Lowest price best quality supply store online

Hi all!
I just started brewing yesterday. I picked up all the supplies at a somewhat local store. After checking online I came across Bells.com which had the 3lb bag of DME for $10.99 while I paid $15.99...big difference.
So I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get DME and others (barley, etc.) at even lower costs? I am willing to buy bulk, up to 50lbs, DME as well should that help.

Northern Brewer and Midwest Supplies have good selection and decent prices. NB has flat rate shipping on many items which can be a real boon depending where you live.

That said, if you are new to brewing, it may be worth paying the premium at you LHBS from time to time. Build a relationship and tap into their expert knowledge.

You have to really look for lowest prices on each product. I find it best to stick to just a few online places and your LHBS. Grain is normally cheaper at your home brew store due to shipping unless your close to a Northern Brewer. Grow a relationship and go from there. Sometimes the knowledge and tips you learn from your LHBS is worth more than the extra few dollars your spending. I know that HopTech (my LHBS) has saved more than a handful of my batches of beers since i started. I personally use the following.

Niko - Hops in bulk
Brew brothers out of Oregon - Hard to find Hops
Ebay

Of you want the cheapest prices you have to buy in bulk. Probably 50 lb bags for grains or dme. Look in the group buy section and see if there is one local to you. Most guys are getting grain but most grain suppliers should sell sacks of dme as well.

Bear419 said:

That said, if you are new to brewing, it may be worth paying the premium at you LHBS from time to time. Build a relationship and tap into their expert knowledge.

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I agree with this here.

There are a ton of online stores that are great (many with a presents here). Some things will be cheaper from some places, more expensive than others. You'll find people have their own preference as to store maybe due to costs or maybe due to website design.

For how I brew I tend to go with Brew Masters Warehouse. Things are cheap, shipping is stupid fast, and their customer service has reached all expectations. Plus, their brew builder makes my life easy. I tend to brew the same english mild every 3-4 batches so I can just click it and it is in my cart.

Farmhouse brewing sells 3lbs of DME for $8.99. It is the cheapest that I know of....

I would be leery of buying online from a vendor of which I didn't know the reputation. I don't want to buy cheap ingredients if they are cheap because they are old or of poor quality. That said, I do buy some ingredients locally but I find brewmasters warehouse has cheaper grains than my local stores so it's cheaper when I want to buy grain for several batches (if you put them together through the brewbuilder it's 10% off) but due to shipping it's not cheaper to buy one or two beers worth of grain. I also like hopsdirect.com for bulk hops.

I agree with the advice above about making some purchases locally; it's fine if you want to cultivate those relationships but mainly I think as a new brewery it's hard to know how fast you will want to advance to more complex brewing techniques and it doesn't make sense to have a lot of bulk DME or grain around if you aren't going to use it.

BigBill said:

Farmhouse brewing sells 3lbs of DME for $8.99. It is the cheapest that I know of....

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They also sell hops pretty cheap in 4 Oz quantities which is great if you don't want a whole pound of one kind. I also use them for the specialty grains that I don't want to buy in bulk. Although if I only need a couple things it's off to my lhbs, mostly cause their awesome and I like supporting the little guys too

I have used Austin Homembrew exclusively. Their prices are competitive, they have cheap flat rate shipping, and the service and quality are superb.

One of the subforums here is a listing of HBT Vendors - suppliers who support HBT. Take a look through there. Also, in the HomeBrew Community forum is a subforum for reviewing businesses (whether they are HBT Vendors or not), where you can find more info.

I get 90% of my stuff through morebeer. I've heard people talk smack about them but I've used them for over a year now averaging about three batches a month with great results. I live near Houston and there are multiple LHBS for me to use but they are usually more expensive even factoring in shipping and unless your dealing with the owner a lot of the people that work at my closest LHBS are about as sharp as a bag of rocks. I get yeast from them though due to the back of shipping truck being hotter then the sun in July in Texas. The other places mentioned in this thread are also good places and i have used then before but I usually find the prices at morebeer are slightly better.

+1 for Morebeer. Great prices and service IMHO.

mugzz819 said:

They also sell hops pretty cheap in 4 Oz quantities which is great if you don't want a whole pound of one kind. I also use them for the specialty grains that I don't want to buy in bulk. Although if I only need a couple things it's off to my lhbs, mostly cause their awesome and I like supporting the little guys too

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Farmhouse is awesome for hops. I haven't ordered anything else from them, but I've bought a few pounds of hops from them.

Biggest thing I can say is go for BULK.
my LHBS has 33 lb Growlers of Briess Pilsen LME for $65... $2 a pound
Northern Brewer has 50lb box of Maris Otter DME for $135... $2.50 a pound
Hop Direct has 1 lb vacuum sealed packs of hops ranging in price that can be a huge savings. We bought a 1 lb of Cascade hops and figured it out to be $1.02 an ounce.

Wash your yeast and recycle it is another great way to save on money...

Depending on the beer, I have cut my costs to about $15-$25 a 5 gal batch which sure beats the $10 a 12pk the local liquor store charges for good quality beer.

This cost argument carries a lot of weight with my wife when I explained that the $65 growler of LME cost $2 a pound and the 6lb containers of LME cost $3.50 a pound.
Now to convince her that the wine kits the LHBS carries will make wine cheaper than the stuff she is buying now...
It feels good when I get a chance to be right once in a while. ha ha ha

Redbeard5289

We don't have the advantage of an LHBS around here. I have found that Midwest Supplies (mostly) and Northern Brewer (sometimes) are very good. It's not just a matter of price for me, it's the package- quality, shipping, service, having what you want in stock when the order is 35 items, etc.

ktblunden said:

Farmhouse is awesome for hops. I haven't ordered anything else from them, but I've bought a few pounds of hops from them.

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+1 for FHB and their 4oz hop bags! I shift between them and NB depending on who has a better price after shipping or if NB has a special going on (spend xx get this widget) that I could use.

+1 for morebeer and niko brew.

I have been impressed with AHS (Austin Homebrew Supply) and Morebeer. I also like the house kits from High Gravity home brewing.

Niko brew has great pricing, but I can't buy the hop quantities (1 pd.), I also like the expired yeast from Farmhouse brewing. I've never had trouble with old yeast.

Midwest has let me down lately and I have not used them for a year or so, Northern Brewer (who purchased Midwest) is just too slick for me, I want a bit simpler - less hipster store. However, I did like the kits I bought (caribou slobber, and Dead Ringer).