Questions about group by for hops

[GVH_Dan]

I'm trying to collect data on various topics regarding small scale hop growers before heading to the 2016 American Hop Convention and I'm hoping you all could help me out.

For those that don't know me, I'm usually in the Hop Growing section. You can see my most recent post: Are you building hop harvesting or drying equipment? about who is building harvesters.

My questions are:

1. Do you do group buys on hops?
2. What are the typical quantities per variety? (1/4 lb, 1/2 lb, lb, 2 lb...)
3. What price do you expect to pay per oz or lb?
4. If you could have your wish, what size and price point would you consider fair?

To give you all an idea, most of you probably pay between $3-$6/oz. Most of the small scale growers are in the $4 - $8/oz.

Honestly, its a pain and expensive to make all those 1 oz packages. Many of us also sell to brewers. That ranges from $9 to $25 or more per lb. (That price is all over the place.) Obviously, its much easier and faster to make 1 lb bags, so the price per oz goes down.

1 lb of even cascade is a bit much for most homebrewers, but if you were doing bulk purchases, what size would be ideal? Likewise, what price would make it worth your effort...especially if it was coming from someone local instead of the really big growers?

Thanks for any positive feedback. If anyone takes offense to this post or thinks there is a more appropriate part of the forum to post it, just let me know. I'm aware of the commercial nature of the post but hopefully this information benefits the entire hop growing community including those vendors that support this forum.

 

[tektonjp]

Hi Dan,

I can't help much in giving input (I live in Japan) but I think .25 lb (112g) might be a good package size.

Another suggestion, for your survey, is to check out Google forms. You can quickly compose your own survey form, send it out digitally, and have the results tallied automatically. Check it out.

 

[poptarts]

I like farmhouse where they do the 4oz packages for $4-6 a pack. I would never pay 3 - 6/oz. Some hops, citra for example, I have no issue buying in 1lb bags though.

 

[WI_Wino]

I buy by the pound almost exclusively. Rarely do I pay more than $18 for a pound, most are < $14 / lb. I have no qualms about buying previous year's hops if they have been stored frozen. When I open them I repackage into quart/pint mason jars, vacuum seal them, and toss into deep freezer.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

1. Ive never done a group buy
2.I only buy by the pound
3. on average $18 dollars (pre shipping)
4.If I had my wish...$1 a pound shipped across the board
My LHBS sells just about every 1 oz for 2.50.Alot of places per pound after shipping comes out to be almost the same as buying buy the ounce.That kinda stinks

 

[TBC]

I get together with a couple of friends and coworkers and we do a group purchase by the pound. This reduces our shipping cost dramatically. I'd say we average $15 a pound. We also do splits and vacuum seal them in half pound packages. Ideally I would like to buy half pound packages instead of by the pound.

 

[GVH_Dan]

Thanks for the input so far, everyone. This is what I was looking for.

They whole $4/oz sucks for everyone. I'm glad to hear that selling by the pound to homebrewers can happen.

Keep the opinions flowing.

 

[banesong]

I agree. I buy by the pound, but would appreciate smaller package size, like 1/4 or 1/2 pound bags.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Thanks for the input so far, everyone. This is what I was looking for.

They whole $4/oz sucks for everyone. I'm glad to hear that selling by the pound to homebrewers can happen.

Keep the opinions flowing.

I am a bit of an odd one in that I do not mind spending 3-4 months brewing with the same 3 hops. I find it an interesting experiment. I keep one clean bittering hop, one traditional English hop (Flavor/Aroma), and one of the three C's in stock at all times. I buy by the pound for those and normally have one other pound thrown in for experimentation (last year it was Amarillo which did not impress).

As the clean bittering hop is good basically forever if vac sealed and frozen, I buy prior year's crop and would in theory consider a 5# of that but the economies of scale are not there.

I am also a weird one in that more than 1/2 of my hops are whole hops instead of pellets. I just find them so much easier and more flexible to work with in my system (they are my trub filter, dryhopping in the keg is a breeze, etc).

 

[BigMack]

I absolutely buy by the pound, but have never done a group buy. I probably have about 15 or more pounds of hops in my freezer right now. I expect to pay about $12-14/lb or less (depending on the variety). I will pay more for certain varieties though.

 

[ruascott]

I have been paying $2/oz for most varieties, and anywhere from $12/lb to $30lb for specific varieties.

 

[Epimetheus]

by the pound, then home brewers can make their own splits.

I only mail-order 1 lb bags and I would split unfamiliar or specialty hops with a friend. You gotta make 2 or 3 batches with a new hop to learn it, which uses at least 8 oz.