Bulk base grain suggestion

[Andyoesq]

Does anyone have a good place to buy bulk grains online? I'm just transferring from extract to all grain and looking for a decent option.

Thanks

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Where do you live?

 

[Andyoesq]

Northern NJ

 

[max384]

The only grains I buy in bulk (50 or 55 lb. sacks) are domestic 2-row and Maris Otter.

Other grains that I use frequently, but not in enough quantity to buy in sacks, I buy in 10 lb bags that are more discounted than the single pound bags. These include pilsner, light and dark wheat, crystal, Munich, Vienna, and flaked corn.

I also keep about 10-20 other specialty grains that I have between 1-3 pounds or so of at any given time. Similarly to grains, I always have various hops in my freezer, usually about 10 types of hops or so. The ones I use most often, I buy by the pound, others I'll by single ounce packs. I also keep a bunch of different dry yeasts in my fridge.

This gives me the flexibility to decide to brew, concoct a recipe (or brew a tested one), and start brewing all in the same day without having to leave my house if I don't want to. More often than not, I brew on a whim, rather than planning a day in advance. If I plan in advance, I'll get a starter going and get the grains together beforehand... But throwing it together last minute makes great beer too!


I store all of my grain in tupperware containers that stack nicely and fit onto my wire shelves in my brewery area.

 

[JKaranka]

For the year I buy around 100lb of pale malt, 20lb of brown malt, 10lb of amber malt and 8lb of black patent. Roughly. A bit more pale malt and lasts a bit longer than a year.

 

[mgr_stl]

Using the Northern Brewer coupon code "hops" for 20% off any single item through Sunday, a 50 pound bag of Briess 2-row ends up being $46.71 shipped (to St. Louis). Pretty good deal from what I can tell.

 

[Firewalker11]

RAHR, 2 row. Locally grown and malted. I keep mine in a chest freezer that has gone kaput! 50# bag costs me $24...

 

[chuckstout]

When you start buying your own grain you also may want to look into home roasting. Simpsons golden promise home roasted made so great favors I didn't find anywhere I was looking.

 

[mgr_stl]

Is there an ideal storing temperature for grain? My basement is dry and cool, so I'll just be storing them down there. But I'm still curious what is best.

 

[mgr_stl]

Is Cargill a well-known 2-row supplier? A different LHBS has it and I'm not familiar with the company.

 

[Wayne1]

Cargill, Inc., is an American privately held, multinational corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, a Minneapolis suburb. Founded in 1865, it is now the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue. If it were a public company, it would rank, as of 2013, number 9 on the Fortune 500, behind Valero Energy and ahead of Ford Motor Company.

I am pretty much using exclusively Cargill malts at the brewery.

Their base 2 row, Special Pale Ale and Euro-Pils are amazing. Euro-Pils is a single Variety barley that produces an extremely clean beer. They own and distribute Warminster Floor Malted Maris Otter. That is the company that owns the name Maris Otter and licenses the right to use it to others.

They also have a line of German grown and malted grains and distribute Dingemans Belgian line up.

VERY GOOD malt at a very good price

 

[rhys333]

Great info. Thanks for sharing

 

[mgr_stl]

VERY GOOD malt at a very good price

Thanks for the info. So if you had a choice between Briess and Cargill at the same price would you pick one over the other or would they be pretty much identical?

 

[mgr_stl]

Do you guys really think there is any reason to worry about whether or not the bucket used for grain storage is food grade? Since there will be no moisture/heat involved, I am thinking an orange home depot bucket will be fine. I would have gotten a white one that I believe is food grade, but they were all sold out. I did pick up two gamma lids.

 

[IronBall]

If your in St. Louis you can go to Momalt.com. Kent runs a small store but he does a group buy rotating different maltsters each month. It's about $45 for sack of Briess 2 row and he has a bunch of other options too. You pick it up your order in Fenton, it's worked great for me.

 

[kzoostout]

Do you guys really think there is any reason to worry about whether or not the bucket used for grain storage is food grade? Since there will be no moisture/heat involved, I am thinking an orange home depot bucket will be fine. I would have gotten a white one that I believe is food grade, but they were all sold out. I did pick up two gamma lids.

Short term I doubt it would make a big difference, but I would not want to keep my grain in a "homer" bucket for long term storage. At Lowes a food grade 5 gallon bucket is $4.48 vs $2.98 for a non-food grade bucket. Personally, I'll happily pay $1.50 for peace of mind. I've got 6 filled with grain right now.

Also, you can get cheap food grade lids at Lowes, too. If you go that route buy a $2-3 bucket wrench to open them up. Well worth the meager investment, as those lids would be a beast to get off just using your hands.

 

[mgr_stl]

If your in St. Louis you can go to Momalt.com. Kent runs a small store but he does a group buy rotating different maltsters each month. It's about $45 for sack of Briess 2 row and he has a bunch of other options too. You pick it up your order in Fenton, it's worked great for me.

Thanks for the recommendation! I actually just find out about his store a couple days ago and will be checking it out soon.

 

[mgr_stl]

At Lowes a food grade 5 gallon bucket is $4.48 vs $2.98 for a non-food grade bucket. Personally, I'll happily pay $1.50 for peace of mind. I've got 6 filled with grain right now.

Good call. I have something I need to return there anyway, so I'll pick up a couple of those buckets tomorrow. Thanks!