Midwest Supplies raises prices on grains

I was kinda bummed out this morning. I got onto Midwest Supplies website, only to see they have increased the prices on some of their grains. I was really starting to like the German rye...it is now 1.99 a lb. Others went up too.
Really have to look for the bulk grains. There is a special location to select bulk, where ALL the bulk grains are sold.

The good news...they added grains! Like Rahr pale ale malt.

I really like MW, and have had excellent service from them. But I wish they would leave the site alone. I get a little buzzed and I get lost.

On a related note, I raise grain to sell and am pleased to note that what I get paid for my labor went up last year. Why shouldn't Midwest raise the price of their grains.

You'd think that with more home brewers coming on line every year,that prices would go down,or at least level off? I get most of my grains from them myself. May have to shop around again.

Seems they all have-some. At least gas prices have gone down a little? Now just if my job would keep me up better with the cost of living. And grain. Better yet hops. I seem to think hops cost is worse if not buying bulk. 3 bucks per oz for some?

I thought we were boycotting Midwest Supplies over that whole "sorry we exposed all your credit cards to hackers and denied it for 3 months" thing? Are our memories that short?

Adding more grains = greater selection = larger warehouse/overhead = higher expenses = higher prices.

I didn't even know about that hacking. I did have to change my card # recently but haven't bought from Midwest since last year.

kombat said:

I thought we were boycotting Midwest Supplies over that whole "sorry we exposed all your credit cards to hackers and denied it for 3 months" thing? Are our memories that short?

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Good call kombat,

I boycotted them long before they made that mistake.

Cheers

RM-MN said:

On a related note, I raise grain to sell and am pleased to note that what I get paid for my labor went up last year. Why shouldn't Midwest raise the price of their grains.

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Ever complain about the price of gas? Heat? Milk? Food? Medical bills? Prescriptions? Insurance?
I am willing to bet the farm you have. Well, from now on...DON'T! All of those things have someone laboring behind them that got some type of a raise in pay.

kombat said:

I thought we were boycotting Midwest Supplies over that whole "sorry we exposed all your credit cards to hackers and denied it for 3 months" thing? Are our memories that short?

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While I did hear about the hacker attack, I did not realize there was a boycott going on. All of those union dues going to waste.

Pop & I both being UAW,I guess I shouldn't complain much. Folks gotta earn a living that keeps up with said costs. And since we cover auto,aerospace & agricultural,some part of growing what we use must be union?

I don't see how people still use midwest - I have done numerous price comparisons and the shipping simply really defeats the cost.

I try to build up 200 Midwest points,which takes $5.00 off the total for the order. It goes up incrementally with how many points you have saved up.

I'm actually fairly surprised how little grain prices have gone up generally. I was looking at an old brewing folder which had a bulk price list from a LHBS circa 1998. Comparisons with a different LHBS with 2014 prices below

Prices of 2 row haven't really gone up that much, Maris Otter has a fair bit

-----------------------1998---------2014
2 Row-------------------$32----------$37
Maris Otter (Baird) ------$40----------$57
Maris Otter (Crisp)-------$38----------$63

kombat said:

I thought we were boycotting Midwest Supplies over that whole "sorry we exposed all your credit cards to hackers and denied it for 3 months" thing? Are our memories that short?

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I know I haven't even looked at their website since all that BS, nor will I. It's not like their prices are SO GOOD that I can't find the same products for equal or lesser prices elsewhere.

oh well, at least I got a free keg out of that mess.

Midwest & NB are the closest ones to me. Shipping from the others would cost me more time & money. Unless they have a shipping deal & I need a fair amount of stuff...& can afford it to start with. All conciderations must be weighed.

Midwest's shipping prices pretty much priced them out of my range anyway. Their tactic of not telling their customers their cards had been compromised for over a month while they "investigated" ensured I won't purchase from them again. Fortunately I have a local with excellent prices on grain and Farmhouse keeps me supplied with bulk hops.

They also got rid of their discounts at 10# for base malts and 5# for other malts. I still have yet to find another online store that has their selection of grains. Any recommendations?

Check out rebelbrewer.com

Www.homebrewing.org

Real nice shop in Taylor, MI. Never had to order online myself but they're real good people everytime I've gone in

gwapogorilla said:

Ever complain about the price of gas? Heat? Milk? Food? Medical bills? Prescriptions? Insurance?
I am willing to bet the farm you have. Well, from now on...DON'T! All of those things have someone laboring behind them that got some type of a raise in pay.

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I would normally agree with you... but not when all the laborers get a 3% raise and the CEO gets another 20% raise...

Life:

Prices rise.
You have to pay taxes.
You die......

Prices go up. I won't wax altruistic and say I like it or don't mind it. I will tolerate a certain increase from a place with good product and service.

Zuljin said:

Prices go up. I won't wax altruistic and say I like it or don't mind it. I will tolerate a certain increase from a place with good product and service.

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Absolutely! We will buy local and pay a slightly higher price for good selection and service for nearly everything (food, supplies and grain/hops) and don't complain when the local shop apologizes for having to increase something $.12 because their prices and overhead have increased. We would rather see the little Mom & Pop stores stay open, instead of seeing blighted and vacant stores littering our area.

As for MWB... My brother buys from them a lot and bought my starter kit from them, but I've only shopped my LHBS for my supplies, since MWB prices + shipping cost more than a trip of 5 miles to the LHBS.