Bulk Grain Buying Tips

Williams 728
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Great idea, Ed. I'd be interested in hearing how you manage.

Prost!:mug:
 
That's actually a great idea. Although closer than others to my LHBS, it's still an hour to get there. There is enough folks in my area that could benefit from not having to go a long distance to get their grain.
 
Yeah, I'd especially like to know what ones are good to have in larger quantities vs the ones that are used less often etc. i.e. I could bulk buy the common ones like a pale 2 row or something I think? But really don't know well enough to try.
 
I am in, as the local brew club here is looking for leadership. That is what I was told when I inquired about joining.
 
Am I missing something here ? Are you trying to do a bulk buy for half of the USA ?

Bulk buys work best when you are in a club (at least) with people you think you can trust to cough up the dough when needed. Unless you plan to buy the grain and then collect the money, I'd suggest you need to make sure everyone pre pays for their grain.

To order grain for a bulk buy tends to mean a pallet of grain - 25 to 50 sacks. So find your friends and get their money in first. Lots of friends help.

Assuming your mates aren't too receptive, ask you LHBS to supply you with a sack of grain and see if there are savings that way.
 
Fat,
EdWort has organized bulk grain buys. His last was, I think, circa 5 ton of grain.

He indicated that he is willing to share some pointers and highlight some pitfalls. I think Ed is just going to lay out a blueprint for individuals to follow at their discretion.
 
Yea, do it ed! Plus if people see how easy it is, maybe they'll be more receptive to getting in on it.
 
+10. I think it would be a great thing for us Colorado HB'ers to get in on. Prices at my LHBS are not too bad but I like the sound of cheaper
 
As someone who has done it, I can offer my input. Take or leave...

Grab the price list of the supplier such as the one found at The Country Malt Group and find the #1000 column for per sack prices.

Find what the pallet shipping rate is to your location, figure in the price of a liftgate truck if you have no loading dock to borrow.

Do yourself a huge favor and create a subset list of common bulk grains. In other words, don't let people pick from 4 different brands of maris or pale. On my next effort if I do it, folks will have a choice between MO, Pils, pale, and wheat and I'd offer up 10lb bags of munich and vienna at a buck a pound.

Come up with an idea of how many sacks makes the bulk buy worth it and then publish what the max shipping per sack might be. For example, if shipping is $100 you might want a 10-sack minimum order to keep the per sack shipping rate at $10 max. You might then want to suggest shipping discounts at 20 sacks, 30 sacks, 40 sacks. Why not just make it shipping cost divided by number of sacks? Because...

You want to take payment in advance of ordering so you don't get screwed.
 
Bobby_M said:
... figure in the price of a liftgate truck if you have no loading dock to borrow.
Click to expand...

If you happen to know that for example R&L Carriers has liftgates on all their trucks (at least in my area) you can save a bit by specifying that carrier and not requesting the liftgate.
 
camiller said:
If you happen to know that for example R&L Carriers has liftgates on all their trucks (at least in my area) you can save a bit by specifying that carrier and not requesting the liftgate.
Click to expand...

I don't know if NCM allows specification of the carrier but that's a pretty bold move too. Watch them pull up to your driveway with that one non-liftgate truck that they have in the fleet.
 
Bobby,
You have to request lift gate service from R&L, but there is no additional charge for that service. There is a residential charge, though.
An individual is unlikely to receive much of a discount from any Ltl carrier. The savings from the lift gate would probably be offset by the higher rates charged to one individual as opposed to the discounted shipping rate of the supplier of the grain.
 
Figuring in $5/bag shipping, 2-row about $32, Maris Otter about $45, German Pils about $40 for 55# bags.

For comparison, I paid $70 plus tax for a bag of Maris Otter and $45 plus tax for a bag of 2-row from Austin Homebrew a few months back. I was going to shell out about $65 plus tax for a bag of German Pils but then the Austin bulk buy was organized by Ed which saved me some serious cash. ;)
 
Our order had 4 pallets, and it was ~ $27/sack of 2-row shipped. I'm not sure how much more 4 pallets saved us VS 1 pallet, but I don't think it was a whole lot - a penny or two / lb I think.
 
Bobby_M said:
I don't know if NCM allows specification of the carrier but that's a pretty bold move too. Watch them pull up to your driveway with that one non-liftgate truck that they have in the fleet.
Click to expand...

Like I said, in my area all of R&L's trucks have liftgates. For the past year and a half I've been doing all the ordering of homebrew supplies from three different wholesalers for my LHBS (I work there part time). If we specify a liftgate, the shipper will charges us the extra $40 and if the carrier doesn't charge them then they pocket the $40. Two of the three wholesale suppliers allow us to specify a carrier so we specify R&L without mentioning a liftgate and they have never shown up without one. That might not be true at all of R&L's distribution hubs, but it has held true in my area.
 
Lil' Sparky said:
Our order had 4 pallets, and it was ~ $27/sack of 2-row shipped. I'm not sure how much more 4 pallets saved us VS 1 pallet, but I don't think it was a whole lot - a penny or two / lb I think.
Click to expand...

2 pallets saves you $1.10 per sack.
4 pallets saves you $2.20 per sack.

However, each pallet is obviously an additional shipping charge.

Where it gets tricky is when you have 42 sacks committed and you get a few more people who want a few more sacks. You have to decide if you want to cut off at one full palette for the better pricing or more the merrier.
 
I am for the sticky. I got in on my first buy and didn't know the ettiquette.
 
Bobby_M said:
2 pallets saves you $1.10 per sack.
4 pallets saves you $2.20 per sack.

However, each pallet is obviously an additional shipping charge.

Where it gets tricky is when you have 42 sacks committed and you get a few more people who want a few more sacks. You have to decide if you want to cut off at one full palette for the better pricing or more the merrier.
Click to expand...

Yep, small savings per bag for extra pallets, but shipping stays the same as it is a flat rate per pallet. The order must be for full pallets though. Our shipping costs came to $2.47 per bag.
 
So, who is everyone using for a bulk grain supplier? Do you go through a local brewery, brewpub, u-brew, or have an account with a malt distro? Is it possible for just a regular person to get an account set up with a distributor, or do you need to have a business license?
 
I go through an online store, why? Because I cannot use a pallet of grain and there is simply no way to organize a bulk buy here in Indy. My LHBS is deplorable when it comes to pricing, I have never approached a craft brewer here about buying with them.
 

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