Cheapest Place to Buy Bulk Grain

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So how much do you all pay for shipping from Brew Brothers and Country Malt Group?
 
mordantly said:
im curious who buys 200# of grain? damn that seems to me it would get stale or moldy before you could use it all?
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I Buy 10 55lb. bags every time I go to Country malt & there all for me.Never had any problems with any getting stale I seal them up in storage containers.
 
mordantly said:
im curious who buys 200# of grain? damn that seems to me it would get stale or moldy before you could use it all?
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ME....

Base Malt Storage
grain.jpeg


Specialty Grain Storage
Specialty.jpeg
 
Wow, just talked to North Country. I was expecting their current price to be higher than the 2007 catalog available on the internet. Canada Malting 2-row pale shows $35.89 which sounded good, but they quoted me $27.57!

Ordered a sack each of 2-row Pale, Malted Wheat and Pilsen. Under $100 (plus shipping, I know...).

Monster Mill is on it's way too. Getting ready to rock this thing to the next level!!
 
mordantly said:
im curious who buys 200# of grain? damn that seems to me it would get stale or moldy before you could use it all?
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I've got 200 lbs stuck under my work bench. Actually, 230 or so because I had half a bag of 2-row left. As long as you keep it cool and dry, it'll last forever.
 
DNW said:
Wow, just talked to North Country. I was expecting their current price to be higher than the 2007 catalog available on the internet. Canada Malting 2-row pale shows $35.89 which sounded good, but they quoted me $27.57!

Ordered a sack each of 2-row Pale, Malted Wheat and Pilsen. Under $100 (plus shipping, I know...).

Monster Mill is on it's way too. Getting ready to rock this thing to the next level!!
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How much is shipping?
 
ODaniel said:
How much is shipping?
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They quoted me a little over $27.00 for one 50 lbs. bag to NC. The key is to order a minimum of 8 bags, then the shipping doesn't kill you. It looks like I'm headed to LHBS or AHS. Maybe I can get in on a group buy sometime soon here.
 
Synovia said:
Cool and dry and there are no weevils.
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The weevil larvae are in the grain and they will hatch no matter what. The weevils are not trying to get in the grain, they are trying to get out.

I am not trying to talk anyone into not buying somewhere, or to buy from me. Everyone needs to buy where the best deal is for them.

Forrest
 
Austinhomebrew said:
The weevil larvae are in the grain and they will hatch no matter what.
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No, that's not true. There may be weevil EGGS in the grain, but the eggs generally won't hatch if the grain is stored cool and dry. So you may have problems with your grain in Texas, but in other areas it won't necessarily occur.

Coincidentally, I just came across the forgotten remnants of an old 55lb sack of 2-row I purchased about 2 years ago. There was only about 2 lbs left in the sack, and it had staled, but there were certainly no weevils in it. I actually examined it carefully because I was curious.
 
tundra05 said:
They quoted me a little over $27.00 for one 50 lbs. bag to NC. The key is to order a minimum of 8 bags, then the shipping doesn't kill you. It looks like I'm headed to LHBS or AHS. Maybe I can get in on a group buy sometime soon here.
Click to expand...

DNW said:
Wow, just talked to North Country. I was expecting their current price to be higher than the 2007 catalog available on the internet. Canada Malting 2-row pale shows $35.89 which sounded good, but they quoted me $27.57!

Ordered a sack each of 2-row Pale, Malted Wheat and Pilsen. Under $100 (plus shipping, I know...).

Monster Mill is on it's way too. Getting ready to rock this thing to the next level!!
Click to expand...


I don't get it. I called them on Tuesday to get a price on one bag. The woman I spoke with gave me the $35.89 price. I had read in another thread someone stating a price of $27 they had paid that day.
I asked and she said oh no, that's the commerical brewery rate, and that they also give that rate in a group buy. There's no way someone paid $27 for one bag. She would let me buy it at that price, but only this one time.
 
I just wanted to give a straight answer to the price, shipping included, at North Country. It's $60.23 for a sack of Fawcett's Maris Otter, or $1.10/lb delivered to a fricken island. Their cheapest would be Best Malz or Franco-Belges, at 54.23, or 0.99/lb, both of which are top-quality malts and far superior to Rahr 2-row. I can't imagine shipping is much more elsewhere in the lower 48, but can't confirm that.

Since this is for 55 lbs, rather than the 200 lb deal at Austin, these weevils -- that are apparently inevitable:confused: -- will have 145 less pounds of grain to ruin. There really is no situation in which the Austin deal is best, as far as I can tell.
 
My deal is not the best for everyone.

It is really useless to compare a homebrew store with a wholesale distributor. Breweries and homebrew stores buy from North Country. How can I sell it to you for less when it comes from North Country then is shipped to Austin and then shipped to you and I only charge $7.99 shipping?

How can I charge less when we buy it for the same price? North country sells to everyone at the same price (wholesale).

If I bought a drill directly from Ryobi at the same price Home Depot paid for the drill, I wouldn't expect the drill to be cheaper at Home Depot.

When comparing prices compare homebrew stores with homebrew stores. Then I should have the best delivered price.

Forrest
 
My deal is not the best for everyone.
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But the problem is, your deal (the 200 lb one) is not the best for anyone. Anyone can order from North Country. They are a wholesaler, in that they sell wholesale lots, but by that standard they are also a retailer, since I (a regular schmoe who uses 100 lbs a year) can order from them, online, over the phone, whatever, with excellent customer service.

Why even offer the 200 lb deal if you're losing money on it? What you have to offer is greater selection on all the little things that North Country doesn't carry, and the willingness to sell less than 55 lbs to a customer. I just truly don't understand the point of the 200 lb deal that is a bad deal for every customer and loses money for you.
 
flipper51 said:
But the problem is, your deal (the 200 lb one) is not the best for anyone. Anyone can order from North Country. They are a wholesaler, in that they sell wholesale lots, but by that standard they are also a retailer, since I (a regular schmoe who uses 100 lbs a year) can order from them, online, over the phone, whatever, with excellent customer service.

Why even offer the 200 lb deal if you're losing money on it? What you have to offer is greater selection on all the little things that North Country doesn't carry, and the willingness to sell less than 55 lbs to a customer. I just truly don't understand the point of the 200 lb deal that is a bad deal for every customer and loses money for you.
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The 200 pound deal is a good deal for a lot of people or it wouldn't sell, and it does.

Yes, anyone can order from North Country, but most people do not want that much grain or mine is a better deal for them.

You can call them a retailer if you want but they sell at wholesale price for everyone. That is still wholesale. We have excellent customer service as well.

I am not losing money on it but it is very close to cost. Why shouldn't I sell something at a great price for most people? There are people that are farther away from North Country that it is not as good a deal as mine.

I am in no way saying you should buy from me if you found a better deal. I am just here to explain that it is a bad comparison to compare a wholesaler with a retailer and expect the retailer to have a better price.

Everyone should buy where they get the best deal.

Forrest
 
I am not losing money on it but it is very close to cost.
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This same thread, page 2:

Actually I break even or sometimes lose money on this deal.
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I know that was a while ago (12/31/08), but you're not helping your argument by being inconsistent.

Yes, anyone can order from North Country, but most people do not want that much grain or mine is a better deal for them.
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55 lb is too much but 200 isn't? Once you get to 200 lb, you're 20 lb away from 4 sacks, at which point North Country will talk freight rates, which are probably even better. But that is another matter, and speculative.

The point is that, in order to make an honest argument for your 200 lb deal you have to draw absurdly narrow parameters. The customer (1) can use 200 lbs before it goes bad*, (2) doesn't want enough, possibly as little as 220 pounds, to go freight, (3) places no additional value on getting brands or varieties other than Rahr 2-row, AND (4) lives far enough from upstate NY to increase the shipping beyond $30.40 a sack**

Hopefully some other posters will chime in who have found the shipping from North Country to be more than $30, which would satisfy condition (4) above. But then there are still the other three.

*You brought up the weevil business.

** My math: 55 lbs at your price (1.15 with $7 shipping in the 200 lb deal) is $64.90. A sack of Best Malz at NC is 34.78, leaving 30.40 for shipping to reach your 64.90. I pay 19.45, fwiw.
 
I am not trying to argue. You have a great deal and you should buy it there.

Sometimes I make $5 and sometimes I lose $5. It depends where it is shipping to. I charge $7.99 no matter where it is shipped.

I am not saying you shouldn't buy the grain from North Country. It is a better deal for you.

The people that live within driving distance of North Country are going to save a bundle.

Last year 147 customers thought my offer was a good deal.

Everyone should buy where they get the best deal.

Forrest
 
One of the Homebrew suppliers decided to sell to Cabela's Sporting goods. You could actually buy hops at a sporting goods store. It didn't last long though. People that were looking for hops didn't go to Cabela's and people shopping at a sporting goods store were not looking for hops.

Forrest
 
I don't understand what the argument is about. Forrest cannot possibly beat the price of wholesale; end of story. What he can do is offer excellent service and unique product offers. I think he does this well. A couple bucks more for homebrew shop advice and convenience is well worth it for a lot of customers. People develop loyalty because of these services.

So, once again I don't what the fuss is about. I know that if I was Forrest I definitely would not want to get caught up in the price race game. Offer a competitive price, with one of a kind service and experience and people will buy because of that.
End of rant.
 
I agree with dfohio. I'm in PA and can't always get to a bulk malt wholesaler. I can order from AHS and get good product much cheaper than my LHBS. Unless you do a bulk buy with a bunch of people you can't beat the price for 200# of 2 row shipped to your door step.
 
kkocher13 said:
I agree with dfohio. I'm in PA and can't always get to a bulk malt wholesaler. I can order from AHS and get good product much cheaper than my LHBS. Unless you do a bulk buy with a bunch of people you can't beat the price for 200# of 2 row shipped to your door step.
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No offense, but what do you mean by "can't beat"? It's fine to have loyalty to a store, or to be happy with the price you're getting and not think it's worth it to shop around, but this statement taken literally is simply false. I'm not going to rehash why, except to note that if you are in PA my previous posts absolutely apply to you.
 
dfohio said:
I don't understand what the argument is about. Forrest cannot possibly beat the price of wholesale; end of story. What he can do is offer excellent service and unique product offers. I think he does this well. A couple bucks more for homebrew shop advice and convenience is well worth it for a lot of customers. People develop loyalty because of these services.
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Now these are reasonable points, which I largely agree with. Forrest obviously runs a good business, evidenced by the amount he does and the support he has from customers here.

I was an AHS customer until a couple years ago. I left in part because of the tone of Forrest's posts in threads like these - it just rubs me the wrong way*.

I got drawn into this thread simply to provide some straight answers on shipping charges from North Country (ironically, requested by Forrest). I was the second person to do that, after Reelale (his was $27 to North Carolina, BTW). Then, somehow I became afflicted with Internet Argument Disease:

duty_calls.png


I should have left it at this:
I can order a sack of any variety of Best Malz or Malteries Franco-Belges shipped to my house on an island off Massachusetts for $0.99/lb. And now I will drop it, and sincerely apologize for causing any drama at HBT.


* I realize, based on the support of others, that this is probably a problem with me not him -- my reading of his words must be different from others'
 
flipper51 said:
* I realize, based on the support of others, that this is probably a problem with me not him -- my reading of his words must be different from others'
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Obviously. How can you determine what is and what isn't the best deal for everyone else? You're not in their situations.
 
bja said:
Obviously. How can you determine what is and what isn't the best deal for everyone else? You're not in their situations.
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No, he isn't. But Country Malting Group can ship 220 lbs to pretty much everywhere in the country for cheaper than AHS's 200lb deal.
 
flipper51 said:
I was an AHS customer until a couple years ago. I left in part because of the tone of Forrest's posts in threads like these - it just rubs me the wrong way*.

* I realize, based on the support of others, that this is probably a problem with me not him -- my reading of his words must be different from others'
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Not necessarily a problem with you. One poorly worded, sarcastic or belittling response can turn many people off. Happens all the time in "Real World" situations. Much easier to happen in a text only medium.

bja said:
Obviously. How can you determine what is and what isn't the best deal for everyone else? You're not in their situations.
Click to expand...

Classy. Our Friend Flipper basically rolls over and you go for another kick.
 

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