Buying Grains from LHBS

[njnear76]

My LHBS has bins and bins of grain. I have yet to need a grain that they did not have. They also have two corona mills setup for you to use. I do 10 gallon brews so I will spend a good 2 hours there crushing my grain the night before I brew.
Their prices range from $.90 for pale 2-row on up to $2.50 for some of the other grains.
It's all self serve and the hops and yeast are in a walk-in cooler. They have an "open door" system there. You just walk into the back room and into the cooler and get what you need. You don't have to ask for anything. I have had some time where I need a lot of stuff, then I give one of the works a list and he/she will get it for me while I get other stuff.
They are great and they all brew so if you need help, they gave give it to you.

I'm truely blessed to live so close to such a great place.

Yeah. People are more trusting in the mitten. I miss that. Such a place couldn't exist in NJ.

 

[Drunkensatyr]

HomebrewHQ has always treated me great! I walk in, weigh out the grains I need, run them through the mill 2x label the bag and pay for what I used, no rounding. Shoot the breeze with the staff for an hour or so if they are slow then jet. Sorry to hear there are LHBS's that charge to mill your grains. Sounds like time to buy a mill.

 

[SPLASTiK]

Mine only sells specialty in sealed 1lb bags (for $3/lb) as well as 2-Row in 1lb, 10lb and 50lb bags ($2, $15, $48). They have a mill but it's a hand crank you do by yourself, I've never seen a scale but if you asked you'd probably get one to weigh stuff out. I have a mill and scale at home so never needed to use it.

I tend to buy my specialty grain from Larry's in Seattle as I go to Seattle once a month generally and it's pretty close to the airport. Milling is free there I think and you can get any amount you want. A lot of people just take a big sack and toss all the grain they need in it and I think they charge $1.50/lb when you don't seperately bag otherwise base malt is $1/lb and specialty malts are $1-$1.50/lb depending on what you buy. They also have 50/55#lb sacks of base/specialty malt available... Base Malt tends to be around $28-34, specialty $34-40.

 

[bigben]

There are 2 LHBS near me.

One has the grains pre-measured in 1lb bags and they take it in the back and crush it for you. It can be a waste of money if you use a lot of specialty grains and have no way to store it. I only bought from here once.

The other LHBS(It's a little farther and have to pay a $3 toll to get there) lets you measure and crack your own grain. He charges a flat $1.50 per lb, I think. I like that one much better.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

I have two LHBSs too. The closed one doesn't have a crusher though. And I know more than them. There not just a brew shop. More like a make your own foods store with beer included. The one that is a further drive crushes for free. Awesome place.

Free Plug! Niagara Traditions in Tonawanda, NY. http://www.nthomebrew.com/catalog/index.php