Firebat138
Well-Known Member
Is there a cost benefit? My local LBHS will crush them for us and build our recipes for us. Do I save money by buying in bulk? And if I get them milled, how long are they good for?
thanx
thanx
grinding own grains
- Thread starter Firebat138
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Buying in bulk saves money. You might be able to buy in bulk from your LHBS, too - I recently bought a bag of organic 2-row at a very reasonable price from mine.
Another advantage to buying in bulk is that you have grains on hand, you can brew when you want, rather than having to order ingredients for a specific batch.
Another advantage to buying in bulk is that you have grains on hand, you can brew when you want, rather than having to order ingredients for a specific batch.
Yes. Yes. Treat milled grain like a box of cereal; if stored in a sealed container, it'll last a while (weeks?); left open, it will stale quickly.
Buying in bulk is really only practical if you have a mill.
Buying in bulk is really only practical if you have a mill.
Absolutely if you are really buying in "bulk" as in part af a group buy...buying a sack of grain at the LHBS is buying a sack...not really buying in bulk. IMO buying in bulk is buying a share of a 2-4 thousand pound shipment.
Even if you buy from your LHBS you will still likely save money. Before I purchased my mill the LHBS charged $2 a pound for maris otter, which he would gladly mill for no charge. After getting a mill I bought a sack from him it was $58 for 55lbs. Thats still $6 cheeper than Northern brewer, and I didn't pay shipping or tax(no tax on food in NJ). That being said a group buy would be even cheaper.
shafferpilot
Well-Known Member
I find the BIG price advantage over time is in efficiency. Going from 60% to 80% makes a mill AND "bulk" buying pay for itself very quickly!
Good analogy...So paying $0.50 / lb @ 80% efficency vs. $2.00 / lb at 60% efficiency is less than 20% of the price...wow!
That's not my experience. Buying by the sack is a significant cost savings for me over buying what I need for every recipe. Surely, being part of a big group buy is going to be more economical. But I don't know why you are disparaging buying by the sack.
The last sack I bought, about two months ago, was organic two-row. Buying it in bulk in a 55 lb bag cost me $0.76/lb (at my lhbs), whereas buying it by the pound would cost $1.90/lb.
Good analogy...So paying $0.50 / lb @ 80% efficency vs. $2.00 / lb at 60% efficiency is equivalent to less than 1/5 the price...wow!
I have the same experience as Pappers, not sure why Wilserbrewer is saying that buying a 50 lb sack is not the same as "bulk"...I get my two row for $35/50lb sack, $0.70/lb vs. the cheapest online store last I checked was $1.15 or so...
Sure a group buy would be cheaper, but buying a sack at a time is far better than 1# at a time.
Sure a group buy would be cheaper, but buying a sack at a time is far better than 1# at a time.
