LHBS Grain Pricing

[omokoro]

At your LHBS if you only need a fraction of of a pound of a particular grain, say 4 ounces, do they charge you for an entire pound? Is this a common practice?

 

[tv187u]

Never happens here. That sounds like a BS way to run a biz.

 

[Mongrel]

Nope, I can buy 0.01 lb of grain if I really wanted to.

 

[KISS Brew]

At your LHBS if you only need a fraction of of a pound of a particular grain, say 4 ounces, do they charge you for an entire pound? Is this a common practice?

I would not support a business that did this.

 

[rifraf]

Base malts no, specialty grains yes.

 

[xjmox14x]

They charge more, per pound, for a fraction of a pound. In other words, if a pound is $2, and less than a pound is $2.50, and I need half a pound, I'd pay $1.25 as opposed to $1.

 

[ludomonster]

One LHBS sells specialty grains in prepackaged L.D. Carlson bags. If I buy specialty grains, I'll buy it by the pound and save the rest. They also sell 2-Row for $10.60/10lbs. They mill for free so I just plan to use it later. Another one buys specialty grains in bulk and stores them in totes. I just tell him 1/4 lb of this and that, and that's what I get.

 

[kh54s10]

Hmmm? I have only bought at my LHBS by the pound or in bulk. They charge $1/lb for sacks and $2/lb for specialty. At least as far a I have paid attention. They always give me a fair deal so I don't scrutinize too much.

 

[omokoro]

Base malts no, specialty grains yes.

Okay, that's interesting. It doesn't make sense to me, but this is how I was charged. If I were told, 'hey, you may as well get a pound', I would have.

 

[omokoro]

I would not support a business that did this.

In the future, I won't. Since there are local alternatives, that don't have this practice.

 

[neko]

I have not seen this at any of my LHBS. That's like the gas station charging you for 10 gallons when you get 9.5 gallons of gas.

At the stores I've been to if you take 1/4 pound of chocolate malt that's what they charge you.

 

[rifraf]

Okay, that's interesting. It doesn't make sense to me, but this is how I was charged. If I were told, 'hey, you may as well get a pound', I would have.

Ah I should be clear. Base malts he buys in bulk and will sell you what you need. Specialty malts come in prepackaged 1 pound bags. I have him mill what I need for my next recipe and then the rest I seal in a bag unmilled. I have no doubt I can use the extra half pound later.

 

[user 98891]

My LHBS sells you just what you need. I usually just hand them a shopping list, he goes away for a bit and comes back with everything I need for my beer.

 

[neosapien]

I go in, weigh out what i need, put the pounds or fractions of a pound on the barcode, dump it all into a bag, get scanned and pay. I can't fathom being charged for product I'm not actually purchasing.

 

[mb82]

Mine charges more for smaller amounts per oz. But you can order whatever you need. I walk in with my recipe hand it to them, tell them I need it ground fine since I BIAB, and go shopping while I wait.

 

[MississippiSlim]

My LHBS (which aint local since its 2.5 hours away) Sells by whatever you want. Also has better prices than online in alot of cases. Great guy who is really into brewing more than getting rich I think. Brewstock in New Orleans. I highly reccommend the place! He has a website also though he won't be as fast online orders due to it being a small place.

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

There is one here that pre-bags grain. I don't think anything comes in a 4oz bag but a lot of specialty malts sell as little as 1/2lb. Cara-pils only comes 1 pound at a time which is a little annoying sometimes.

Another has big bins of base malts and dispensers of specialty malts. You measure out what you need and then show them your grain bill but they have craptastic scales and craptacular bags that leave me wishing i'd brought my own.

 

[VTDuffman]

Everything at my lhbs comes prepackaged in 1 or 10 lb bags. You can't just buy 1/4 of a specialty malt, but you also don't get charged for any product you don't actually receive.

 

[wormraper]

hellllllllllllllllllll no. my store is all in bulk bins, you just weight out what you want. write down the ounces or lb's on the bag and they charge you. if a specialty grain is $1.80 per pound and I but only get half a pound they charge me 1/2 of $1.80 etc. no way would I pay more for "fractions" that's just stupid.

 

[ktblunden]

hellllllllllllllllllll no. my store is all in bulk bins, you just weight out what you want. write down the ounces or lb's on the bag and they charge you. if a specialty grain is $1.80 per pound and I but only get half a pound they charge me 1/2 of $1.80 etc. no way would I pay more for "fractions" that's just stupid.

That's exactly what mine does.

 

[Frankiesurf]

My LHBS only sells prepackaged Briess grains. You get 1 pound and 5 pound bags only. He does sell 50 lb bags of grain but that is with a preorder only.

His shop is kind of small and he mostly caters to the kit brewers.

I did ask if he planned on selling grains out of bins. He said that he doesn't sell that much and that the grain is only good for a few months or so anyway. Does that make any sense?

 

[Transamguy77]

I'm sure I could get less than a pound of a specialty grain but the price is $1.50-$2 for a pound, at that price why would I get less I'm sure I'll use it in the near future. If I buy 5 or more lbs of a base malt I pay bulk price (I typically buy base in bulk) but if I need MO, or wheat for a specific recipe I'll get it at bulk price.

 

[omokoro]

I'm sure I could get less than a pound of a specialty grain but the price is $1.50-$2 for a pound, at that price why would I get less I'm sure I'll use it in the near future. If I buy 5 or more lbs of a base malt I pay bulk price (I typically buy base in bulk) but if I need MO, or wheat for a specific recipe I'll get it at bulk price.

I don't have a lot space to keep things in bulk. I also don't have a good way of keeping grain fresh, or a grain mill. It's a lot more convenient for me to buy the ingredients for a brew as needed.

 

[mikescooling]

I freeken love my store, I only get to buy min of 1lb at a time. Bags of two row are $38 for 50lbs. Here is the way I look at it; Their are lots of people checking out of 4 regesters in the store and some times it can take a long time to check some people out. Having a to buy a minum makes things go faster. Also, I am a germafobe, I don't like the idea of big bins of things others just touched. Lastly, it is a good way to turn stock so I don't get grain that is a year old. IMHO

 

[ktblunden]

I'm sure I could get less than a pound of a specialty grain but the price is $1.50-$2 for a pound, at that price why would I get less I'm sure I'll use it in the near future. If I buy 5 or more lbs of a base malt I pay bulk price (I typically buy base in bulk) but if I need MO, or wheat for a specific recipe I'll get it at bulk price.

I buy exactly what I need for a recipe and mill it at the store. There's no need to store extra grains I have no immediate use for and until I get my own mill it will remain that way. Plus I weigh out my own grains anyway, so why deal with extra when I don't need to?

 

[Mongrel]

I buy exactly what I need for a recipe and mill it at the store. There's no need to store extra grains I have no immediate use for and until I get my own mill it will remain that way. Plus I weigh out my own grains anyway, so why deal with extra when I don't need to?

Same, and I get to buy 50 lb sacks of base malts, and they just subtract what I take on any given day.

 

[Phunhog]

You know I don't know...I always buy by the pound with the thinking that I will need the grain at some future point, unless it is some really odd grain. Today I bought 3 lb carapils even though I only needed 2.5 lbs. I am sure I can use the 8oz in another beer.

 

[bleme]

hellllllllllllllllllll no. my store is all in bulk bins, you just weight out what you want. write down the ounces or lb's on the bag and they charge you. if a specialty grain is $1.80 per pound and I but only get half a pound they charge me 1/2 of $1.80 etc. no way would I pay more for "fractions" that's just stupid.

This is the way mine used to be (except $1.60/lb) but a few months back he converted to UPC's and now only sells full pounds. Says it is so he can keep track of inventory easier. Seems like it would be easy enough to look in the bins at the end of the week and see what is low but it's his store....

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

Since i have my choice of two extremes, I see it like this:

If i go to The Beer Nut and dodge the aggressively helpful sales staff and jockey for room on the table to measure out my grains, I don't really trust their mechanical scale when i am trying to measure out 6 ounces of something for a complex recipe, and i wonder how far off my measurements are, and whether i'm snowballing to a higher or lower OG than my target. And then i have to remember whether i selected the Breiss or Weyermann when i get to the cash register. And the only bags they have for grain have the strength of a kleenex tissue.

If i go to Art's Brewing Supplies and have an interesting conversation with Art or his lackey while i select my grains, it may turn out that I have to buy a half pound of chocolate malt or a full pound of cara-pils, but i know i will use them eventually and they will keep for a long time in the freezer. They come in relatively strong bags and if i need some really specific small number of ounces of some specialty malt i have a really good digital scale at home. Art's grain is actually cheaper than the beer nut's grain so it turns out it doesn't cost me any more. I just end up storing a few ounces of various specialty malts in the freezer is all.

The proprietors of The Beer Nut are pretty sure they know everything about brewing beer and they know, well, more than i do, but sure have an attitude about it.

Art probably really does know almost everything there is to know about brewing beer and has a huge attitude about it. But somehow it's more endearing when he talks down to me than when the beer nut staff talks down to me.

I haven't tried to buy grain at Salt City Brew Supply. Their staff are more laid back but know as much or less about brewing than i do and sometimes seem to pretend to know stuff they don't know which is only a little annoying because they are open an hour later than Art is, and a half an hour later than the beer nut.

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

This is the way mine used to be (except $1.60/lb) but a few months back he converted to UPC's and now only sells full pounds. Says it is so he can keep track of inventory easier. Seems like it would be easy enough to look in the bins at the end of the week and see what is low but it's his store....

Making someone buy a pound of biscuit malt is unreasonable. He should offer half pound bags of stuff that gets used sparingly. Maybe even quarter pound.

But i understand his unease with inventory control selling out of bins because i know that even when I'm careful i have a hard time measuring out 4 ounces of something, and could easily be over or under. Unless i have access to a good digital scale.

Pricing something like malt is a tricky game because to be competitive you have to keep your profit margin in a range where you are making money but not so much that you drive away your customers, but if you discover that you only managed to get paid for 45 out of 50 pounds of caramel 120 because people overshoot their measurements, that cuts deeply into your profits.