Where to buy bulk grain online?

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d_striker

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Where are you buying your American 2 row palt malt online?

Also, how much are you paying with shipping for 50 lb bags?
 
I would check that site out for you...but I'm at work...and that has potential to be pretty bad.
 
Don't be decived by advertising. There is no such thing as free shipping!

If they charge for shipping, order from the closest place.

If they don't charge for shipping, it just means the closest people get screwed.
 
Malticulous said:
I get sacks from Williams Brewing, Morebeer, Brewborthers or 50poundsack. Shipping to you is probably about the same as it it for me. From Williams its about $17 a sack, form Brew Brothers it's about 50¢ a pound. The cheapest is still Morebeer's 10 lb bags of NW pale ale malt if I order enough for free shipping (60# for $60.90.)
Click to expand...

On the More Beer site, it says that bulk grains do not qualify for free shipping.

Edit: I now see that you said 10 lbs. However, I think most are looking for around 50 lbs or so, which would be bulk grains.
 
I had the same question. I found its all fairly the same. Fifty pound sack is free shipping but more expensive cost for the sack. 50poundsack was $62 for rahr 2 row. I looked at northern brewer and a rahr 2 row sack was like $36 a sack but the shipping was about $22. It all depends where you live and how much you get. I only put one sack down and that was the shipping. I don't know what 2 would cost. That's saint Paul MN to Annapolis MD. Pretty far away. All in all I think the shipping was a fair price.

Just do your research with a beer in your hand.
 
sjbeerman said:
On the More Beer site, it says that bulk grains do not qualify for free shipping.

Edit: I now see that you said 10 lbs. However, I think most are looking for around 50 lbs or so, which would be bulk grains.
Click to expand...

If you by 5 it is in bulk. It's $1.02 a pound shipped if I buy six. The same stuff is $1.04 shipped from Williams and $1.08 form Brewbrothers. I don't care about the bag it's in.
 
I have 4 sacks and 2 pounds of hops in transit from 50lbsack to be split with a few other brewers. It breaks down to $1.10/lb for Rahr 2-row, $1.11 for both Wyermann type 1 Munich and MFB Pilsen, and $1.27 for Crisp MO. With the hops (Cascade came to 77¢/oz and EKG to 96¢/oz) and with two orders the discounts were $35. I bet Tom's not making much money. Fedex probably makes more off the deal.
 
I was just checking out morebeer today on grain prices. A 50lb bag of two row is just under $36, the cheapest shipping was just under $38 which is less than if I had to pay gas and time to go pick it up. The funny thing was, 5 ten pound bags of the same grain only cost 56 dollars. I added a package of yeast to meet morebeer's $59 minimum for free shipping. Ironic they have no problem free shipping 50lbs of 10 pound bags but won't ship a 50lb bag for free.. I would have thought the 5 ten pound bags would have been more expensive.
 
sudsmcgee said:
At those price they're charging shipping, it's just already included in the cost. My LHBS charges around 40 bucks for a sack of 2-row. fiftypoundsack.com wants closer to 60-70 bucks.
Click to expand...

Right! I was drawn into their ad for free shipping, but when you get down to it....

Your LHBS generally has the cheaper price. Here in Northern Illinois we have Brew and Grow. If they don't have it at the current store, they will get it from their warehouse in the suburbs. No shipping and you save 20 to 30 bucks average.
 
Love Colorado, hate being a homebrewer in Colorado. Malt here is ridiculously expensive. Local malt (Colorado grown, Colorado malted by CMC) is $60 for a 50 lb sack @ LHBS. They used to sale to the public ($50 for 50 lb sack), but no longer do, and CMC also no longer does bulk buys for homebrewers :-(. British Maris Otter is $68 for a 55 lb sack @ LHBS. So, I end up buying British. Seems f'd up to me. I can buy bulk online for about the same or a little cheaper. Argh!
 
Malticulous said:
I have 4 sacks and 2 pounds of hops in transit from 50lbsack to be split with a few other brewers. It breaks down to $1.10/lb for Rahr 2-row, $1.11 for both Wyermann type 1 Munich and MFB Pilsen, and $1.27 for Crisp MO. With the hops (Cascade came to 77¢/oz and EKG to 96¢/oz) and with two orders the discounts were $35. I bet Tom's not making much money. Fedex probably makes more off the deal.
Click to expand...

I agree. Yes, the is some shipping charges wrapped into their cost. But people are seriously underestimating how much it costs to fed ex something that weighs 50-55lbs
 
Pardon my necromancy, but recently I've been shopping around for grain and have some numbers that might be helpful to homebrewers living in the northeast US without a car.

I'm in New York City, where at least recently there have been no organized group buys. Driving out to a homebrew supply store that buys from a maltster could be an option, but many people in the city don't have a car, and bridges are expensive anyway. Here are the options:


  • The LHBS charges $1.50/lb of two-row.
  • NorthernBrewer and friends will sell a 50 lb sack for $34.99, but even with a warehouse in nearby Pennsylvania shipping comes to something like $29.37, and bulk sacks don't qualify for free shipping, so that's $64.36 for 50 lb or $1.28/lb shipped.
  • MoreBeer has free shipping to New York on orders over $59, but again bulk grains don't qualify. As stated in previous posts, the cheapest option is to buy in 10 lb. increments, which do qualify for free shipping. You need to buy six to fulfill the $59 requirement, so that's $10.59 for every 10 lb of grain, which is $63.54 for 60 lb or $1.06/lb shipped.

For comparison, if you didn't have to pay shipping at all, the bulk sack is $34.99 for 50 lb or $0.70/lb.
It's odd that it's cheaper overall to get 60 lb than it is to get 50 lb (not just per lb).

Anyway, this puts some numbers to the conclusion that the best online buy for a homebrewer in New York is to get six 10 lb bags of 2-row from MoreBeer with free shipping.
 
Last edited:
That doesn't just apply to NYC, but for plenty more places, too. I also order 10 lb sacks from morebeer but don't usually need to buy six at a time because I'm usually ordering other ingredients as well. I usually buy only two or three, enough for my next two or three batches. My numbers work out a lot like yours. I like the idea of bulk buying to save money, but it doesn't work out that way anymore like it did 5-10 years ago. Even my closest LHBSs charge $55 for a whole sack. The current situation nullifies the need for me to purchase bulk sacks, and I'm OK with it. Less to worry about storing. Downside is I have to plan my next brew at least a week in advance, but I was never a spontaneous brewer anyway.
 

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