Rice Hulls Pricing

[BeerChemistWhiskey]

I've never used rice hulls, but after a troublesome sparge last weekend and looking ahead to some rye/oatmeal recipes for the winter, I've been reviewing my options on buying some.

This may seem like a trivial activity, but I've come across something very interesting. I'm always paying attention at the grocery store and making sure that when buying something I'm not getting ripped off with the "more is probably cheaper so grab that and go" scam that they like pull these days (1 lb they charge 15 cents an oz, 2.5 lb "value bag" you do the math and it's 17 cents an oz, etc.). So I keep up with minimizing my price per units you could say [emoji16]

Anyway, I see that any homebrew - oriented source of rice hulls charge at least $1.00 - $1.50 per pound. BUT you can buy 50 LBS! of rice hulls labeled for gardening use for 8 dollars at one source, 20 dollars at another, and there are others I'm sure. Either way, this is way cheaper and I don't see anything that would indicate that there are any major differences like additives that would keep me from using these cheaper sources. I suspect that homebrew sources are just repackaged from the same agricultural sources.

Has anyone else tried an alternate source of rice hulls?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

50lbs of rice hulls is a LOT of rice hulls.

I once bought a 50lb sack for, IIRC, $35. After 2 years of using them in everything I barely made a dent in the volume. Ended up using much of them in the garden as a soil amendment.

 

[logdrum]

I've never used rice hulls, but after a troublesome sparge last weekend and looking ahead to some rye/oatmeal recipes for the winter, I've been reviewing my options on buying some.

This may seem like a trivial activity, but I've come across something very interesting. I'm always paying attention at the grocery store and making sure that when buying something I'm not getting ripped off with the "more is probably cheaper so grab that and go" scam that they like pull these days (1 lb they charge 15 cents an oz, 2.5 lb "value bag" you do the math and it's 17 cents an oz, etc.). So I keep up with minimizing my price per units you could say [emoji16]

Anyway, I see that any homebrew - oriented source of rice hulls charge at least $1.00 - $1.50 per pound. BUT you can buy 50 LBS! of rice hulls labeled for gardening use for 8 dollars at one source, 20 dollars at another, and there are others I'm sure. Either way, this is way cheaper and I don't see anything that would indicate that there are any major differences like additives that would keep me from using these cheaper sources. I suspect that homebrew sources are just repackaged from the same agricultural sources.

Has anyone else tried an alternate source of rice hulls?

Any idea if these are food safe?

 

[RPh_Guy]

OK....

I use 0.25 lb rice hulls in a 5 gal brew.

Suppose I buy a 50lb bag for $25.

Even at a whopping 20 brews in one year, I'd save $5 (down from $10) ... and still have 45lbs of rice hulls sitting there.
Worth it?

At a more reasonable 10 batches per year, the bag will last me 20 years.

Let's think.
Paying $25 principle on a 6.9% APR compounding daily loan over 20 years I break even not buying the bulk rice hulls.

Yay finance!

 

[bracconiere]

lol, they started charging more for bulk, when they saw me get into making whiskey.....and buying sugar in bulk....besides that though i used garden rice hulls for a few years to make a rice beer, 20lb bag of rice for 8-9 bucks, gel it in the oven added amylase, liquefy it. mix in a LOT of rice hulls, like a 5 gal bucket full...sparge (still very slow though). add gluco to the fermenter, dry hop...whalah, 7.5% very light 'beer', with a hint of hops...

but anyway i'm still alive to bug people here, and my blood work says i'm in decent health. so, no, garden rice hulls won't kill you and they are cheaper...

lol, and in case you think i sound a little off...when i started living off beans and walking out of the grocery with a weeks food for 10-12 bucks they jacked the price of beans up too, was .99 a pound then they jacked it up to 1.50-1.75...and the isle started getting smaller too...

 

[RPh_Guy]

whalah

Voilà

But reminds me of this

 

[bracconiere]

Voilà

But reminds me of this

damn, lol..Voilà, i'll remember that and have to look up the ALT code

 

[Hammy71]

I usually just do this. Last me quite a while.... Have prime so no issues

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DO2X16U/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[bracconiere]

damn, 3.50 a pound for 10 pounds. and the same price as malt shipped at 50 pounds for 60 bucks....

there seems to be two trains of thought when it comes to homebrewing, make it the cheapest, or make it the best and price is of no object....

thankfully, i use a 10 gal round cooler, with one of these, and Voilà i don't need rice hulls! lol

https://www.morebeer.com/products/kettle-tube-screen-stainless-steel.html

because i looked and looked and no garden store carries them around here.