Houston Group Grain Buy #5

[TX-Jeff]

I hope someone with a little experience is willing to step up, I really want to get in on one of these group buys.

 

[mikesr71]

i work over at b&s brewers guild in seabrook....we also have a wharehouse with a forklift and dock...

 

[digitalhifi]

mikesr71, so are you saying you would be interested in putting an order in for a group buy? Because that would be pretty rad.

 

[barrooze]

mikesr71, so are you saying you would be interested in putting an order in for a group buy? Because that would be pretty rad.

Indeed it would!

 

[mikesr71]

i would have to talk with management...i know we already sell alot of our stuff in whole bags at a pretty good discount... a 55 lbs bag of 2 row would be 64.98 as opposed to 1.99 a pound

 

[barrooze]

i would have to talk with management...i know we already sell alot of our stuff in whole bags at a pretty good discount... a 55 lbs bag of 2 row would be 64.98 as opposed to 1.99 a pound

I guess the discount is relative. I can order a 55# sack of 2-row from a MN HBS and get it for cheaper, even after paying for their freight costs. What made this Group Buy awesome was that we could get sacks at HALF that price.

If the new management of B&S have no issue with helping facilitate a Group Buy, that would be just amazingly awesome, especially since most of us would probably buy some specialty grains, and other doo-dads when we get to the shop. If not, I completely understand since they are in the business to make money.

 

[mikesr71]

Im pretty sure she would be up for it assuming it was atleast a pallets worth....which i believe is atleast ten bags? idk i used to work at a feed store and they would ship those in 40 50 lbs bags....i will talk to my manager about the idea but it might take around a week to get a response cuz she will have to shoot the idea to the owners

 

[barrooze]

That'd be really cool. A pallet is 42 sacks, according to the Country Malt Group, but don't know if that's who you'd use. Last time we filled up 2 pallets.

 

[mredge73]

B&S has new management?
You guys are right down the road from me yet I do not go often due to a previous experience of paying high prices for stale grain.
Facilitating a group buy will earn you new customers for minimum effort.
There is no risk in this nor is there any warehousing cost because everyone pre-pays and picks up promptly.
If you drop your profit margin to 15% or lower you can still pay your staff and light bill for the pick up day.
I would gladly pay 15% markup opposed to 250% markup.

 

[mikesr71]

i will try to talk management into it, i've only been working here about a month....i open every weekday, come stop by and say hi, have a sample or two

 

[Crito]

If a store did do a group buy. Add a processing fee of 10 bucks each pallet. 400 bucks of profit for LHBS. Just do full sacks and no split orders.

 

[HBrew71]

If a store did do a group buy. Add a processing fee of 10 bucks each pallet. 400 bucks of profit for LHBS. Just do full sacks and no split orders.

DO NOT ADD ANYTHING TO THE PRICE OF THE GRAIN FOR PROFIT. Not even a cent. The forum moderator will shut this thread down in a heartbeat. Trust me, he has done it before.

 

[mikesr71]

OK nvm I don't wanna get In trouble

 

[HBrew71]

OK nvm I don't wanna get In trouble

I don't mean to scare you away ... I hope you still try to arrange the group buy ... it benefits a lot of us. You just can't do it for a profit.

 

[mredge73]

Better to figure the cost of the service and charge for that? Wouldn't that be an acceptable charge, maybe not?
Employees have to be paid and lights have to be kept on.
He is asking for $21 an hour assuming that it will take 20 hours of work (guessing 2 guys at 10 hours each).
Still a bit high but not unreasonable.

Just a suggestion; hopefully it is not a violation to forum rules.
I am not in the mood to argue it; but I am in favor of cheap grain 10 minutes from my house.

 

[barrooze]

All, here are the rules for Group Buys. They can be found here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f174/group-buy-forum-rules-232534/

Group Buy Rules

Only ingredient group buys are allowed on HBT unless you are an HBT registered Vendor.

Exact price from retailer must be posted in thread and cost must be exact, no up charge for putting together group buys or expense fee of any sort.

Pickup of ingredients from group buy must be local, no shipping to people participating allowed.

Retailer of ingredients is not allowed to be active in thread unless they are an HBT Vendor.

Group buy must be organically started by a well established HBT member. Anyone working for or affiliated with the retailer will not be allowed. Attempting to do commercial/vendor/profit sales fronting as a Group Buy will result in banning and having company blacklisted from HBT.

HBT is in no way responsible for Group Buys and cannot help or assist in a dispute. Buyer beware!

What this means is that if B&S would like to help us out, a worker there can put the group buy together and the only thing going on at B&S is picking up the grain. If B&S wants to be more involved and wants to charge a surcharge, it must be done outside of this forum.

 

[shawnbou]

I'm in Austin but would be interested in getting in on a group buy. Subscribing.

 

[Crito]

I'm in Austin but would be interested in getting in on a group buy. Subscribing.

I thought Austin homebrew shop (hbt vendor) had bulk grain at their store for cheap? Since they do not add shipping cost to their in store products.

 

[Budvar]

Subscribed. Give me a deal I can't refuse and I will buy.

 

[barrooze]

Subscribed. Give me a deal I can't refuse and I will buy.

If you want to organize and front the funds, we can get this thing started again! Is that the sort of deal you thinking of? :cross:

 

[Budvar]

I don't have any in's on the malting industry. I'm fine with a LBS coordinating the buy if they're willing to give us Market Price vs. Retail. We can discuss the terms through a different channel.

 

[alohanole]

I've been waiting for a group buy. I'm in for the next one!

 

[Jupapabear]

Any thought in putting this together?

 

[soopagloo]

I'm good for 5 sacks if we can make this happen.

 

[tracyk]

Any news on the group grain buy. If it get puts together I would have several brewers from the Lake Jackson area that would be interested. I would also be purchasing 5 sacks of grain.

 

[barrooze]

Any news on the group grain buy. If it get puts together I would have several brewers from the Lake Jackson area that would be interested. I would also be purchasing 5 sacks of grain.

I've decided I'm going to stop running the grain buys. Sorry for those that are looking forward to the next one, but it's too much of an effort to continue.

tracyk, as per schaez's post from 7-08-2013, he stopped coordinating the Group Buy. No one has since volunteered to restart it, so until that happens, this Houston Group Buy is dead in the water. This is a huge city. I'm sure someone will be able to get it started again, but that someone has yet to step forward. I personally don't have the spare time (or requisite Tax ID) to get it going again. I'm sure someone out there fits the bill, and could likely get coached by others who've coordinated them in the past to make sure they have everything they need to continue this awesome opportunity for affordable grain.

 

[tracyk]

Yeah, had I known that was going to be the last time schaez was doing the group buy I would have purchased a whole lot more grain. Oh well, hindsight is great. Maybe someone with a Tas ID# can get this going again. It just chaps me to spend $60 bucks on 2-Row for a bag of grain.

 

[BrentJ]

I know this has gone cold but I'm chasing a group buy or reasonable bulk grain in Houston too. Where is the best place for a sack of 2 row in Houston if we can't get a group buy going?

 

[barrooze]

I know this has gone cold but I'm chasing a group buy or reasonable bulk grain in Houston too. Where is the best place for a sack of 2 row in Houston if we can't get a group buy going?

I think somewhere in this thread someone said Beerfoot down in Galveston was selling sacks of 2-row fairly cheap. I'd call to verify before making the trek to the island.

Anyone want to start it back up that wants to get an account??

 

[Jupapabear]

I am down to join the group buy and help out as much as I can if someone could take the lead.

 

[Jupapabear]

Does anyone know what they mean by Tax ID. I run a restaurant where I could use my Tax ID, but I'm not sure if that is enough.

 

[mredge73]

Your restaurant Tax ID should work fine. I don't believe they sell to new home brewers anymore; but since you own a restaurant you could probably convince them that you have a brewery on the premises. I doubt that they will check up on it.

 

[barrooze]

Sneaky sneaky! I like it!

 

[Jupapabear]

Ok. With some guidance I could take over. Where do we start?

 

[TexanBrewGater]

I would get in touch with schaez and see if he would be willing to give you some guidance. I was in three previous group buys (different name) and the spreadsheet he developed was a great tool. then I would create a new "Houston Group Grain Buy #6" and post a link to it here and maybe in all of the previous group buy threads. That would email anyone subscribed to those previous buys who might be interested, like me, and kick start the new one. Just some thoughts...

 

[Jupapabear]

I've checked country malts site, and unless I have a brewery or a homebrew/grain store, I doubt my tax id will be sufficient. I will check with them after I get in contact with others that have experience with cm. I'm interested and okay with the work involved. Once I have some contacts, price sheet, and account with country malts I will move forward with creating a new thread and collecting orders.

 

[barrooze]

I believe the hardest thing was getting the account setup with CMC. Once Schaez did that, the rest was pretty much just getting people to commit to sacks. I don't think there will be any issue in getting people to commit to sacks as we haven't had a Houston Group Buy for over a year and I know people are either out or running REALLY low on grain! Let me know if there's anything I can help you with.

 

[tracyk]

I would love it if there were a group grain buy. Let me know where we stand on this.

 

[tracyk]

Yeah, Country Malt has made it difficult for the homebrewer to get sacks of grain at a reduced rate. I check with them a few months back and could not get the LHBS in Houston to sign the contract with me as they do not order anything from Country Malt. Good luck on your endevour Jupapabear. I definitely hope it works out.

 

[barrooze]

Yeah, Country Malt has made it difficult for the homebrewer to get sacks of grain at a reduced rate. I check with them a few months back and could not get the LHBS in Houston to sign the contract with me as they do not order anything from Country Malt. Good luck on your endevour Jupapabear. I definitely hope it works out.

Hi, tracyk, which LHBS did you try? There are several now in the Houston area, and at least two in Houston itself. A new one opened recently (Farmboy Brew Shop). I haven't had a chance to stop by, but they they may be receptive to the idea as it will surely bring in new people to their store.