Malt(Golden Promise) price

[IslandLizard]

How I buy it, 55 pounds every 6 weeks or so LOL and a 50 pound sack of Victory once a year, 50 pounds of 2-row for IPA's, 55 pounds of Belgian Pilsner for Belgian ales... I have 12 5 gallon buckets of various malts, 2 of them hold 10 pounds of specialty malts like UK Extra Dark Crystal(160l)

If you find a more reasonable source, it's worth buying a year's supply at a time. Cool and dry storage (like 3/4 of your seasons are), is all you need. You can probably stock up for 2 years if you're desperate. I leave mine in the original bags. I "found" half a sack of 2-row that was over 3 years old. Worked great!

 

[bassmang4]

Just throwing in my 2¢.
My LHBS sells TF Golden Promise at 3.95 CAD/kg (1.80CDN/lb) or $69CDN/sack.

That is a good price. That comes out to about what...$11 USD per sack?

 

[Calder]

YIKES that has gone up since I last ordered it 4 months ago! $10 higher from NB who is my cheapest source when you add in shipping...

Last time I got grain from NB, I noticed the price hike too. This was not Golden Promise, but basic 2-row. They also seem to have inflated shipping costs too.

I've bought my bulk grain from them for a while, and they were the cheapest for me for a while (20% discount + 17% savings on gift card), but the inflated shipping and now the $10 increase in almost all grain, no longer makes them the cheapest. InBev seems to be trying to push the profit margins. For me they pushed too far and I'm not buying from them again.

MoreBeer with $11 shipping (for me for a full bag) easily beats NB even trying to figure the cheapest product (20% off sale + gift card savings).

Prices on things go up over time. That’s life. Gas isn’t $1.12 a gallon anymore. I’m lucky that I live a couple miles from a NB so no shipping. But here’s a NB tip. Buy the gift cards when they do the get $20 when you buy a $100 card. Then buy sacks when they do a 20% off your order or one item sale. I’ve only paid w gift cards at NB for a good year and a half. It came up when there and the local guys didn’t care at all. They said - that’s smart.

Yes, I used to do it that way, and it was the cheapest (easiest) way to buy grain for a few years. But they have pushed their grain prices and inflated their shipping prices, and they no longer are attractive (price wise), even with the gimmicks.

For me in Southern Ohio, it is cheaper to get a bag of grain shipped from MoreBeer at their standard prices vs NB with a 20% sale , and the 17% discount for using Gift Cards.

 

[MaryB]

I need to make the 250 mile round rip into the Twin Cities and do a bulk buy... maybe in Dec when I have some money coming in...grab 6 sacks of GP, 2 victory, 2 2 row... Simpsons GP blows away the others I have tried. Ordered 10 pounds from Ritebrew to see if quality was any better... still looked like bottom of the grain silo sweepings... dusty, dirty and full of debris. Pass! I cleaned it best I could and lost 1/2 pound to trash.

 

[MaryB]

Yeah but shipping kills it! If they even ship to the USA!

That sack price is more like it!

 

[madscientist451]

This thread reminds me of why we no longer grow malting barley on our farm. Cash prices in this region are currently around $7.00/cwt ($.07/lb). A 55 lb bag of malt would contain $3.85 worth of barley. The rest is processing, packaging, transportation, and markup.

Seven cents a pound, with average yields, is almost a break even proposition. Planting a crop which has almost no chance of showing a profit is known as "recreational agriculture". Good for an investor looking for a tax shelter, not so good for a full time, for profit farm.

Mark

The above is why we are now seeing some small, farm-based specialty maltsters. If they sell base malt for $40/bag, there's a pretty big margin available.

 

[IslandLizard]

I need to make the 250 mile round rip into the Twin Cities and do a bulk buy... maybe in Dec when I have some money coming in...grab 6 sacks of GP, 2 victory, 2 2 row... Simpsons GP blows away the others I have tried. Ordered 10 pounds from Ritebrew to see if quality was any better... still looked like bottom of the grain silo sweepings... dusty, dirty and full of debris. Pass! I cleaned it best I could and lost 1/2 pound to trash.

250 miles sounds very doable. Our group buy is only an 80 mile RT for me, I go once or twice a year.

Make sure to pre-order/call your supplier well, well ahead (2-3 weeks), so they can order it from their distributor, while allowing enough time for getting it delivered. Then double check they actually got your full order in hand before venturing out.

Unless your supplier's shop is very large, I doubt they keep enough stock for those kinds of orders at any time.

Don't forget to negotiate a bulk discount before ordering anything. I'm serious, 10 sacks is a fairly big order.

I hear you on the Simpsons GP, I would not want anyone else's GP either.

Sad to hear your TF from Ritebrew was so dust and dirt laden again. 1/2 a pound of debris in a 10# order is totally ridiculous and inexcusable! There's no good reason for that. You should talk to them about that.

I just checked the bottom of a half used sack of TF Optic, it's clean as can be. I found one 1 inch twig in it, and a little bit of clean grain dust.

 

[MaryB]

I buy from Northern Brewer, living in MN they end up cheapest when shipping is added in... I should see what SpeeDee Delivery would charge to pick it up and deliver it... they can be pretty cheap on large items.