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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!

Looking forward to the pricing breakdown :) Depending on traffic it seems to take me anywhere from 30-50+ minutes to get to like every single homebrew store in the area (although Jay's and Annapolis are the furthest). So I am always making detailed lists and planning ahead. Being able to potentially get some price breaks on other items and getting everything all at once would decrease the overall gas/trip cost and frequency
 
I sent the first price list to everyone who emailed me they were interested in the group buy. Did not get one from Jay yet, but he said it might take until tomorrow to get. I will email out that once I have it. Anyone else who wants the list(s) please PM me.
 
Hey stone, let me know when you get jay's pricing, I'd be interested in getting involved in a buy there, and I'd be happy to bring in as much as my car will carry into the beltway for pickup if that helps anyone else?
 
I don't live too far from myLHBS (I am in the neighborhoods just off 395 and seminary and have a garage that it can be stored if people need to go that route. I am interested in a sack or two myself. Only problem is I have no way to get it to my house (convertables are not made for hauling grain), and the garage is only used for brewing equipment and my motorcycle.
 
I just got the prices from the other LHBS and they are excellent. I will post them up tonight after I get home and let you know how to get them. The selection is a lot more limited, and the maltsters are different, but the prices are about the same as we paid before! I have to go to a going away celebration for one of my coops who is going back to school, so it may be after 9PM before I get to this. Since the two LHBS are offering different grains, I think what I am going to do it try to buy from both each time. Some people are going to want the larger selection, organic grains, specialty grains, etc. that the one store is offering and others are going to want the cheapest 2-row or pils that the other one is offering. I think there is enough demand on this board to get 80 sacks of grain in a short period of time, so that is my going in plan. Subject to change, of course...

After I get the combined list out, I will start a new thread each buy to track what everyone wants. I will start the first thread tonight or tomorrow and we will see how it goes. I will announce a new buy in this thread as people are used to coming here, and will provide a link to the new buy thread. Start looking at your inventory!
 
OK second list is up at the same place. Name is Jays%20Price%20List.pdf so just replace the name of the other list with this and you should be able to get to it. PM me if you can't figure out what I mean. Too tired to send a mass email right now. I will open the buy up tomorrow in another thread.
 
This news about the group buys does suck! I've been lurking for a while but wanted to get in on these. Big thanks to stonebrewer for taking the reins and trying to find an alternative.

Are you going to post a public link to the price list or should we PM you?
 
OK second list is up at the same place. Name is Jays%20Price%20List.pdf so just replace the name of the other list with this and you should be able to get to it. PM me if you can't figure out what I mean. Too tired to send a mass email right now. I will open the buy up tomorrow in another thread.

Thanks, just a quick clarification. Does Jay's prices included VA's tax? I think the food tax is like 2.5% or something in Virginia. Maryland has no food sales tax.
 
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f174/dc-metro-area-group-buy-1-a-399655/#post5032592

This is the link to buy #1. Please use that one for posting what you want. We can keep this thread going for questions and discussions. After the buy is full, I will close the above thread and open a new one each time that way I have all the purchases for a buy in one thread and don't have to sort through this one as it has been going a long time. If we can keep the other one dedicated to just I want xx grains posts, it will make it easier on me I think. We can use this thread to talk about other things. We'll see how that goes.
 
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f174/dc-metro-area-group-buy-1-a-399655/#post5032592

This is the link to buy #1. Please use that one for posting what you want. We can keep this thread going for questions and discussions. After the buy is full, I will close the above thread and open a new one each time that way I have all the purchases for a buy in one thread and don't have to sort through this one as it has been going a long time. If we can keep the other one dedicated to just I want xx grains posts, it will make it easier on me I think. We can use this thread to talk about other things. We'll see how that goes.

Thanks for setting this up stonebrewer.

Two quick questions:

1) Which price list are we using for buy #1?
2) Where is pickup?
 
I am using both price lists for buy #1. From what I have seen in the past, there are going to be folks that want the cheaper base grains, and others who will want some of the variety that the other list has. We will see how this goes and if the group gravitates toward one or the other, or if we need to continue with both sources.

Pickup will be at my house in Rockville. Once we get this thing off the ground I will PM folks that are in the buy with the address and dates/times to pickup.
 
I notice that both lists don't have DME. Was that a "no go" for either LHBS?

Not a no go, my focus to get started was on grain. If you want me to look into prices for DME, I can. I need to talk to Stefin sometime and pick his brain about trends when he was doing this. I don't use LME or DME very often but that doesn't mean I can't add it to the list if people want it. Just need to get a feeling for what people are going to want.
 
DME is a pain to deal with as soon as the bag is opened (regardless of whether it is opened voluntarily or accidentally). as long as the bag is kept sealed and unbroken, i'm sure it's fine. the consequences of a broken bag of DME can't be pretty. you can just sweep up spilled grains. DME, not so much.

suggestion: letting people split a bag of DME at your place is a bad idea... have them haul away the whole thing and let them deal with that elsewhere :D

rain could also be a huge pain. i'm not sure what type of fiber/paper/etc DME is packaged in, but i pray to the beer gods that it's waterproof. if it isn't, and the bag gets rained upon... yuck. you'd need a jackhammer to break that thing up afterwards. i'm assuming the manufacturer has thought of this.
 
DME is a pain to deal with as soon as the bag is opened (regardless of whether it is opened voluntarily or accidentally). as long as the bag is kept sealed and unbroken, i'm sure it's fine. the consequences of a broken bag of DME can't be pretty. you can just sweep up spilled grains. DME, not so much.

suggestion: letting people split a bag of DME at your place is a bad idea... have them haul away the whole thing and let them deal with that elsewhere :D

rain could also be a huge pain. i'm not sure what type of fiber/paper/etc DME is packaged in, but i pray to the beer gods that it's waterproof. if it isn't, and the bag gets rained upon... yuck. you'd need a jackhammer to break that thing up afterwards. i'm assuming the manufacturer has thought of this.

I kept a tarp around... but only ever had to use it once. the DME is fairly well sealed in there, the Breiss and GW stuff was much worse, as it was one layer plastic.
 
That would be great if DME could be included. I'm only interested in full sacks so no split is necessary. Actually I'm looking to pick up 200-250 lbs. I'm bummed with the increase from CMG because the previous price was great. Very interested what these guys can do.

Seriously though, this is great the group buys are able to keep going!
 
Okay a couple quick questions for the new group buy. Does anyone know what the levibond is on the Weyermann light and dark Munich malt is, looked on their site and couldn't figure out exactly since they don't list it as light or dark munich. Also is PBW going to be available like before, I know it is not at the same pick up spot, but wasn't clear if we were still going to have cleaners and adjuncts available at reduced prices. One last thing did anything get worked out as special buys on yeast and hops? Thanks for the hard work guys.
 
Okay a couple quick questions for the new group buy. Does anyone know what the levibond is on the Weyermann light and dark Munich malt is, looked on their site and couldn't figure out exactly since they don't list it as light or dark munich....

I can partially answer your first question.

Per Annapolis Home Brew's grain list:
Code:
Weyermann Munich 
Type 1   5.1–6.9 °L
Type 2   8.1–9.9 °L
Weyermann themselves list in their (pdf) catalog on page 29:
Code:
Certified organic Munich Malt
      EBC      Lovibond
 I  12 - 18   5.1 - 7.3
II  20 - 25   8.1 - 9.9
Can we assume Type 1 is "light" and Type 2 is "dark"? They're both pretty light.

Compare this with Briess' Munich 10 and 20, respective of their °Lovibond.
 
Okay a couple quick questions for the new group buy. Does anyone know what the levibond is on the Weyermann light and dark Munich malt is, looked on their site and couldn't figure out exactly since they don't list it as light or dark munich. Also is PBW going to be available like before, I know it is not at the same pick up spot, but wasn't clear if we were still going to have cleaners and adjuncts available at reduced prices. One last thing did anything get worked out as special buys on yeast and hops? Thanks for the hard work guys.

Lovibond question answered I think.

I will talk to him about PBW. Stefin had a jug of it, maybe if he buys grain he can bring it over and I can distro for him, or I can look into getting some. I have 3 bags of it right now, so it wasn't a priority item. For that matter, I have 4-5 sacks of grain, but I like to keep that pipe well filled as I brew 10G at a time which eats about half a sack at a time.

No special buys on yeast and hops yet. Will look into it and discuss, but focus for first buy is grain. Have asked about DME and crystal, still waiting on answers.
 
Lovibond question answered I think.

I will talk to him about PBW. Stefin had a jug of it, maybe if he buys grain he can bring it over and I can distro for him, or I can look into getting some. I have 3 bags of it right now, so it wasn't a priority item. For that matter, I have 4-5 sacks of grain, but I like to keep that pipe well filled as I brew 10G at a time which eats about half a sack at a time.

No special buys on yeast and hops yet. Will look into it and discuss, but focus for first buy is grain. Have asked about DME and crystal, still waiting on answers.

will gladly part with much PBW :)

carapils too!
 
I have found some ball lock kegs for $40 apiece if we can get 10 or more together. If you are interested, PM me and I will set something up if there is enough interest. I think we will need 10 kegs to get the $40 price as they are going for $45 apiece. The guy has at least 100 of them...I have 10 already but would be willing to buy 2 for S&G.

Tony
 
Kudos to stonebrewer for putting together the successful first "new" group buy! It was great to meet you and chat about brew & world travel.

It's fantastic this will still be an option in the DC area! Hope there is interest in keeping this going. From the way I see it, that went off without a hitch!
 
The keg guy was a nut job who kept promising to meet up and then changed plans and then stopped replying altogether. So for now, we can't get any. I will keep looking and let you know if I find anything.
 
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