Hey brewers. I was wondering when ingredients are bought in bulk from our brew supply stores are they cheaper than buying kits? I’m starting to put together some recipies and have never bought anything but kits. As I brew more I need to consider cost as most of us do. Any thoughts or input is welcome. By the way my Witbier went into the fermenter and is doing great if anyone remembers my quandry. Lol... Cheers
Bulk ingredients
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Many LHBSs have reasonable prices on base malts by the sack and hops by the pound. Certainly better than their normal unit prices. Some even offer lower prices with 5 or 10 lb. bags of grains and 6 to 8 oz. bags of hops. You just need to shop a bit and talk to your LHBS about being competitive at certain quantity levels. Most will be more flexible if you show them you can beat their prices but want to keep your business local.
Yes, bulk is cheaper, but do you really want to do that?
I recently bought 5 lbs of hops for $56. That is about 75 cents an ounce. But do you want to store this amount of hops in your freezer?
I buy grain in bulk. I get base grain about 80 cents a pound, and specialty grain about $1.25. It can be bought cheaper if you try. I buy base grain in 50 lb sacks, and specialty in 5 to 10 lbs lots.
Extract: I look to get LME about $2 per lb. I used to buy 33 lbs packs from my LHBS for about $30, but have found sales on-line have let me buy LME for the same or lower and have it delivered to me house.
Yeast - I re-use yeast; probably buy a new yeast once a year. I use 6 or 7 different yeasts in a year.
So, if you want to buy bulk, it does make it cheaper, but are you prepared to store it?
I recently bought 5 lbs of hops for $56. That is about 75 cents an ounce. But do you want to store this amount of hops in your freezer?
I buy grain in bulk. I get base grain about 80 cents a pound, and specialty grain about $1.25. It can be bought cheaper if you try. I buy base grain in 50 lb sacks, and specialty in 5 to 10 lbs lots.
Extract: I look to get LME about $2 per lb. I used to buy 33 lbs packs from my LHBS for about $30, but have found sales on-line have let me buy LME for the same or lower and have it delivered to me house.
Yeast - I re-use yeast; probably buy a new yeast once a year. I use 6 or 7 different yeasts in a year.
So, if you want to buy bulk, it does make it cheaper, but are you prepared to store it?
Sure thats out of my scope really. I was talking about buying by the pound. I think, and I need to double check, that my nearest brew shop has bins which I can scoop out 2.5lbs of this 4.5lbs of that. I realize yeast and lme etc. are packaged products which cost what the manufacturer charges plus profit for the shop. I want to buy ingredients for my own small batches, not truck loads.
applescrap
Be the ball!
I buy my 2 row and hops in bulk. This will save you money, but unless you buy a lot of different types of grains, you will have to adjust recipes, or brew to the style of grain. I just adjust most recipes to my base grain and buy the small amounts usually required of specialty grains. I buy yeast but reusing could save money. Sometimes I will get Munich or vienna if needed or whatever but mostly adjust. Haha, I am wondering if kits are worth the ease. Most the cheaper kits are also cheaper to brew. The price difference seems less. You start to learn which brews cost more or less. Something like a lager with just 2 row and a couple oz of hops will cost very little to brew, for example. Best of luck.
You asked about buying in bulk. Buying by the lb is not buying in bulk.
