Buying Bulk Ingredients

[jyeary90]

I just started homebrewing and I want to make it a regular weekly/biweekly event because beer is one of my passions in life and I love the process of brewing. Anyways my question to all of yall is if I want to start brewing on a regular basis, which ingredients should I look to be buying in bulk, and what are the typical expiration dates on such ingredients? Also do you have any suggestions on specific brands, or does it not matter? Just for reference I want to brew an Oktoberfest, a Belgian Tripel, and a Dunkelweiss somewhere down the line, if that helps.

 

[prrriiide]

You might try finding a local home brew club. I know the one here in E. TN does what they call a BAMO (Big A$$ Malt Order) every so often. You might get a much better price going in with a group.

Here is a good place to start. I don't think any of the Ohio clubs are near you; the one near Toledo's web site is defunct.

There are quite a few up around Detroit, though. Also, the Muskrat Mashers are in Monroe, just up the road from Toledo. They have a forum on their web site, and it looks like they have a good relationship with Titgemeier's.

Hope that helps.

 

[ILuvIPA]

Data from Briess says their DME (LME or DME) is best used within 24 mos. Air & light will hasten the demise, liquid will darken with age, dry is more stable in that respect.

Liquid yeast best used within 6 mos of manuf. . .viability drops over that time, best stored as cold as possible without freezing (Wyeast recommends 34 degree storage.) Although you will read reports of older smack packs still getting the job done. My thought is, as liquid yeast ages, starters become more important.

Hops are volatile in all forms but pellets lose volatile oils slower that leaf or plug. Everything I've read says keep your hops in the freezer. I'm buying 6 mos. out on pellets/freezer. . .although it's an arbitrary number. They'll still be good after a year, just not as high in IBU.

Grains go fast if you buy them crushed. Uncrushed they are stable. Buy uncrushed and use a rolling pin or buy a mill. If you're brewing extract your grain supply will be fairly small so keep them uncrushed/freezer.

What to buy bulk? DME, dry yeast, hops, grain. Just my .02

 

[todda00]

There is a Toledo club that meets once a month, and I know they do a bulk grain order every few months. I just got on their email list last month and couldn't go to their latest meeting which was on 4/23. I can give you the email of the guy that facilitates it so you can get on the email list if you want, just PM me and I can give it to ya.

I am in Toledo too, and am looking at doing a hop order pretty soon if you want to get in on that - I'll probably order from http://www.hopsdirect.com/ unless I find a better deal. If I get a few people together and gather a list of what everyone wants I will compile it all and we can do a group order. That way we can even do 1/2 or 1/4 pounds on some of the more less used hops and still get the same discount. Its just an idea I'm toying with right now, seeing if there would be enough interest.

 

[JJL]

IMHO I would suggest buying base malts and hops pellets in bulk, if you brew all grain or part mash. If you brew extract, then buy DME and Hops pellets in bulk. Keep in mind though, DME in bulk still isn't that cheap. If you are brewing as much as you say you are going to, you aren't going to have to worry much about shelf life. Buy grains unmilled and they will likely last a year or so. Just make sure you keep them dry or they will grow mold. Hops supposedly start to deteriorate after about 6 months, but I've heard of guys who swear they can keep them stored for up to 2 years. Either way, the keys are to buy pellets instead of leaf, keep them in the freezer in an air tight container. You will likely need to buy a vaccuum sealing machine. Bulk DME will last for at least a year. Just keep it dry because it essentially sugar and will turn to concrete if it gets wet. Other than that +1 on hopsdirect. I have heard that mid-country is a good place to buy bulk DME. Grains are usually best to buy from your LHBS since shipping costs are usually expensive for bulk items. The only other thing to buy in bulk might be a particular specialty grain you use a lot. Some places will give you price breaks in 5lb or 10lb quantities on these.

 

[hal2814]

You may want to brew all the time but then find out life has other plans. You may burn out. You may indeed start brewing weekly/bi-weekly like you intend. You may even end up brewing more often than that. It's hard to tell when you first start out. You'll get a better idea of how often you'll brew when the shiny wears off of brewing. Until then, take things one batch at a time.

My rule of thumb for buying bulk is not to do it until you've already used the bulk volume of whatever you're looking at buying within its shelf life. So for example, don't buy a jerry can of extract until you've used up a jerry can of extract in a 6 month span (my own personal shelf life expectancy for extract). Don't buy a pound of hops until you've used up a pound of that variety of hops in the past year (my shelf life expectancy for hops). Early on, I bought a few things in bulk and got burned on it because a lot of the stuff went bad before I used it up.

The most common bulk purchases are malt extract, base grain (for all-grain and PM brewers), and hops. I think a lot of us just won't go through anything else in bulk quantities in that time span.

Also keep in mind that buying bulk limits your options. For example, I won't make anything right now that doesn't have at least some Saaz or Cascade in it because I still have 1/2lb of each in the freezer that I need to go through.

 

[JJL]

You may want to brew all the time but then find out life has other plans. You may burn out. You may indeed start brewing weekly/bi-weekly like you intend. You may even end up brewing more often than that. It's hard to tell when you first start out. You'll get a better idea of how often you'll brew when the shiny wears off of brewing. Until then, take things one batch at a time.

My rule of thumb for buying bulk is not to do it until you've already used the bulk volume of whatever you're looking at buying within its shelf life. So for example, don't buy a jerry can of extract until you've used up a jerry can of extract in a 6 month span (my own personal shelf life expectancy for extract). Don't buy a pound of hops until you've used up a pound of that variety of hops in the past year (my shelf life expectancy for hops). Early on, I bought a few things in bulk and got burned on it because a lot of the stuff went bad before I used it up.

The most common bulk purchases are malt extract, base grain (for all-grain and PM brewers), and hops. I think a lot of us just won't go through anything else in bulk quantities in that time span.

Also keep in mind that buying bulk limits your options. For example, I won't make anything right now that doesn't have at least some Saaz or Cascade in it because I still have 1/2lb of each in the freezer that I need to go through.

Truer words were never spoken.

 

[Arkador]

I bulk buy my base grain. I buy my bops as needed, as they have a shorter shelf life, and I don't use nearly as much as i do with something like 2row.

 

[smokinghole]

I buy my base grain in bulk and my commonly used IPA hops in bulk. For beers with 2-4 ounces of lower AA hops I just buy them with my specialty grains. Yeast I buy, use, and harvest unless it's a dry yeast. I buy 3lb bags of DME for making starters, and bought a big ass bag of irish moss. So other than base grain, DME for starters, and irish moss I buy as I go (unless I already have the yeast in the fridge).

 

[thelastdandy]

try hopsdirect.com for awesome pricing on bulk hops. they keep pretty well in vacuum packaging in the freezer.

 

[Manfish]

try hopsdirect.com for awesome pricing on bulk hops. they keep pretty well in vacuum packaging in the freezer.

I placed my first order with Hopsdirect.com a couple days ago and my 5# order should be here today. I chose them because I have heard really good things about their products and when I broke down the pricing, holy cow! At my LHBS I have been paying $5 for a 2oz bag of hops (any variety). I am a big fan of Cascade and Willamette, so I will use those as my example of pricing for anyone still not sure about using Hopsdirect.com.

Willamette Hops (pellet)
LHBS: $5 for 2 oz or $2.50/oz
HD: $6.75/pound (+s/h) equals $0.52/oz!
A full savings of $1.98/oz... that's insane!

Cascade Hops (pellets)
LHBS: $5 for 2 oz or $2.50/oz
HD: $8.75/pound (+s/h) equals $0.65/oz!
A full savings of $1.85/oz... that's insane!

My shipping was $8.45 for UPS Ground for 5 pounds, all pellets. I will also say that I just live on the other side of the state from them, so my shipping wasn't all that bad.

When my order gets here today I will be breaking it down to 2oz vacuum bags, labeling and tossing in the freezer.

The biggest price for most of my beers has been the hops. Think about it, if I did an IPA with 6 oz oz of hops, that's $15 alone from my LHBS if I used the same style (vs $3.12 from HD). Gotta love that! You really notice a savings when you start mixing different hops in your brews cause at $5 a 2oz bag, it adds up FAST even if you dont use it all at once, that initial sticker shock can be over whelming.

My 5# order cost me $57.20 (80 oz) vs my LHBS the same amount would be $200! $142.80 savings can go a LOOOOOONG way towards making more beer

Sorry for rambling... just excited about finding HD and looking forward to getting my order today

 

[torque2k]

try hopsdirect.com for awesome pricing on bulk hops. they keep pretty well in vacuum packaging in the freezer.

+1, especially if you have your own vacuum sealer. Buy around the end of the year; they have better pricing on the previous year's crop, and have the new crop available in the more popular American hops varieties (like Centennial, Amarillo, Willamette, Cascade, etc.). They shipped quickly, great pricing, nice foil packaging.

 

[StAnthonyB]

I just started homebrewing and I want to make it a regular weekly/biweekly event because beer is one of my passions in life and I love the process of brewing. Anyways my question to all of yall is if I want to start brewing on a regular basis, which ingredients should I look to be buying in bulk, and what are the typical expiration dates on such ingredients? Also do you have any suggestions on specific brands, or does it not matter? Just for reference I want to brew an Oktoberfest, a Belgian Tripel, and a Dunkelweiss somewhere down the line, if that helps.

As far as ingredients for the beers of the lowlands... Malteries Franco-Belges is your choice for French and Belgian brews.

Follow the link.

http://www.northcountrymalt.com/pages.php?pageid=7

 

[StAnthonyB]

I bulk buy my base grain. I buy my bops as needed, as they have a shorter shelf life, and I don't use nearly as much as i do with something like 2row.

I do buy my base malts in bulk. I agree it is pretty worthless buying 16oz of high alphas when you may only use 1oz or so per 5 gallons. My adjustment for hops, in this case, was to still buy a pound at a time but purchase the lower alpha noble hops since you end up using 4 or 5 times as much. I've discovered it still works out pretty well.