www.fiftypoundsack.com - cheap bulk grain

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Anybody buy any hops from them yet? I can get bulk grain much cheaper locally, but the hops prices don't look all that bad with the shipping included.
 
GIusedtoBe said:
Without searching this entire thread, are the fifty pound sack people in TN?

I just paid $58 plus the ridiculous 10% sales tax from the LHBS for Briess 2 row which I thought was very high. Commodity prices are going up though so it would stand to reason that barley prices will go up steeply.
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I know the LHBS you speak of as I had them quote my bulk grain order (I buy grain once a year). A 50lb sack of Briess 2-row was $58.

For that very reason, I am driving to Goodlettesville from Oak Ridge this afternoon to pick up my order. I'm much more than covering the cost of diesel to run out there in the savings I'm getting.
 
Boodlemania said:
I know the LHBS you speak of as I had them quote my bulk grain order (I buy grain once a year). A 50lb sack of Briess 2-row was $58.

For that very reason, I am driving to Goodlettesville from Oak Ridge this afternoon to pick up my order. I'm much more than covering the cost of diesel to run out there in the savings I'm getting.
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Make sure to grab something from the Kegerator while you are in-store. The Amarillo Amber is tasty!
 
waldoar15 said:
Anybody buy any hops from them yet? I can get bulk grain much cheaper locally, but the hops prices don't look all that bad with the shipping included.
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Check hops direct as well. They (50#) didn't have some of the stuff I needed (Amarillo).
 
1234 said:
If they don't have it on one side of the house they will have it on the other side, Rebel Brewer.
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Yeah but they aren't a good price (2.99 per oz). Then again, I think I snarfed up the last pound bag of amarillo at hopsdirect, just checked back and after my order they have updated the website to indicate no more amarillo until the fall/winter. Eeek!

Glad I grabbed a pound!
 
CidahMastah said:
Yeah but they aren't a good price (2.99 per oz). Then again, I think I snarfed up the last pound bag of amarillo at hopsdirect, just checked back and after my order they have updated the website to indicate no more amarillo until the fall/winter. Eeek!

Glad I grabbed a pound!
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They are going to be adding some additional hops and grains as they go. Just make sure you check back from time to time if you are looking for a specific hop.
 
Some people don't understand what it's like living hundreds of miles from a decent homebrew shop. These prices are still reasonable for us. I can get better prices on some varieties but their selection is very good now.

As for hops I'm sticking with farmhouse. With no Amarillo or Simcoe I can't take this place seriously. But then farmhouse is 50¢ per pound for shipping grain so they are not as serious about grain.
 
TheMan said:
In walks the guy from Illinois...I can't think of a tax we DON'T have...we pay all three you mentioned. Even got a 2% increase on income tax...

sorry, back to the conversation...
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Not to lecture you...but you actually got screwed with a 60% increase in your income taxes. Ouch. Pennsylvania has been at 6% forever, but they don't hit food and clothing.
 
waldoar15 said:
Anybody buy any hops from them yet? I can get bulk grain much cheaper locally, but the hops prices don't look all that bad with the shipping included.
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That is what I am starting with. I'll be putting in a hops order today. A pound of Saaz and a pound of Willamette for $30, shipped, is a price I just haven't been able to beat, looking around online. That is $0.83 per pound average to my door. I was hoping for Target, but the Willamette should substitute nicely in my upcoming blonde ale.

At those prices, I should be stocked on those two for a long, long time. I plan on putting my jelly jars and FoodSaver to work, with the jar attachments I got for Christmas. I might have to consider investing in a mini-freezer for long-term storage. Buying hops in bulk should help save a considerable amount for upcoming brew sessions. Next big savings point for me probably won't happen until I move to AG, but this will definitely help.
 
According to the how to brew book Northdown is a sub for target, but they don't carry that one at this point. I looked and Northdown and subs are target and Northern Brewer. I guess you could possibly sub Northern Brewer which they do carry for 15.49
 
1234 said:
According to the how to brew book Northdown is a sub for target, but they don't carry that one at this point. I looked and Northdown and subs are target and Northern Brewer. I guess you could possibly sub Northern Brewer which they do carry for 15.49
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Thanks for the tip. :mug:

The Brew365 site lists Willamette as a substitute, and I have never tried it. I do have enough Target for my next batch, though, after looking at my reserves. Might just choose another pound of something to stockpile. I love Fuggles, and they do have that, as well. Perhaps the Saaz, Fuggles, and Northern Brewer, then. The more the merrier, I say! :D
 
Awesome idea, but their recent price increases basically kill it.
 
Indeed, some of their hop prices were the cheapest among the big reliable retailers... but the grains are a joke. Too bad.
 
The whole situation makes no sense. The homebrew market is huge. Someone needs to figure out how to make bulk grain purchases cheap and easy without requiring group buys.

I can go to Amazon.com, order a 40lb bag of dry dog food, pay the exact same price as I get at my local pet store ($35-40) and get FREE shipping. No one is going to convince me 50lb sacks of grain can't be shipped for anything less than $30 on top of an already inflated base price for the grain.
 
Don't forget that grain is a commodity much like oil. It is bought and sold everyday for a different price. If the crop looks good then prices stay low but i fthe crop report comes in and it is bad then prices go up. Don't forget that businesses are in the market to make a little money. Let's say that shipping a 50lb sack is 20 then the price of te grain is at 1 per pound. That is not terrible. Same mark-up as your cloths and much lower than the shoes you wear on your feet!:mug:
 
jmferris said:
That is what I am starting with. I'll be putting in a hops order today. A pound of Saaz and a pound of Willamette for $30, shipped, is a price I just haven't been able to beat, looking around online. That is $0.83 per pound average to my door. I was hoping for Target, but the Willamette should substitute nicely in my upcoming blonde ale.
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FYI, at farmhousebrewingsupply.com you would have paid $29.15 for that order.

Cheers,

John
 
Wow. I can get a sack of Gambrinus for $39 at my LHBS (but I think they are the leading importer of Gambrinus and supply a lot of the breweries around Seattle).

These guys don't have Great Western Malt either, whom I like to support because they are more or less local for me. Check out http://brewbrothers.biz/ if you want to try some Great Western. Their prices are RIDICULOUS cheap ($30.75 for 2-Row or Pale). Call them up and they'll quote you a shipping price.
 
A lot of people keep saying to just buy bulk grains from your LHBS because it's cheaper.

My experience with LHBS is that most of them aren't real interested in selling you 55lb sacks. They want to sell it to you by the pound at retail prices. Of course, most of the LHBS places I've been to have been little hole in the walls where they have a few bins of grain, a few shelves of equipment, and a little refrigerator case with a box of hop pellets and a box of yeast packs. They probably don't have more than a few sacks of grain in inventory at any point in time. Maybe some of you guys are just lucky enough to live where the big boys like NB, Austin, Rebel, MidWest, etc. are your LHBS.
 
joety said:
It's not, and if you are closer to Forrest, you are subsidizing his customers who are farther away. Not to get preachy, but this methodology does not result in an efficient use of resources in the economy and why I'm not a fan of flat or free shipping. Charge a reasonable markup and actual shipping and everyone wins, well, other than the guy up in Alaska who's shipping you are paying for.
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You have to compare your total order plus shipping from one store and your total order plus shipping from another.

I just sent out an order that was $450 but we paid over $300 dollars to ship. Yes, we lost quite a bit of money on the order. Just compare apples to apples and buy at the best price. Just make sure you compare your total order plus shipping, not each individual item without shipping.

Forrest
 
joety said:
So if you lost money on that order you have to make it up somewhere else. That's my whole point.
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That is false. You make the assumption that all homebrew stores make the same margin. That is not true.

Walmart makes 3.6% margin while Target makes 4.2%. Walmart is cheaper, where are they making up the difference? They don't both have to make 4.2%

You have to compare your total cost of your order plus shipping versus another store plus their shipping. We ususally win. Obviously why the person ordered the $450 order from me. I didn't make it up on him somewhere or on anyone else somewhere.

If you charged $100 for an item plus free shipping and your competition charged $100 but charged $12 shipping, you would make less margin and you wouldn't be making it up somewhere. Certainly not on the person that saved $12. Stores that charge shipping make a larger margin. They make it up by charging shipping.

Forrest
 
I'm making no assumptions other than that what you said is true, that you lost significant money on a sale related to shipping costs. Obviously you need to make money to stay in business, so by losing money on one sale you will need to make up for it on another. Someone is subsidizing someone else because you are charging two people the same for something that has much different costs to you.

Understand?
 
Basically the "free" shipping is not free in that the costs are spread over the other products throughout the store, thereby raising their prices ever so slightly.
 
How did this conversation evolve into this...... I see both points but I don't know that you are both talking about quite the same thing.

Next.
 
joety said:
I'm making no assumptions other than that what you said is true, that you lost significant money on a sale related to shipping costs. Obviously you need to make money to stay in business, so by losing money on one sale you will need to make up for it on another. Someone is subsidizing someone else because you are charging two people the same for something that has much different costs to you.

Understand?
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So when Walmart has a sale on Crest toothpaste and they are selling it below cost, the person that buys the colgate is making up for it. They don't charge extra for the colgate to make up for the loss on the crest. Nothing is being "made up", they just wanted to get you in the store.

Of course the next transaction that makes any profit helps makes up for one where there is a loss. It is the implication that I am making extra money on the next guy to make up for it. All stores have loss leaders and when someone buys something else there is some profit made.

Lets agree to stop evolving this thread into something the op didnt intend. I am just responding to posts that mention me or my business.
 
Ace_Club said:
Basically the "free" shipping is not free in that the costs are spread over the other products throughout the store, thereby raising their prices ever so slightly.
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This is false based on the assumption that all stores make the same margin and that they have to charge more to make it all back to the same margin.

The shipping is free if you were going to buy a product at store xyz and they charge $110 plus $12 shipping, But instead you find it at store AHS for $110 with free shipping. You recieved free shipping not "free shipping". Or if store xyz has it on on sale for $100 plus $12 shipping and you ask store AHS to match the price and you still get free shipping, you are getting free shipping not "free shipping". Store xyz just makes a higher margin than store ahs. Just like Walmart makes 3.6% margin and Target makes 4.2% margin. Walmart is not "making it up somewhere", they just make less margin.

Forrest
 
Austinhomebrew said:
This is false based on the assumption that all stores make the same margin and that they have to charge more to make it all back to the same margin.

The shipping is free if you were going to buy a product at store xyz and they charge $110 plus $12 shipping, But instead you find it at store AHS for $110 with free shipping. You recieved free shipping not "free shipping". Or if store xyz has it on on sale for $100 plus $12 shipping and you ask store AHS to match the price and you still get free shipping, you are getting free shipping not "free shipping". Store xyz just makes a higher margin than store ahs. Just like Walmart makes 3.6% margin and Target makes 4.2% margin. Walmart is not "making it up somewhere", they just make less margin.

Forrest
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Yes, yes...we've heard it all before. :rolleyes:

Free shipping is built into the prices, plain and simple.
 
I run a small business... Forest is saying that he does not add the cost of shipping into his price..

So free shipping is not part of the final price..

It is a part of his cost though.. Because of that he is making less profit on shipped orders.

If you want to think of shipping as included into the price then the "real" price of the product is less than stated.

Bottom line.. Buy what ever costs less

Product + shipping
 
Maybe we need a new thread entitled, how homebrewers can get bulk grains for less.

I mean, we all know the prices the maltsters charge for bulk orders based on the group buy sheets - roughly $25 for a 55lb sack of 2-row plus $3-4 in allocated shipping. I get that freight shipping by pallet will always be cheaper than residential shipping. But that's still a long way off from the $70-80 shipped sacks we're seeing from the online vendors.
 
Rich_S said:
Maybe we need a new thread entitled, how homebrewers can get bulk grains for less.

I mean, we all know the prices the maltsters charge for bulk orders based on the group buy sheets - roughly $25 for a 55lb sack of 2-row plus $3-4 in allocated shipping. I get that freight shipping by pallet will always be cheaper than residential shipping. But that's still a long way off from the $70-80 shipped sacks we're seeing from the online vendors.
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Wow, at least do some research before posting. You cannot get 2-row for $25(closer to $30). That shipping price is only valid if you get a full 42 bag palette. Then you have to provide a commercial address, or the shipping doubles.

The shipping goes up sharply if you want a call ahead or a liftgate. Then you have to be there to unload the truck. Then you have to drive the grains home(gas expense).

Whereas you can order a sack of 2-row form these guys for $59 delivered. Not such a big stretch for someone who does this for a living.


_
 
Cranny04 said:
I run a small business... Forest is saying that he does not add the cost of shipping into his price..

So free shipping is not part of the final price..

It is a part of his cost though.. Because of that he is making less profit on shipped orders.

If you want to think of shipping as included into the price then the "real" price of the product is less than stated.

Bottom line.. Buy what ever costs less

Product + shipping
Click to expand...

+1000000 Buy where you get the best deal.
 
wildwest450 said:
Wow, at least do some research before posting. You cannot get 2-row for $25(closer to $30). That shipping price is only valid if you get a full 42 bag palette. Then you have to provide a commercial address, or the shipping doubles.

The shipping goes up sharply if you want a call ahead or a liftgate. Then you have to be there to unload the truck. Then you have to drive the grains home(gas expense).

Whereas you can order a sack of 2-row form these guys for $59 delivered. Not such a big stretch for someone who does this for a living.


_
Click to expand...

Maybe you should go back and read what I wrote before commenting. I said ROUGHLY $25 and I acknowledged that the allocated shipping rate on a pallet can't be expected to apply to a single sack residential shipment.

There is exactly one item that is $59 shipped on that site. Most everything else is in the 60's or 70's.
 
Rich_S said:
Maybe you should go back and read what I wrote before commenting. I said ROUGHLY $25 and I acknowledged that the allocated shipping rate on a pallet can't be expected to apply to a single sack residential shipment.

There is exactly one item that is $59 shipped on that site. Most everything else is in the 60's or 70's.
Click to expand...

Fine, except you compared his highest priced grain with the lowest priced bulk grain. How is that fair?


_
 

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