Noooo!!!

[Uncle Argyle]

I just got an e-mail from my LHBS guy...who is also in the local brew club...and said that one of his vendors were warning that grain prices were going to jump this fall.

"We've been told by one of our wholesale suppliers to expect prices on malt extracts and grain to increase 30%-50% this fall. That is not a typo.

The reasons for the increases are:
1) a poor harvest, and
2) increased ethanol production. "

Damn! Just as I was getting rolling in All-Grain! has anyone else heard this?

~Sully

 

[DeathBrewer]

that seems like a pretty damn large increase...i'm skeptical

 

[Evan!]

Google seems to confirm this. Um...uh oh.

I sure hate the government and all its horsesh*t corn subsidies. Ethanol is a fools errand, it'll never work out (it takes way too much energy to produce)...yet our idiot gubmint is subsidizing corn growers. Asshats. But this is nothing new...corn subsidies are also why HFCS is used in alot of foods rather than cane sugar.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Oh goodness!!! From the title of your thread, I thought someone wuz stealin ur bucket!!!!

Just remember, whatever increase hits AG will hit extract as well... so going AG isn't exactly a losing proposition.

In addition, I think in a previous thread I figured that from the farmer's field to your doorstep, the price of the grain is less than like 30% of the cost of the grain. The remaining cost is shipping, storage, and profit. So the result isn't going to be as dramatic as it sounds when people say the cost of grain is going up. It's not like it's going to take any more storage space or suddenly become heavier to transport.

At one point I did actually do the math. As best as I can recall now though, the cost of a 55 pound sack is something like $6. The rest is all shipping and handling and the cost of malting.

 

[david_42]

Corn has doubled in the last two years. Bear in mind that means $2/bushel to $4/bushel. Malting barley was running $3 a bushel or 6 cents a pound for the farmer. So, if that doubled, it's still a wart on the retail price.

 

[krispy d]

just means we have to be more creative in our sources. I still stand firmly on the "call the smallest brewery near you" philosophy. I have been successful in piggybacking my orders on theirs in more than one locality.

 

[DeathBrewer]

that's it. i'm buying a farm (not THE farm)

 

[Uncle Argyle]

It's probably not as bad as I am imagining. The e-mail from the LHBS guy made it sound like he was freaking out and the total cost of grain prices was going to jump that much. Thanks for the perspective...hopefully any price change won't be that dramatic.