I am just wondering if anyone knows how big an order on malts one would need to make to get wholesale or bulk pricing? Is it possible to get hops at a whole sale discount? Thinking if significant money could be saved I would purchase all my anticipated ingredients once a year. Retail seems to be significantly more expensive than breweries pay. It cost me $40-45 per 5 gallon batch, just wondering if there is a way to cut that back.
Possible to get whole sale pricing for home brewer
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VagueSkunk
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I think you're looking for this forum: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=174
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Size of order is not the key. Licensure/FEIN from .gov is what allows wholesale UNLESS you do find a wholesale distributor who will sell to the public (collect sales tax). And then it depends on the wholesaler.
Retail is generally +30% of wholesale cost. Plus tax.
Retail is generally +30% of wholesale cost. Plus tax.
plazola86
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Just buy bulk everything and start harvesting yeast. I buy 50 pounds of 2 row for $50 at my LHBS. I buy hops by the pound at Yakima Valley hops anywhere from $16 - 22. My cost per 5 gallon usually ends up around $20 give or take a couple depending on how much hops I use.
The volume an individual homebrewer buys is not going to get your any special pricing, even if you're buying everything for an entire year.
To give you an idea, I got a 55lb sack of Marris Otter shipped directly to me from Cargill. It was from a homebrew contest. When it arrived, it was labeled "SAMPLE". Why? because commercial breweries order this by the pallet, truck, or railcar load.
Look into the group buys, or talk to a local brewery and see if they'll sell you a sack of grain at their cost. From what I've seen, online homebrew shops have the best prices on bulk hops (usually buying by the pound).
To give you an idea, I got a 55lb sack of Marris Otter shipped directly to me from Cargill. It was from a homebrew contest. When it arrived, it was labeled "SAMPLE". Why? because commercial breweries order this by the pallet, truck, or railcar load.
Look into the group buys, or talk to a local brewery and see if they'll sell you a sack of grain at their cost. From what I've seen, online homebrew shops have the best prices on bulk hops (usually buying by the pound).
brandonlovesbeer
BrandonLovesBeer
Our local homebrew club partnered with a local shop a couple years ago to buy a pallet of 50lb sacks. Each sack came out to be around $20-$25.
And the brewery I used to work for also houses the largest most comprehensive homebrew store in the state.
They charge $42 for 55lb sack of base malt.
When I worked there they sold it to me at cost ($20). So that gives you an idea of the store's actual cost.
And the brewery I used to work for also houses the largest most comprehensive homebrew store in the state.
They charge $42 for 55lb sack of base malt.
When I worked there they sold it to me at cost ($20). So that gives you an idea of the store's actual cost.
Group buys will save the most. Re-use yeast. Buy your grains and hops in bulk amounts. It will not be wholesale but will be less. $40-$45 is high, my brews cost in the $30s all ingredients and probably propane also.
I buy my malts from the local HBS. Its $55 for bag of two row, but other malts I need, wheat, carapils etc, they only sell by the pound and its $2. Buying online does not work out due to shipping costs.
Hops I buy by the lb. locally its about $24 a pound for citra, mosaic, el dorado etc. I did just get a couple good deals through hops direct and 47 hops and got 5 lb mosaic for $16 or so including shipping a lb, and el dorado shipped, for under $11 a lb, so that should help.
I will try and see if there are any upcoming group buys.
bagging facilities is what ups the cost. I have a Cargill malting plant near by, if I had a semi trailer I am sure they would sell; just to convince the wife to set up a grain silo/bin in the yard.
No you are not going to get Brewery pricing. but you can get a lot lower cost that you currently have.
Hops by the lb on-line at many different places (delivered), will probably get you to $1 per oz or lower depending on what hops you buy. If you only go for deals, you can get 50 cents an ozs, but that leaves out using hops like Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo, etc.
Grain on-line can be $50 for 55 lbs. Obviously it will cost more for specific grains like Maris Otter, and specialty grains will cost more too. You may be able to find a local source cheaper.
Yeast: Reuse yeast slurry, or make starters from starters, and culture from commercial. I have about a dozen yeasts I rotate, and, with starter wort, I think it probably costs about $1 per batch to keep going. I have yeasts I have used for 20+ batches (slurry + new starters), and still going fine.
I probably run about $15 average for a 5 gallon batch for ingredients (+ or - depending on the amount of hops used). You certainly do better than what you are currently doing.
madscientist451
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If you want to buy wholesale, set up your own homebrew store.
But if that's too drastic there are lots of ways to cut costs.
I can make a non-hoppy basic brew for $3 a gallon, but my average is about $4 a gallon.
My LHBS gives a price break when you buy 10 lb of grain and will sell a whole sack of anything you want, you just have to wait until the next shipment comes in if its not in stock.
I re-pitch yeast about 5-6 times or more, grow some of my own hops but buy most of them on line. I do buy my liquid yeast and some hops from my LHBS to help him keep his inventory moving, and the prices aren't all that bad.
The down side of buying the grain in bulk is storage space and time.
My sacks of grain are transferred to buckets when I get them home, the buckets have to be labeled and then kept somewhere. My grain inventory is housed in about 20, four gallon plastic buckets.
But I also save the time of going to the homebrew store and finding out they don't have the exact grain or hops I was looking for.
Besides saving money, its great to be able to brew up a batch without a bunch of planning. I can be more creative and try different things.
But if that's too drastic there are lots of ways to cut costs.
I can make a non-hoppy basic brew for $3 a gallon, but my average is about $4 a gallon.
My LHBS gives a price break when you buy 10 lb of grain and will sell a whole sack of anything you want, you just have to wait until the next shipment comes in if its not in stock.
I re-pitch yeast about 5-6 times or more, grow some of my own hops but buy most of them on line. I do buy my liquid yeast and some hops from my LHBS to help him keep his inventory moving, and the prices aren't all that bad.
The down side of buying the grain in bulk is storage space and time.
My sacks of grain are transferred to buckets when I get them home, the buckets have to be labeled and then kept somewhere. My grain inventory is housed in about 20, four gallon plastic buckets.
But I also save the time of going to the homebrew store and finding out they don't have the exact grain or hops I was looking for.
Besides saving money, its great to be able to brew up a batch without a bunch of planning. I can be more creative and try different things.
I used to buy from a local brewpub at 10% over cost so the owner would still make money. If you approach a brewer with that kind of deal you may get a great price and the brewery comes out ahead-just ask to piggyback your purchases onto their next shipment so you aren't asking for their working stock,and be sure to pay shipping on your portion. I bought malt, hops and even PBW from the brewery.
Some of this depends on where you live and what access you might have to sources of ingredients.
I'm about 3 hours from RiteBrew. They have excellent prices on bulk ingredients; 25 or 50 pounds of 2-row is 76 cents per pound; Maris Otter, my fave malt, for 99 cents a pound for a 55-pound sack. Hops by the pound, yeast prices that , at least in dry, are very good.
They have a pickup option that saves a lot of shipping money; only problem is they're not on the way to anywhere I tend to go, and I'm not driving 6 hours to save on shipping. But, I have a buddy who travels up that way from time to time; he picks up stuff for me. I reciprocate with a six pack of something nice, and we're all good.
The key is buying in bulk, as others have noted. You need the containers and space to be able to store grain bought in 50- or 55-pound sacks. I haven't bought hops by the pound, but i'm close to doing that. Just need a way to flush opened packages of O2 before storing in the freezer.
I don't tend to use a lot of hops; 4 ounces is about the most I use. But even then, Ritebrew is stunningly good. My buddy is heading up there next week and I'm putting in an order for pickup. I see they have Northern Brewer hops with high Alpha Acid content, something I want. I'll get some of those, a sack of 2-row, a sack of Maris Otter, probably some other hops and maybe a few dry yeast packages.
***************
If you buy in small lots, everything costs more. I just brewed a California Common, 11# of 2-row, 3 ounces Northern Brewer hops, a Smack Pack of Wyeast 2112. Since I'm getting 2-row for 76 cents/pound, an 11-pound grain bill costs....$8.36. Hops bought at Ritebrew are $1.39/ounce, or $4.17. The yeast is $6. Grand total is $18.53. Add in $1 for PBW for cleanup, maybe 25 cents worth of Star-San....I'm just under $20 not including cost of propane (couple bucks, more or less).
I buy in 50-pound sacks. The trick is to find someplace you or a buddy can get to in order to save shipping costs. Maybe there's nothing nearby, but ask your LHBS if you can buy in bulk. If not, look for sales when you can stock up.
Even Morebeer is funny that way. You can't buy sacks of grain with their free shipping option, but you can buy smaller amounts and get that free shipping. Maybe that would help you out a bit.
***************
I use 5-gallon buckets for grain storage, and gamma-seal lids on them to maintain an airtight seal. I even made a rolling set of shelves to accommodate them:
I'm about 3 hours from RiteBrew. They have excellent prices on bulk ingredients; 25 or 50 pounds of 2-row is 76 cents per pound; Maris Otter, my fave malt, for 99 cents a pound for a 55-pound sack. Hops by the pound, yeast prices that , at least in dry, are very good.
They have a pickup option that saves a lot of shipping money; only problem is they're not on the way to anywhere I tend to go, and I'm not driving 6 hours to save on shipping. But, I have a buddy who travels up that way from time to time; he picks up stuff for me. I reciprocate with a six pack of something nice, and we're all good.
The key is buying in bulk, as others have noted. You need the containers and space to be able to store grain bought in 50- or 55-pound sacks. I haven't bought hops by the pound, but i'm close to doing that. Just need a way to flush opened packages of O2 before storing in the freezer.
I don't tend to use a lot of hops; 4 ounces is about the most I use. But even then, Ritebrew is stunningly good. My buddy is heading up there next week and I'm putting in an order for pickup. I see they have Northern Brewer hops with high Alpha Acid content, something I want. I'll get some of those, a sack of 2-row, a sack of Maris Otter, probably some other hops and maybe a few dry yeast packages.
***************
If you buy in small lots, everything costs more. I just brewed a California Common, 11# of 2-row, 3 ounces Northern Brewer hops, a Smack Pack of Wyeast 2112. Since I'm getting 2-row for 76 cents/pound, an 11-pound grain bill costs....$8.36. Hops bought at Ritebrew are $1.39/ounce, or $4.17. The yeast is $6. Grand total is $18.53. Add in $1 for PBW for cleanup, maybe 25 cents worth of Star-San....I'm just under $20 not including cost of propane (couple bucks, more or less).
I buy in 50-pound sacks. The trick is to find someplace you or a buddy can get to in order to save shipping costs. Maybe there's nothing nearby, but ask your LHBS if you can buy in bulk. If not, look for sales when you can stock up.
Even Morebeer is funny that way. You can't buy sacks of grain with their free shipping option, but you can buy smaller amounts and get that free shipping. Maybe that would help you out a bit.
***************
I use 5-gallon buckets for grain storage, and gamma-seal lids on them to maintain an airtight seal. I even made a rolling set of shelves to accommodate them:
Dcpcooks
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It will be a challenge without a fein number and a contract for pallet pricing with a grain distributor. You'll need to buy far more than you could use personally.
I'd suggest a group buy with a club or a local area get together is as close as you'll get to wholesale pricing. As suggested already a brewery may be willing to help you out.
I'd suggest a group buy with a club or a local area get together is as close as you'll get to wholesale pricing. As suggested already a brewery may be willing to help you out.
BigStew84
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I'm not sure how it works...im lucky enough that a friend I brew with also owns a natural foods store...he recently got a wholesale account with BSG...as far as I know there is no set weight we have to meet but I'm getting my hops for $1 an oz...we are just 3 guys doing 5 gallon partial mashes so we aren't ordering 55# bags yet..but it's possible to get an account without needing to meet a certain weight of product
MaryB
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My house ale runs about ~ 22$/5.5 gallons. I buy the Golden Promise and Victory in bulk sacks(50-55 pounds), I buy the extra dark crystal in 5 pound sizes and it runs about $2 a pound. Yakima Valley hops has great pricing and cheap shipping and very fast service. The hops I use the most of I buy 1-2 pounds at a time and just keep it in the freezer. I drop the opened bag into a gallon foodsaver bag and vacuum the air out and I toss in an O2 absorber to keep O2 down. I take out enough for 2-3 batches at a time and vac pack that in batch sizes in small bags that store in the freezer. Fine for up to 2-3 months but I brew 2-3 times a month on average.
Dcpcooks
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My buddy owns a home brew store and the pricing gets much better with each extra pallet of grain that's purchased. They offer up a club group buy a few times a year to make a large enough order to get the next lowest tier in pricing. But that's still higher than what my other buddy pays at his brewery. It's all about volume.
Bamsdealer
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Grain is 42 to 55 a sack at my lbhs. I brew a lot of ipas and light ales, pilsner so I typically don't have much in the way of specialty grains. Bulk hops are anywhere from 10 to 20 a lb and I generally reuse yeast a couple times so my typical 5-6% nicely hopped beer costs $15 -20 per 5 gallons.
dstockwell
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Where are you located that shipping is high. You can order $60 worth on morebeer and shipping is free.
Our home brew club meets at a small local brewery who is very supportive of the group and our activities. They have recently told us we can buy our grains from them at their cost. So I picked up a sack of 2-row for $40 whereas the LHBS (not a good one IMHO) charges $55. The brewery also said if we wanted specialty grains at smaller portions, to bring in a container and let them know how much we want. So you can't beat that! They also mentioned that we can buy hops through them too if needed. I haven't looked into that much yet since my freezer is full and I have some hops growing in my back yard.
So I would say see if there is a local small brewery that you can purchase some of the grains from. Or as others have said look into group buys too.
I sourced buckets from the local bakery and grocery store for free, cleaned them well and purchased gamma lids for them to store my bulk grain. So this is a way to cut some costs.
Lastly, reuse yeast and buy hops by the pound like others have said. I double my starters, save half and pitch the other half. Works great!
So I would say see if there is a local small brewery that you can purchase some of the grains from. Or as others have said look into group buys too.
I sourced buckets from the local bakery and grocery store for free, cleaned them well and purchased gamma lids for them to store my bulk grain. So this is a way to cut some costs.
Lastly, reuse yeast and buy hops by the pound like others have said. I double my starters, save half and pitch the other half. Works great!
whole sacs do not qualify for free shipping.
to ship a sac from the PA warehouse to MD, it's $13.32. from CA to WA, it's $22.54. not worth it, i can get sacs cheaper at my local shop.
jrgtr42
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I've tried ordering sacks of grain and shipping is almost as much as the sack - every online place I've seen 55-pound sacks do not qualify for free shipping.
of course, I can order my 12 - 17 pound grain bills and get free shipping.
Hops I generally get from Yakima Valley Hops, yeast I prefer to get from my LHBS (though that isn't always a given; my last smack pack I got there was a dud.)
Your best bet is to see if one of your local breweries will order a "little extra" and then sell the "little extra" to you. You should be able to get pitches of yeast from your local breweries too.
Otherwise, buy grain by the sack at your LHBS, buy hops by the pound online and harvest yeast. This is what I do.
Your local shop should have sacks for prices comparable to those online.
dstockwell
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I understand that, but 50 lbs in 5 10lb bags is $53, which is cheaper than a 50lb sack shipped.
jrgtr42
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My local shop has sacks for $55 - $60, depending on the variety. Online is way cheaper, but factoring in shipping is pretty much a wash. May save a couple bucks one way or the other.
This! The 5lb &10lb sacks DO qualify! You can mix and match to hit the $60 free ship limit..
true, but hopefully your local shop is selling a bag of two row for less than that. mine has them for under $40.
maris otter: $87 when buying 5 x 10 lbs, vs. $65-70 at lhbs.
dstockwell
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Unfortunately no LHBS, over an hour away.
I just looked at Morebeer. One 55 pound bag of Rahr 2 row - $46.99 and $19.17 shipping = $66.17. 5 ten pound bags and 1 five pound bag - $72.24 with free shipping!!
I don't see where you can save buying smaller multiple bags.....
Besides my LHBS will sell me the same for the $46. No shipping, no multiple bags......
LHBS an hour away is a couple gallons of gas. Maybe half the cost of shipping or less.
I don't see where you can save buying smaller multiple bags.....
Besides my LHBS will sell me the same for the $46. No shipping, no multiple bags......
LHBS an hour away is a couple gallons of gas. Maybe half the cost of shipping or less.
Visit the LHBS and negotiate.... I am amazed how many of my customers don't try to negotiate deals. I would be more than willing to listen. My shop is small so I don't get to carry a lot of inventory but I have a major supplier that I receive from in two days! So I can get almost anything for anybody and quickly. Just ask me, "can I get a sack of 2 row from you with your next order at a better price?" Believe it or not, stores are volume sensitive to pricing also.
But as mentioned, you have to invest in storage and a grain mill if you don't have one. I think this is what keeps most of my more frequent brewers from buying bulk from me...no storage and no grain mill. (We do not charge extra for milling.....as long as it is not a full sack
) And honestly, I prefer selling bulk, hops or grain....less hassle, less work, less overhead, less dust.....yeah, that is all cost to the store that I can eliminate and reduce price for bulk.
So go ask...what can it hurt?
But as mentioned, you have to invest in storage and a grain mill if you don't have one. I think this is what keeps most of my more frequent brewers from buying bulk from me...no storage and no grain mill. (We do not charge extra for milling.....as long as it is not a full sack
) And honestly, I prefer selling bulk, hops or grain....less hassle, less work, less overhead, less dust.....yeah, that is all cost to the store that I can eliminate and reduce price for bulk.So go ask...what can it hurt?
brieuxster
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Live right in the middle of the grain growing area of Western Canada. Best place to get malt is from the LHBS. The malt distributor in the area has a "small order surcharge" of $10 per order that applies unless you buy 15 bags at once. http://westernmalt.webs.com/brochure.htm The LBHS in the area has better pricing: http://prairiebrewsupply.ca/product-category/beer/ingredients/bulk-malts-55-lb/?orderby=popularity The local brewery that does LHBS sales too, has better pricing http://paddockwood.com/
But the same amount of Breiss 2-row would be $58.34...
My LHBS sells 55lb sacks of 2-row for ~$65 (don't know what maltster).
And Morebeer delivers it to my door...
And it doesn't have to be all 2-row... You can mix and match base malts, crystals, specialty malts, hops, yeast, equipment, etc.. as long as the total is $59 or more...
Although I'd do hops from someplace else...
The point is, if you're trying to pinch pennies and you have no LHBS (or your LHBS isn't especially competitive, like me), you can...
