What would you offer for a sack of Malt?

There's a local brewpub nearby, and I have thought about approaching the brewer to see if I could buy some base malt.

What do you think the brewer has to pay for a 50lb bag?

What do you think a fair price to offer would be if he asks, "What will you give me?"

I realize that some of you are horse trader types. I'm not that kind of guy. So, I'd want to start without insulting him, but still leave room to get a deal.

I doubt he buys his base malt by the bag. Is there a Grain Silo at the brewery?

The breweries I go to have sacks of grain. I don't know what they pay, but it's less than retail. I've paid $37-45 retail for a bag of Briess or Rahr two-row (Rahr is cheaper).

Really? Both of my local micro breweries and the local brewpub all get their grain by the sack.

Not sure about cost. I haven't bought from Canada Malting lately, can't remember the cost of base without the exorbitant markup my LHBS charges.

If he's buying it right he should be paying ~$30 for a 55lb bag of 2-Row, assuming he's buying in quantity (~40 bags at a crack). I'd offer him $30 a some free samples of your brew made with the malt you bought from him.. Cheers!!!

The only brewery I know that has a silo is Great Lakes in Cleveland. Every other place has sacks.

BMC has train cars!

When I was buying from the local brewery, I was paying $40.00/bag. Fair to me, fair to him.

I would say $40.00 is a good starting point. He's probably doubling his cost at that.

Im thinking... $25-$28..Good deal. $30 tops.
It will still leave him room to make a buck or two.
Just Guessing Though.

If he's buying it right he's buying it by the truck load.

He'll, even Silver Moon has a silo. Guessing the delivery process has something to do with how some are able to buy their base malt though.

Reelale said:

When I was buying from the local brewery, I was paying $40.00/bag. Fair to me, fair to him.

I would say $40.00 is a good starting point. He's probably doubling his cost at that.

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Hmmm I pay less than that retail.

weirdboy said:

Hmmm I pay less than that retail.

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That's great. I was asking the brewer for a favor and he helped me out. I considered it an equitable arrangement.

Reelale said:

That's great. I was asking the brewer for a favor and he helped me out. I considered it an equitable arrangement.

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I'm not trying to criticize you I'm just saying if I were working out a deal I certainly wouldn't pay more than I can get it for elsewhere. I have two LHBS that sell sacks of grain for less than $40 so FOR ME the price would have to be <$30 to consider it a deal.

I buy my grains in sacks from Canada Malting Corp warehouse which is luckly for me is just 80 km away. Most of the base malts made from local barley (not imported ones) are between $22-25 per 55 lbs bag, Crystal malts - $38 per bag. Imported Malts (like Bairds, Best Malz, Franco-Belges, Thomas Fawcett, Weyermann) anywhere from $42 up to $59 per bag. Weyermann CaraAmber & CaraHell seems to be most expensive at $59. That's highest price in entire catalog out of dosens of malts verieties.
Note that this is retail price if I come to them and buy 1-10 bags. Price gets lower if you order 100-200+ bags

weirdboy said:

I'm not trying to criticize you I'm just saying if I were working out a deal I certainly wouldn't pay more than I can get it for elsewhere. I have two LHBS that sell sacks of grain for less than $40 so FOR ME the price would have to be <$30 to consider it a deal.

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Got ya. Unfortunately, the only other source I had was about $1.00/lbs., bulk or otherwise.

Reelale said:

Got ya. Unfortunately, the only other source I had was about $1.00/lbs., bulk or otherwise.

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I dunno where you are in NC, but I seem to recall there being a Raleigh area group buy thread for bulk grain.

Our local brewer is a great guy who will sell me malt and hops and give me yeast and advice whenever I ask. Grain is expensive to ship and our local brewery is my only hope to get it to central Wyoming for less than a million $$$ a bag, so I'm really appreciative. I'm paying $50 for a 55lb bag of perfectly milled grain from high end maltsters. That's a lot of money to a lot of folks here on this forum, but I couldn't get it shipped here for less.

He's had to deal with a few nimrods that come in and ask him to weigh out 1.5 pounds of whatever grain they want week after week. Takes a lot of his time and I hope it doesn't make him stop selling to us.

I'm like a lot of you. I have no close local source of malt. Shipping costs make the online bulk stuff very pricey. It sounds like offering the brewer 35 dollars as an opening bid would not be insulting. If he is willing to sell at that or a little more, I'd be in hog heaven.

weirdboy said:

I dunno where you are in NC, but I seem to recall there being a Raleigh area group buy thread for bulk grain.

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Yep, I'm in on that.

I'd offer between $30-35 for a 55lb bag of base grain. See how he takes it. Most brewers are down to earth and aren't going to put you through the ringer. Anyone that gets into the beer BREWING business is not doing it for the money.

I pay $35 at the local brewery for a bag of 2 row.

LHBS wants $55

I thought I'd give an update. Finally, after getting a pm from another member, I called the brewer in Hays KS and asked him if he'd sell me a bulk bag of malt. He was a great guy. We talked beer. I made no offer, just told him I'd buy it and let him tell me the price. He charged me 26.50 for a fifty lb bag. It was awesome. I stayed, had a great lunch, and quaffed some world class quality beer.

kansasbrew said:

I thought I'd give an update. Finally, after getting a pm from another member, I called the brewer in Hays KS and asked him if he'd sell me a bulk bag of malt. He was a great guy. We talked beer. I made no offer, just told him I'd buy it and let him tell me the price. He charged me 26.50 for a fifty lb bag. It was awesome. I stayed, had a great lunch, and quaffed some world class quality beer.

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Awesome experience!

Can't beat having a pro brewer as a go to guy. Congrats.

kansasbrew said:

I thought I'd give an update. Finally, after getting a pm from another member, I called the brewer in Hays KS and asked him if he'd sell me a bulk bag of malt. He was a great guy. We talked beer. I made no offer, just told him I'd buy it and let him tell me the price. He charged me 26.50 for a fifty lb bag. It was awesome. I stayed, had a great lunch, and quaffed some world class quality beer.

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Rainbows and unicorns all the way! I just love us brewing guys.