Looking for a Group Buy in RDU

I actually live in Raleigh

I've never done a group buy but I think I could get on board. Is the key to just get enough people to fill a pallet of grain? So I can buy a 50# sack and of grain cheaper than what it is at my LHBS, providing there are enough people involved?

I've read a few forums about it but not sure if I grasped how it would really work.

I work right down the street from Atlantic BS. I'd definitely be in.

Well I want 6 bags... I have a lot of Spring a Summer brewing I want to do... I guess I will have to figure it out if no one is already doing it.

By the time you pay for shipping and messing around with distribution, you don't save enough on a bag or two of 2-row to make it worthwhile, compared to the ~$36 price at Atlantic.

TurfinUSA said:

By the time you pay for shipping and messing around with distribution, you don't save enough on a bag or two of 2-row to make it worthwhile, compared to the ~$36 price at Atlantic.

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So who is this Atlantic you refer to?

TurfinUSA said:

By the time you pay for shipping and messing around with distribution, you don't save enough on a bag or two of 2-row to make it worthwhile, compared to the ~$36 price at Atlantic.

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Which of their 2-row? And I agree that their prices are great.

DPBISME said:

So who is this Atlantic you refer to?

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http://www.atlanticbrewsupply.com/

TurfinUSA said:

By the time you pay for shipping and messing around with distribution, you don't save enough on a bag or two of 2-row to make it worthwhile, compared to the ~$36 price at Atlantic.

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Do you have their bulk price list by any chance? I emailed but haven't heard back (sure it's just taking a little while). I know sometimes places don't like to advertise sack prices unless you ask to encourage people to pay the pound price. That's bad business, I went to Bull City in Durham and paid $0.79/lb for two sacks last time because they posted the price on their website, I'd have been happier to go to Raleigh. I think it's more than that at Bull City now, if just slightly.

I'd be interested in a group buy. I'm located in Pittsboro and would love a few sacks of 2-Row and a sack of MO. I know Walker in Cary had organized some grain buys before and was getting standard 2-row at around .58 a lb.

Bull City Homebrew in Durham has 2-row at $0.40/lb every day.

They definitely don't. You mean $40/50lb?

http://www.brewmasterstore.com/products.aspx?id=103

That's a good price. I just want to know if this $36 at Atlantic is for real. Guess I actually have to make a phone call *inappropriately long sigh*

I'm actually in MD but go down to Cary regularly. The Maris Otter and stuff is about the same up here, but Rahr and Briess base malts are for some reason 15-20% cheaper in NC.

Sorry, wires crossed. I meant $40/50#, yes.

"That's a good price. I just want to know if this $36 at Atlantic is for real. Guess I actually have to make a phone call *inappropriately long sigh*"

Not sure of the exact dollar amount, but yeah, they have really good prices for bulk discounting.

Don't *call* though..... the brewery is attached to the homebrew shop. It's clearly something you'll have to price out in person while sipping on their RyePA.

billl said:

Don't *call* though..... the brewery is attached to the homebrew shop. It's clearly something you'll have to price out in person while sipping on their RyePA.

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See, I hate that! I mean not the RyePA part, I'll enjoy that. But everything about bulk pricing gets so buddy-buddy I know a guy, whisper this to so and so. It's because the markup on per-pound is so much higher they think they're losing out by selling you a sack, but what they're really losing is the business to a competitor who has transparent pricing (plus the sale of whatever odds and ends I buy, because there are inevitably $20-30 of those, too).

Usually by the time you suss the price out of the guy you are effectively roped in to buying, even if it's worse than what you would have paid somewhere else. Still, it's an excuse to check out a brewery, maybe I'll give it a go next time I'm in town. Kudos to Bull City, though, maybe they deserve the business.

I truly think the runaround is because homebrew is such a (relatively) new market and the competitive aspects haven't worked themselves out very well yet. Most of the money in it still seems to come from selling to first-time-only-time brewers, because they're excited and you can convince them they need just about anything.

Pricing is all over the board too. I don't know what markups are, but shopping around will certainly save money.

"But everything about bulk pricing gets so buddy-buddy I know a guy, whisper this to so and so. "

Sorry - that was just a joke. You can call them. It's just a lot more enjoyable to grab a tasty beer vs make a phone call.

The place is about as low pressure as you can possibly get. Unlike most shops, its in a huge building. It's split into the brewery, a tasting/bar area, and the brewshop. There is no pressure or anyone trying to sell you anything. Half the time, the guys watching the register are drinking a beer. I think they have all the prices posted on the wall eg they have discounts for 10+lbs or the whole sack, so you probably wouldn't even have to talk to a human if you didn't want to.

Guess my humor sensor went belly-up. I swear sometimes it really is like that, at least around here!

billl said:

so you probably wouldn't even have to talk to a human if you didn't want to.

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Crap, you must know me.

Called ABS today to get some pricing and nothing was even close to 36 bucks a sack. German Pils was the cheapest at 58 bucks. Maybe the Briess 2-row was the 36 dollar option? Didn't check on it. This being said, I love ABS, but I'm looking for 8 sacks worth of non-2-row product. Does anyone run any group buys around here?

What do you mean by "non-2-row product"?

ABS sells Farmboy malts (plus the big brands of course), but you can buy direct from Farmboy in those quantities. It's $1/lb for a sack, but the site says they discount for 250 lbs +.

http://www.farmboybrewery.com/products.html

If you really mean you want some 6row malts, Riverbend Malt House in Asheville

http://riverbendmalt.com/products/

ABS has riverbend. I've been using their 2-row for the last couple of brews. i don't own a mill so I do not know what they charge for a sack. I also don't get the impression that they wouldn't tell you what they would charge for a sack, but maybe that's just me.

Hi, meant pils, munich, vienna, uk pale, etc... Anything that isn't marketed as straight 2-row (even if it is at base, 2-row).

@JMP138 Homesteaders Brew Supply in Fuquay has Rahr 2-row for $38/bag. Talk to Adam there and he can let you know pricing on other bulk varieties. I drive past it 4 times a week so maybe we could work out a shuttle to save you the trip. PM me if interested.

Wow!

This thread is still going on? I started it when I lived in Virginia and was looking for a cheap place to buy grain. ABS had opened while I was away and I had not heard of it.

I was there last weekend for their monthly BOP and that was my second time.

I have also now hit all the breweries around Raleigh with the exception of Durham and Chapel Hill. So I have visits to make....