Shopping List - Help required

[BritishBelgianTwst]

Hi again,

I'm going to embark on my first AG brew shortly and was wondering what malts & hops I should buy to have in stock for my next few attempts.

As I live in Belgium it isn't really cost-effective for me to order malt from the net so I'm going to go to the Brouwland shop (Brewferm makers) and get the stuff.

As I live in Belgium I wan't to make English bitters, the stuff that these Belgians turn there noses up at for being luke warm and flat .

I was thinking of getting 25kg of Pale Malt (Belgian 7 EBC) to use as my base malt - will this be OK for infusion mashing as it isn't a British malt (I'm worried if it will be as easily convertible)?

What speciality and caramel malts do you suggest (include recipes if you want )?
What type of hops should I go for as well?

Thanks for your thoughts and advice, I think that with the help of this forum I'll be able to make a successful brewer.....one day!

Paul

[Horden Hillbilly]

For your 1st ag brew, it would probably be best to keep it simple.

What speciality and caramel malts do you suggest (include recipes if you want )?
What type of hops should I go for as well?

Crystal malt is very popular in british beers, along with Challenger/Goldings/Fuggles hops. Just for a suggestion, why don't you give my house bitter a try? It has been brewed quite a few times by other forum members, you can find the recipe on this page, 2nd one down.