Group Buy in Chicago #6

havoc531 said:

Confirming hop splits

Mt Hood Split:
5# havoc531 (3lbs Kenny, 1lbs Grady, 1lbs Doug)
1# Gothic Horror
2# opteek
1# scotty77
1# miamiweiss
1# Demon
0# remaining, closed!

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Here it is.

Now I'm really confused. You guys (hop splitters) sort it out...

Uh Oh

Just to clarify,that is what I understood to be the split. It says Mt. Hood when we thought that we weren't getting the real stuff.

Got my grain! Not that I care, just mentioning... I ordered a sac of 2-row and Pale, both Great Western. I got a sac of Canadian 2-row, no biggie just throwing it out there. I had my grain picked up by other folks. Thanks bmason and ghoti and everyone else that coordinated this.

justin

The upside is you got 5 lbs more and its just as good, if not the same variety of barley.

Ah-hah! I was wondering why the canadian 2-row bag looked larger. Those crazy canadians! I'll take the extra 5lb

idigg said:

Got my grain! Not that I care, just mentioning... I ordered a sac of 2-row and Pale, both Great Western. I got a sac of Canadian 2-row, no biggie just throwing it out there. I had my grain picked up by other folks. Thanks bmason and ghoti and everyone else that coordinated this.

justin

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sorry for the mix up.

As these buys get bigger they get more complicated. I would like to propose an idea and let everyone think about it for the next buy. What if we were to limit some of the choices on grain orders? Take 2-Row for example. What if we just allowed either Briess or Canada Malt 2-Row to be ordered? Or only Thomas Fawcett Maris Otter? What about Pilsen? There's Gambrinus(sp) Pilsen, Best Malz Pilsen, Canada Malt Pilsen, Bairds Pilsen, etc. How about just Canadian and/or German Pilsen?

Just my thoughts. Please discuss.

It doesn't matter to me. Those are the maltsters I use anyway, but I'm sure it matters to some. I think its up to the person picking up to confirm via spreadsheet what they are picking up. I'm fine with either way. Whatever is easier for bill.

Hops Buy Question:

How should the ordering and splits be handled? Ideally, we would use ghoti's existing database along with the same nomenclature so it doesn't have to be redone. Please discuss here or should we start a new thread somewhere?

Can a "buyer" editable notes field be added to the database for each line item? Would be easy to add names of people in on the split.

I know searching thru a 126 page thread to find who was in on a box kinda sucks.

As for the grain selection I'd rather coordinate volunteers to help schlep & organize pick ups than limit malters.

starman said:

Can a "buyer" editable notes field be added to the database for each line item? Would be easy to add names of people in on the split.

I know searching thru a 126 page thread to find who was in on a box kinda sucks.

As for the grain selection I'd rather coordinate volunteers to help schlep & organize pick ups than limit malters.

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This is good feed back. Thank you.

Here is how I have currently implemented splits.

A person will order a sack of grains or hops. Then on their list page they can click a button that will allow them to split it. They will then choose the number of times they want to split along with how many of those splits they want. Then below on all everybody's order page will be an active list of open group buys. You can then select a split and select the number of left items you would like. Once you select a split it will also be included in your order. I have included a screen shot as sometime it helps to see it.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/7921946@N03/8162863757/

That looks awesome, but makes me raise other questions. Not to complicate things.

For example, what if the original buyer deletes the sack or changes splits from 1/3 to 1/4 etc while he has a pseudo commitment. What does the reporting look like for pick-up.

Also your total will also include all the splits so one person will not be responsible for fronting the entire cost as we did last time.

The key to this is that a split is not tied to a particular person so if the original person does not want it any more they can delete from their order and it will go back into the pool. I am not sure what you mean by reporting, but each of your splits are listed on your order page. If you look at the new screen shot you will see the first grain I have listed are full bags. The second two items are both splits. This is noted by two different means. 1) it is missing is that first button which is the split button. 2) you can see the amounts under the name reflect the split amounts.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7921946@N03/8162892499/

Will there be an option the split increment, i.e. 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, etc.?

By reporting I meant the sheets the Bill prints and gathers our signatures at pickup time.. but I think I understand better now how it adds to your individual order.

bmason1623 said:

Will there be an option the split increment, i.e. 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, etc.?

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Yes you select the number of times you want to split. The minimum amount is 1 pound. So you can split a sack of grains 55 pounds, and a box of hops 11 times.

Neopol said:

By reporting I meant the sheets the Bill prints and gathers our signatures at pickup time.. but I think I understand better now how it adds to your individual order.

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I will setting up the sheets to print out like it does on your order, so it will just list of your items. Maybe I will designate something on the spreadsheet that will note splits

Gotcha. That sounds good to me.

I like the limiting of base malts, but in (maybe) my sole interest, extend the bases out...i.e. 2-row is different than golden promise, is different than maris, is different than ____...most 2 rows are the same, but that golden promise...

ghoti said:

I will setting up the sheets to print out like it does on your order, so it will just list of your items. Maybe I will designate something on the spreadsheet that will note splits

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One concern: if no one is responsible for a split, would that leave bill responsible for the actual splitting, or just have the participants measure out theirs on arrival?

Bill, thanks again for setting this up! Hope you enough the RIS and black IPA I left with you!

forstmeister said:

One concern: if no one is responsible for a split, would that leave bill responsible for the actual splitting, or just have the participants measure out theirs on arrival?

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Participants measuring is fine. Aside from me taking an extra pound of hops I shouldn't have (PM me if I have your hops), it worked fine at Bill's for me to measure out my hops and grain splits then toss a new zip tie on the sack. With the new spreadsheet format we won't have the same issue as with my stupidity upon pickup.

This leaves no additional labor on Bill's part if we handle the weighing ourselves. I would suggest though that any split participants are required to bring a bucket for grain.

idigg said:

Ah-hah! I was wondering why the canadian 2-row bag looked larger. Those crazy canadians! I'll take the extra 5lb

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Did you check with the person who picked up for you? Maybe you two have each other's grain.

At least it was 2-row for same, if the accidental recipient notices they could work it out next buy. What's the difference ? $2 or so.

I have 3 bags of 2-row that were shipped in place of organic pilsen and vienna. If they don't exchange them and I have to purchase the correct grain would anyone be interested in the 3 bags? I have more than enough grain so I can't keep it myself.

I'll buy it!

I can take some as well, as I am using 45 pounds of 2-row grain today.

I like the idea of limiting the base malts, keeps things simple. I'd vote for the canada 2-row and buying the more traditional malts, as in TF anything, Best Maltz Vienna, etc. I would also like to try that czech pils malt next buy. Has anyone noticed any difference between the franco-belges stuff vs. anything else?

Also if we're buying enough 2-row then maybe we should just buy a full ton tote and have people bring their own buckets/bags. That might add some work of weighing out stuff, but it would require no searching for sacks, at least of 2-row. It would also cut out the unnecessary bags if people just put it straight into buckets. You save something like 5 cents a pound which ends up being an extra few sacks at the end, just a thought.

Bill did those sacks of wheat come in yet? I could pick up tomorrow if so.

TheBreweryUnderground said:

Bill did those sacks of wheat come in yet? I could pick up tomorrow if so.

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it should be arriving fedex today.

ok. here's the latest on the missing grain:

(2) GW-OWHT TBU should arrive today.

(1) GW-O2RP Arcticz1 being picked up tomorrow.

(1) GW-O2RP martyphee being picked up tomorrow.

(1) BZ-VIEN cyclogenesis will be substituted for the Franco Belges Vienna and picked up tomorrow.

(1) 50 Lb. bucket of PBW ypaul2000 is being picked up tomorrow.

(1) Oak Spirals gothic_horror being picked up tomorrow.

Anyone free tomorrow during the day? Maybe we can meet somewhere in the vicinity of 290/294/88 which is Hillside I believe. I will have everything with me. Let me know.

bmason1623 said:

I have 3 bags of 2-row that were shipped in place of organic pilsen and vienna. If they don't exchange them and I have to purchase the correct grain would anyone be interested in the 3 bags? I have more than enough grain so I can't keep it myself.

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ok, both ghoti and mikescooling expressed interest in this. Can one person take 2 and the other 1 bag? can we let ghoti take preference since he did create the database? what do you guys think?

I am of the mindset that we shouldn't impose limits on ones options, especially now that hey have opened up even more options.

I certainly do not mind schlepping sacks around for a short time while picking up. Maybe an extra pallet or two being handy so instead of quadruple handling sacks, larger orders can get sorted and stacked to the side while digging for whatever secondary grain you were initially after.

What do people think about allowing the warehouse to automatically make substitutions on out of stock grains? This way everything gets delivered at once. Just throwing it out there.

Personally, I'd rather mine get cancelled than subbed or an option to sub myself. I had this happen a couple buys ago with honey malt...I ordered a couple pounds online and I tried again the next run...

bmason1623 said:

The end of this week, early next week, I plan on starting to look into getting a hop buy going. Would people be interested in hop leaf and/or pellets only? The leaf would need to be added to the database. The leaf comes in full, 1/4 and mini bales: not sure of the weights. The pellets come in 11 and 44 pound cartons. Discuss.

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I like pellets better.

bmason1623 said:

ok, both ghoti and mikescooling expressed interest in this. Can one person take 2 and the other 1 bag? can we let ghoti take preference since he did create the database? what do you guys think?

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Yea, ghoti you da man! I'm as easy going as it gets. Thanks both you guys for your hard work.