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Buffalo NY group buy?

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Ok. We know Consumers are good in a pinch, but can we get a group buy organized.
Who manages the buy. I' almost out and don't want to pay $70.


Brew Happy & Hoppy Home Brew!!
 
We need a forklift and a loading dock. Otherwise we are kind of SOL.
 
You can check out Let's Do Wine on Transit Rd. in Depew. Never been there, but their website says they have sacks of Briess/Rahr 2-row for $55, which is probably the cheapest around. If you want wheat or MO, expect to pay in the 70s-80s.
 
You can check out Let's Do Wine on Transit Rd. in Depew. Never been there, but their website says they have sacks of Briess/Rahr 2-row for $55, which is probably the cheapest around. If you want wheat or MO, expect to pay in the 70s-80s.

I've been there. They are mostly about wine. I went in looking for some pretty basic brewing/kegging stuff and they didn't have it. But, if the grain is that much cheaper I'll give them another chance.
 
Can we get a "volunteer" to check the status and report back? An inventory of some kind would be nice.
I'd be willing to throw in a couple of for the intel (same as gas money)...
Thanks!


Brew Happy & Hoppy Home Brew!!
 
Anyone ever try organizing a group buy with one of the LHBS in the area. Would we be able to get a discount if we went in with a pallet-sized order? They make some money, we get the product a little cheaper. Everyone's happy.
 
That's a decent idea. I'll check with one of the fellas over at CBW to see if they can help out.
 
Fwiw; I've been in on the past few Pittsburgh group buys. Very we'll organized, easy splits, awesome prices (once you discount travel; but I went to college at PITT, so I go back a few times annually to visit friends and pick up grain).

I've got like 250+ lbs of 2row/Maris otter/ red wheat/Vienna on stock from these buys. Think I'm looking at like $.75/lb avg at this point.

If Buffalo group never gets off the ground, keep in touch and maybe I'll haul some sacks back for people in my sweet minivan.

-beermethatbeer!!


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I get to Pittsburgh a lot. I have relatives there. I've thought about jumping in on one of their buys. I have a Honda Element. Not as sweet as a minivan, but able to haul a lot of grain bags. I'd be willing to make the trip down and back as well.
 
Buffalo area brewers interested in a group purchase:

I am putting together a group buy. Will be getting a list of grains and cost very soon and will post. The grains will come through Dunkirk Homebrew Supplies which is on Rt 20 east of Fredonia.

Once the grain arrives at the store, we need to move it on quite soon as there isn't space for long-term storage there. Or if we arrange a common destination/delivery/pickup time, I could run it up to Buffalo area for a buck more per bag to cover gas.

But really, you all should visit the store, and get some hops or yeast while there to make this service more profitable for the owner. (I'm not the owner, just a friend of the owner and the store.

If there are enough of you interested in this to make it worthwhile, we can do it, and can do it on a regular basis. Might actually be a bit easier than a typical buy, since 38 bags or 43 bags, ok; we don't have to hit 40 spot on. Though we want to make it a large as possible buy to make it worth owner's efforts since his profit margin on this will be low.

Let me know what you all think -
Michael Gerholdt
 
Awesome work Michael!

I think there should be a precedent set so things don't get sloppy if this becomes a regular/bigger thing.

Something similar to what the 'Cuse guys do but adapted for this situation:
1. All orders should be paid in advance of the order being placed.
2. Pickup should be on a Saturday within a 2-4 hour timeslot
3. Minimum of 2-3 bags per person. If you want 1 bag, combine orders.
4. Have some sort of kickback for the store. Either buy something there or give them an extra 5% so they're happy keeping us happy.

Sounds like a great idea - if we keep it within one day, and the store gets some sort of kickback, it'd be great for them as well. They'll sacrifice a slight amount of storage space for less than a week, and get a significant amount of traffic from people they wouldn't have seen had the order not been placed along with building some customer loyalty. I'd ditch the 'Cuse grain buy if this became a quarterly thing or something.
 
Some good ideas, mjap, and had thought along those lines to some extent already.

As noted, we have a bit more flexibility since we're dealing with a homebrew shop. You'll see that when you see the grain list as it includes 10 lb bags of some grains.

So as always the devil's in the details. Not really interested in making a bunch of rules as what we are after here is making it possible for beer-loving brewers to get grain more economically, right?

That said, also not really too interested in handling single purchase of a 10 lb bag for an individual. I'm not saying it will be refused but please, think about getting your large bags of base and whatever smaller bags you want, go for it.

If this works and has a future, then we'll find out what kinds of rules we need to make to keep it workable. For now, please take a look at the grain list. I'll provide some more information on how to order and pay shortly, as well as a cutoff date for ordering, when the grains will be ordered and when we will expect delivery.

We can think together about how to move them from the homebrew shop up to Buffalo.

Note that these prices are solely for our WNY bulk grain purchases and not for individual purchases. The link I am providing isn't published on the website anywhere - there is no link to it. It's just for us. Share it with others who might want to get into a group purchase with us - but not as an example of in-store prices, because they aren't. Don't put links to it out on any other forums or websites, please. Thanks. Just your local brewing acquaintances, that kind of thing.

Here is the Grain List.

If these prices look good and we have enough interest, let me know and we will press ahead.
 
Here's our process for now:

  1. PM me and tell me roughly what you want to order. The code and the quantity are sufficient as I'm looking for a rough estimate. If your actual order changes a bit, no problem. Just sniffing the air here.
  2. I'll respond with a snail mail address. Please send the following to that address:
    • Check made out to Dunkirk Homebrew Supply for the total cost.
    • Contact information for you - Name, email and phone so we can communicate easily to resolve any issues
    • An itemized list. Please include Code, description, size of bag, quantity and subtotal all on one line, and then a grand total at bottom. If you write by hand, please make it as legible as possible.

(In the not too distant future, I'll put all of this in an online storefront to make it go much easier for us all, if we keep enough happening to make that worthwhile.)

We will not cash checks until enough orders have come in to place the bulk order, so if things fall through, your check will either be destroyed or returned to you, and you will be informed, so rest assured on that.

I'll report back here as I've seen in the past regarding quantity of bags and how close we are to closing orders and processing the first shipment. If there is more interest immediately from others, no need to wait months for a second buy.
 
pmichael,

If you're interested, I could work on setting up a google docs spreadsheet to keep track of the order & to show real-time total costs.

I am also buying a pickup truck in the next few days, so I could also help out in transportation.
 
pmichael,

If you're interested, I could work on setting up a google docs spreadsheet to keep track of the order & to show real-time total costs.

I am also buying a pickup truck in the next few days, so I could also help out in transportation.

Thanks but I will probably put this into storefront. For first time buy, I have tracing it covered.

So far, only one confirmed interest. I'd like to have a complete buy set up by three weeks from now so we can get this in with the next regular order for the store. So, if you or those you know are interested, let's put this together.

NOTE:
The prices listed on the webpage link in a previous message are the total cost to the buyer. Shipping (to the homebrew shop) is factored in already. We will work out how to get it to Buffalo to a common location for everyone to get theirs and there may be some contribution toward gas involved there but that will be minimal at most.
 
Great work! My hand is still out of commish and I have be battling a severe case of pneumonia. If things don't work out or things become problematic at dunkirk homebrew we can resume our routine in buffalo. I hope to return to normal life in March. Let me know if you need any help! Best
John


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What is a complete buy? A pallet?

We don't have to be concerned about that. Once we get over 30 bags we'll place an order. Do not need a full pallet when ordering through the homebrew shop - have far more flexibility.

Got confirmed for 5 bags minimum at this point.

John - hope this isn't slowing down your brewery plans!

Or making it hard to hold a tulip.
 
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