MD/DC grain

[bobberdc]

I didn't notice any Marris-Otter at Kent site. Did I miss it?

 

[stonebrewer]

I didn't notice any Marris-Otter at Kent site. Did I miss it?

The selection is definitely more limited than the prior wholeseller. No Marris Otter and only three maltsters; Briess, Gambrinus and Durst. That said, their prices seem to be around, and in some cases lower, than CMG.

Looks like they are based in Michigan and are about 30 miles further away than the place in NC, so shipping should be about the same.

 

[winterc]

If we're going with Kent, here's my order:

2 X Briess 2row brewers
1 X Briess Red Wheat
1 X Gamb ESB Malt

 

[atjsparty]

The selection is definitely more limited than the prior wholeseller. No Marris Otter and only three maltsters; Briess, Gambrinus and Durst. That said, their prices seem to be around, and in some cases lower, than CMG.

Looks like they are based in Michigan and are about 30 miles further away than the place in NC, so shipping should be about the same.

I believe shipping was from the NY location. NC only shipped to VA, so it would likely be more.

 

[TMaccius]

I've never participated in a group buy before, but it sounds like a great idea -- even though it would have been great to get in before the latest developments. I'd be in for a bag of Briess 2-row and a bag of Gambrinus ESB.

 

[res291que]

Any idea when or if we are going to place an order, trying to plan some up coming brew days, need to decide if I am going to pay the extra couple bucks so I can get things underway or if waiting a few weeks.

 

[stonebrewer]

Any idea when or if we are going to place an order, trying to plan some up coming brew days, need to decide if I am going to pay the extra couple bucks so I can get things underway or if waiting a few weeks.

I would give it a week. Stefin is still mulling it over I think and others may be working on options as well. That said, if you gotta brew, then brew on! I am pretty set with grains for a month or two, but am gonna want to order before the end of March, early April to ensure I have what I need...there were a lot of people on the last order as it was at 84 sacks and others came in after the cut off...

 

[claphamsa]

I would give it a week. Stefin is still mulling it over I think and others may be working on options as well. That said, if you gotta brew, then brew on! I am pretty set with grains for a month or two, but am gonna want to order before the end of March, early April to ensure I have what I need...there were a lot of people on the last order as it was at 84 sacks and others came in after the cut off...

im kinda waiting for the hivemind to decide what the best option is... loldura said he has important news... then didnt post it. so well see.

 

[sweetcell]

loldura said he has important news... then didnt post it. so well see.

i believe he posted this morning that he'll share it tonight (Monday), so he has a few more hours before we can complain. but if he hasn't shared his big news by sunrise i'm grabbing my pitchfork.

 

[stonebrewer]

So I have been in touch with a LHBS that is willing to cut us a deal on pallets of grain. Before I waste anyone's time with details, I will wait until tomorrow to see what lordura comes up with NCM because we won't see cheaper than they CAN give us, but it remains to be seen what they WILL give us for a new deal. There are a lot of people looking at this from different angles, so in the end we should be able to get something going again.

If we were to deal with the LHBS, I would want to get an order together in a week or two. I would be able to do the first pickup or two, but eventually we would need some other folks to pitch in to haul grain from the LHBS to where we distribute. People with vans or trucks would be needed. I have a small bed on my truck so I am not sure if I can get more than a pallet on there. The prices quoted me were reasonable, though more than we paid before. I also need to see if they included tax, as that will make a difference of 6%. I don't want to step on toes and I am happy with Stefin running this group. Just trying to pay it forward a little, if we need to go this route...Also, I only contacted one LHBS so if we want to try this route, I would probably contact others to get the best price or to get multiple suppliers. If we do this, we could also pick up other things like yeast or specialty grains, so it may save time and help the LHBS as well. Anyone who helps us, we should help in return.

 

[masonsjax]

As long as we've got some time to kill, I might as well venture slightly off topic...
Are any of you in the area cutting hop rhizomes this year? I'm thinking about getting some plants started at my new place.

 

[atjsparty]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f174/s...-preorder-info-coming-soon-398454/index2.html

 

[claphamsa]

So I have been in touch with a LHBS that is willing to cut us a deal on pallets of grain. Before I waste anyone's time with details, I will wait until tomorrow to see what lordura comes up with NCM because we won't see cheaper than they CAN give us, but it remains to be seen what they WILL give us for a new deal. There are a lot of people looking at this from different angles, so in the end we should be able to get something going again.

If we were to deal with the LHBS, I would want to get an order together in a week or two. I would be able to do the first pickup or two, but eventually we would need some other folks to pitch in to haul grain from the LHBS to where we distribute. People with vans or trucks would be needed. I have a small bed on my truck so I am not sure if I can get more than a pallet on there. The prices quoted me were reasonable, though more than we paid before. I also need to see if they included tax, as that will make a difference of 6%. I don't want to step on toes and I am happy with Stefin running this group. Just trying to pay it forward a little, if we need to go this route...Also, I only contacted one LHBS so if we want to try this route, I would probably contact others to get the best price or to get multiple suppliers. If we do this, we could also pick up other things like yeast or specialty grains, so it may save time and help the LHBS as well. Anyone who helps us, we should help in return.

would be thrilled for someone else to do it

 

[stonebrewer]

would be thrilled for someone else to do it

I figured you would as it seems to be a royal pain in the rear for you. Not looking forward to it myself...

OK so next steps...I will contact a few more LHBS and see if anyone else wants to give us a deal. The LHBS I have contacted will sell us Briess 2 row for $41.18 a sack. That's within a buck of what we were paying with shipping. Muntons MO is $57.17 for 55 lbs, which I think is in the same ballpark I paid for this 2 buys back, but I haven't really checked. I have a complete price list which I can upload somewhere if you are interested. PM me and I will get it to you. I also have to talk to Stefin about the logistics of this as he did it, lessons learned, etc. And I have to talk to SWMBO about it as well. If you can help out from time to time to pick up the load up, please PM me as well.

 

[Sshamash]

Hey there, new to the area and would love to get in on an order if this works out. Let me know if I can and what I'd need to do.

Thanks!

Saul

 

[sweetcell]

stonebrewer, i'm happy to help with loading/unloading/moving. depending where the LHBS is, might make sense to get some volunteers over there and then i can help unload at your place (if that's where we need to move the stuff to).

let's be sure to make things as smooth as possible for the LHBS by asking them what they do and don't want... can we order 42 different kinds of malt, or would they prefer that we limit ourselves to just a few? can we pick up at the shop (and use their parking lot) or do they want us to remove everything ASAP and distribute somewhere else? etc...

 

[stonebrewer]

Yep...been in touch with them and working all out. Also trying to get discounts on yeast and hops, not wholesale, but it is more a convenience thing. So when I/we pick up grain, we can snag other things from a list I will supply as well. Makes it convenient and helps the guys helping us. A work in progress, but I think we can get somewhere soon. Stay tuned for details as I get them.

 

[Likwid]

hmm rockville that's even further from me these days. I might just have to pick a date once year and stock up.

 

[stonebrewer]

Yeah, I am about 15-20 minutes from Stefin, right off 270. Have coworkers in Waldorf who might be willing to help you out...can ask.

Update: no tax on grain or other brewing ingredients, so we are looking at the prices above that are pretty good, IMHO.

 

[Likwid]

Yeah, I am about 15-20 minutes from Stefin, right off 270. Have coworkers in Waldorf who might be willing to help you out...can ask.

Update: no tax on grain or other brewing ingredients, so we are looking at the prices above that are pretty good, IMHO.

I use to live in gaithersberg for some time. I even worked at the dave and busters in Bethesda during my teen years.

If thay can that would be very cool.

 

[Barnesie]

I wonder of it would be worth it for us Northern VA folks to try and splinter off to one of our LHBS or microbreweries.

I'm fine paying over wholesale to a shop or business if we get a decent rate below retail, but I'm not sure how far I'd want to drive just to save a few bucks off of a sack.

If it takes me over 2 hours to save $10, I'd just prefer to pay the $10.

 

[stonebrewer]

If you guys want, I can hook you up with the same info I get once I have it all together. I can make it to Manassas in 35 minutes from Rockville, so from Fairfax you should have about an hour round trip tops on a weekend. If you were going to Stefin's before I am probably as close and you don't have to deal with the part of 495 I hate the most. Either way works for me...

 

[Sheldon]

I am a fairly regular at Jay's and he has offered me bags of 2 row for about 43. I am going there Friday and will talk to him about doing mini bulk orders/bags for us in commuting area. Let me know if anyone is interested so I have an idea as to how many might be involved.

Sheldon

 

[stonebrewer]

I am a fairly regular at Jay's and he has offered me bags of 2 row for about 43. I am going there Friday and will talk to him about doing mini bulk orders/bags for us in commuting area. Let me know if anyone is interested so I have an idea as to how many might be involved.

Sheldon

I have contacted him and he is one of the two LHBS that I am dealing with. If you want to take on the responsibility of doing this that is fine with me. I have two LHBS talking to me about bulk purchases but I am no means wanting to do this if someone else wants to. I was just trying to fill the gap until something else happened. Derek seems to be a good guy and if you can get better prices then rock on!

 

[hustlebird]

Stone, are you talking to myLHBS? I mentioned to them a while back I would be intrested in a group buy, but he has just shrugged me off saying i could spend the $50 a bag he offers it at.

 

[Sheldon]

Stonebrewer

since you already initiated discussion, please go ahead and continue. Derek is an easy going dude and I am sure he will work with us. I am a bit under the weather now (Bronchitis) and have coughing fits when I try to talk. I can follow up after you get things established.

Sheldon

 

[Barnesie]

MyLHBS would be the most convenient for me personally, but that store is so small I would understand them not wanting to deal with handling a palate of orders for customers that might take their time to pickup.

It's also hard to convince someone to undercut their existing prices as a favor.

 

[Olive Drab]

I am a fairly regular at Jay's and he has offered me bags of 2 row for about 43. I am going there Friday and will talk to him about doing mini bulk orders/bags for us in commuting area. Let me know if anyone is interested so I have an idea as to how many might be involved.

Sheldon

Im interested. I contacted the shop in Fredericksburg and he quoted me fair prices. These arent as cheap as the NCM buy but are cheaper than the new pricing.

 

[dcHokie]

MyLHBS would be the most convenient for me personally, but that store is so small I would understand them not wanting to deal with handling a palate of orders for customers that might take their time to pickup.

It's also hard to convince someone to undercut their existing prices as a favor.

myLHBS has a second unit in that strip mall that they use as storage, so it might be possible, if they are willing....

 

[stonebrewer]

I have Annapolis and Jay's giving me prices. Should have the list from Derek tonight and will post both. They are both pretty far for me to drive to pickup the bulk of the grains, but I am willing to do it at least a few times to see how it goes. I don't think either of them want to deal with hassles of a lot of us coming to the shop at different times to get the grain. I think they want to get it and have it picked up quickly so as to not eat up their space. They both seem willing to work with us, so some exceptions to that may be made but if we make this too hard on them then I think they will not want to deal with it. We may have to pay up front, but I can take care of that as long as I get paid back on pickup. We are going to save in the neighborhood of $10 a sack on 2-row and pils over most retail prices, so if it is worth it to enough people, we can move forward with this soon. I am thinking first buy would start as soon as I get the price sheets from Derek. We will have to decide if we want to use one LHBS or both, I prefer to have two sources just in case something were to happen like what just did. I would run it just like Stefin: first come, first served until we hit 40 or 80 sacks. Pay via paypal or cash. No markup, no fees, pay for just grain. No tax on grain as it is considered food. If you want to chip in on gas, or want to make the run to the LHBS for pickup, or want to bring samples of your handiwork, that would be welcomed but not required. I have asked for a price list of things like hops and yeast, thinking it would be nice to get everything at once and since someone is running to the LHBS to get the grains, why not pickup other things we all need. This might make the one trip a little easier if you also don't have to go to the LHBS as well as the bulk grain pickup. I would schedule the pickup either Friday night or Sat. morning so that people could pick up on the weekend. I don't have storage like Stefin, so you are going to have to come get stuff Sat. or Sun. as I will have it in my garage and need to put my cars there, brew there, etc. I did not approach either myLHBS or the Columbia guy as I don't think either would be interested based on my previous dealings with them (could be wrong). myLHBS is actually the closest one to me and I think Columbia is second closest. Doh! Annapolis already has discounts for multiple sacks (we are getting a much better deal though!) and Jay's has discounts as well for regular customers. I am waiting for his price list and then I will put both out for all to download. We will be able to get things like Candi and PBW in bulk as well, but I think we start with grain and go from there. Hopefully we will have more info tonight. Cheers!