MaryB
Well-Known Member
YIKES that has gone up since I last ordered it 4 months ago! $10 higher from NB who is my cheapest source when you add in shipping...
I just bought some at my LHBS and it was $2.79/lb which floored me. I had ideas of making a 100% Golden Promise beer but ended up buying only 10 lbs of it. I know that it is imported which drives the price but to make a 5 gallon batch using only GP would cost well over $40.00 in grain alone.
Many LHBS will sell whole sacks at a much better price than they sell per pound. Not rock bottom, but more appetizing. Some breweries will sell grain.
Chicago area has a large group buy...
Have you checked RiteBrew.com? I get some malts from them I can't get anywhere else, like Oat Malt. I get 20# or so. Their pricing and shipping is quite OK, much better than NB <ugh>.
Morebeer will ship grain for free if you order them in 10# increments and you exceed their minimum of $59. See if that's a better deal.
I got sack of GP from Ritebrew and wasn't happy, stuff was filthy, dusty, full of stems and trash, different brand than (ugh) NB sells
I got sack of GP from Ritebrew and wasn't happy, stuff was filthy, dusty, full of stems and trash, different brand than (ugh) NB sells
I looked at Northern Brewer's per pound listing for Golden Promise and compared it to Rite Brew and found there to be a difference of (shock) $1.34 per pound. That could pay for a lot of shipping and I've found Rite Brew to be pretty cheap on shipping.
It will depend on where you are, but for me it's almost $29 for shipping a $60, 55# sack from RiteBrew. The price for the sack is very reasonable, but to obtain it runs $89. For 2 sacks it doubles.
Otherwise, yeah, RiteBrew has very decent shipping on most items, it's my go to place.
So glad we have this group buy here. And my #1 LHBS isn't really gouging on sacks of grain either, they just have a different choice of maltsters.
I should check with them what a sack of that oat malt is gonna run me, it's just a lot of oat malt to have on hand. I use up that GP much quicker.
Morebeer is cheaper and if you spend $59, shipping is free. 10 lb sack is $16.69.
I will try Ritebrew one more time... if the GP is full of trash I will go back to NB Simpsons GP which is usually very clean.That last bag was dirty enough it affected the flavor of the beer... I could screen it but then I am paying for dust and dirt and labor to clean it...
Morebeer is cheaper and if you spend $59, shipping is free. 10 lb sack is $16.69.
Group buys are definitely the cheapest way to go if you can use 55 # of grain. I prefer buying in 10# bags. Morebeers price is still over a dollar cheaper per pound than NB and shipping is free if you order $59. By the time I drive to my LHBS I spent $4-5 in gas plus an hour of my time.
Price it by the bulk bag, it is far more expensive 10 pounds at a time. Since a bulk bag is 3 batches of my house ale plus 7 pounds it only lasts 6 weeks at best... And two 5 gallon kegs of my house ale MIGHT last 2 weeks...
Sounds like you need a 55# sack. It would last me over 2 years
Just throwing in my 2¢.
My LHBS sells TF Golden Promise at 3.95 CAD/kg (1.80CDN/lb) or $69CDN/sack.
How I buy it, 55 pounds every 6 weeks or so LOL and a 50 pound sack of Victory once a year, 50 pounds of 2-row for IPA's, 55 pounds of Belgian Pilsner for Belgian ales... I have 12 5 gallon buckets of various malts, 2 of them hold 10 pounds of specialty malts like UK Extra Dark Crystal(160l)
Just throwing in my 2¢.
My LHBS sells TF Golden Promise at 3.95 CAD/kg (1.80CDN/lb) or $69CDN/sack.
YIKES that has gone up since I last ordered it 4 months ago! $10 higher from NB who is my cheapest source when you add in shipping...
Prices on things go up over time. Thats life. Gas isnt $1.12 a gallon anymore. Im lucky that I live a couple miles from a NB so no shipping. But heres a NB tip. Buy the gift cards when they do the get $20 when you buy a $100 card. Then buy sacks when they do a 20% off your order or one item sale. Ive only paid w gift cards at NB for a good year and a half. It came up when there and the local guys didnt care at all. They said - thats smart.
That sack price is more like it!![]()
This thread reminds me of why we no longer grow malting barley on our farm. Cash prices in this region are currently around $7.00/cwt ($.07/lb). A 55 lb bag of malt would contain $3.85 worth of barley. The rest is processing, packaging, transportation, and markup.
Seven cents a pound, with average yields, is almost a break even proposition. Planting a crop which has almost no chance of showing a profit is known as "recreational agriculture". Good for an investor looking for a tax shelter, not so good for a full time, for profit farm.
Mark
I need to make the 250 mile round rip into the Twin Cities and do a bulk buy... maybe in Dec when I have some money coming in...grab 6 sacks of GP, 2 victory, 2 2 row... Simpsons GP blows away the others I have tried. Ordered 10 pounds from Ritebrew to see if quality was any better... still looked like bottom of the grain silo sweepings... dusty, dirty and full of debris. Pass! I cleaned it best I could and lost 1/2 pound to trash.
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