calls their product something a little different.

For most grains you should be able to find a substitute easily.

4

[quote=“chuck”]This should help you with the hops. Question do you have Beersmith 2 ?

http://www.hopsdirect.com/hops-info/[/quote]

Yes I have BS2.

5

Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher is an excellent book, and includes explanations of what all the different grains can do for you.

Also here is a table that might help you get started. http://byo.com/resources/grains

6

Many grains do not come pre-loaded in Beersmith. If you haven’t done this yet, go to File > Add-ons, then click the Add button to import additional grains.

7

Here’s another malt chart that may help:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malts_Chart