Should I buy an all grain kit or make my own?

[Oldpaddy]

Hi all, I'm new to all grain brewing. In fact I have my second (and first) batch fermenting as we speak. I've bought a few kits off Austin home brewing supply. I like the ease of having everything in one kit, but I wonder if I should just buy a bunch of grains and hops in bulk.
What do you guys do? Is there much of a cost benefit to bulk buying grains and hops instead of buying kits?

 

[myndflyte]

I don't have the space nor brew enough to keep bulk gains around so I just order the gains I need when it's time to brew. I'm usually just finding recipes online that I think some tasty.

With hops I usually order what I need unless a place like Yakima Valley is having a sale on a hop that sounds good. Then I usually order a pound of them and seal them in vacuum bags and keep them in the freezer.

 

[Knkbrand]

grain is not so much of a savings in bulk, but hops are much cheaper in bulk especially if on sale. You can often find hops for 1 dollar an oz or less in bulk. I always make a yeast starter and save 500ml from the starter to reuse the yeast, that saves as well. for me, those are the biggest areas to save.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I prefer getting ingredients separately. There's a lot of room for adjustment and you know what you're putting in there. I've never actually purchased a kit, but I can see the savings of guess work and convenience.

 

[bleme]

I buy my base malts in 50-55 pound bags from my local brewpub for $30-$35/bag. I get my hops from Yakima Valley or Hops Direct for $5-$16/lb. I buy my specialty malts in 5 or 10lb bags from MoreBeer. For me, the initial investment of $100 for a Cereal Killer and $70 for a vacuum sealer was worth the savings in the long run. I've made several batches that cost me less than $10/keg. I don't often know when I am going to have time to brew and it is great being able to throw together a recipe from what I have on hand.

That said, Northern Brewer occasionally has killer deals on kits that I often pick up when they are $20-$25.

https://hopsdirect.com/collections/hop-sale

 

[vampirebeer]

I like to buy kits from there too. I typically pick a kits that sounds good and go with it. A few of the clones haven't turned out to be that much like what I was trying to imitate, but it was still good beer.

 

[Cptblamo]

Buy the bulk online for sure. But if you have a local home brew shop, buy some ingredients from them. Specialty grains, hops, and yeast (in the summer). It supports the community bringing interest into clubs and competitions that can help u brew better.

 

[Immocles]

I'm on the wagon of buying 55lb base malts bulk now. 2-row for sure, might have to add pilsner to my bulk list instead of buying 10lbs at at time. I had generally bought enough grains for about 2-4 brews (about 3-4 times a year) and took advantage of some sales to keep a decent supply of hops on hand(NB ran a deal last summer, spend 75$ get a lb of hops free. I got 8oz of cascade and 8oz of EKG and I still have 2-3oz of each). As you go, you'll see what kind of ingredients you want on hand. I go through quite a bit of centennial and noble hops so I buy them in 8-16oz bags. I brew 2.5-4G batches mostly and these ingredients last me quite a long time. Plus having a few ingredients on hand give you the option to brew as you find time, and build/alter a recipe as you want.

If you brew pretty often/large volume, a bulk bag will save you a few bucks in the long run. But if its going to take you 2-3 years to get through the bag, I'm not so sure. Same goes with hops.

 

[BruceH]

Hi all, I'm new to all grain brewing. In fact I have my second (and first) batch fermenting as we speak. I've bought a few kits off Austin home brewing supply. I like the ease of having everything in one kit, but I wonder if I should just buy a bunch of grains and hops in bulk.
What do you guys do? Is there much of a cost benefit to bulk buying grains and hops instead of buying kits?

I find significant savings buying in bulk. Morebeer has 10lb bags for a reasonable price and as long as you buy $59 worth of merchandise it's free shipping on most items. This means I can get 60lbs of different grains shipped for only a little more than a full sack. I also buy full sacks but wait for sales to pop up. Hopsdirect is my usual source for bulk hops.

I don't have a local brew store, used to go out of my way to pay retail for full sacks from a malter about 35 miles away from me because I like to buy local. They made a command decision to not compete with retailers and stopped selling to me over a year ago. So now I get grains shipped to me for the same money and I don't have to make a 70 mile round trip to get it.

I should send them a thank you note, they made my brew life easier.

 

[tellyho]

I order bulk 2 row, MO, and Pilsner. Also bulk IPA hops. Everything else from LHBS.

 

[smata67]

One alternative is to make your own "kits" by purchasing the ingredients for any recipe of your choosing from a vendor that will sell you by the ounce, like Atlantic Brew Supply. Their own kits are very reasonably priced, as well, and include yeast. They are put together when you order, they are not sitting around. It is awfully tempting to buy bulk ingredients, but you can end up with a great quantity of ingredients needing storage and possibly taking years to go through.

 

[Gruel]

I usually buy just enough for one brew at one of my local shops, and make/follow my own 'kit' list: grains - hops - yeast. Last time I was able to re-use yeast, so now I have a 'safety pack' of yeast in the fridge. It can also make sense to keep a bit of hops around. Grain would take up too much space, plus storing milled/crushed grain is probably not a good idea.

 

[kevin58]

It's like making a cake... you can make it from scratch or you can buy a box of Betty Crocker mix.

 

[Oldpaddy]

It's like making a cake... you can make it from scratch or you can buy a box of Betty Crocker mix.

Well, that's not quite true. I do a lot of baking and bread making. Buying a box is a lot different. Especially betty Crocker. That stuff is like comparing a tv dinner to a home cooked meal.

I appreciate the advice and opinions, guys.

 

[Cptblamo]

Well, that's not quite true. I do a lot of baking and bread making. Buying a box is a lot different. Especially betty Crocker. That stuff is like comparing a tv dinner to a home cooked meal.

I appreciate the advice and opinions, guys.

I think it's more like ordering hello fresh or blue chef or something vs going to the costco, buying ingredients for several meals. It's nice to get a box in the mail, but why order the ingredients for chicken alfredo when u already have noodles and chicken at home. Just go pick up sauce when u need it.

 

[Craiginthecorn]

Six of one, half a dozen of the other. The kits are absolutely fine. You can generally download the recipe from the instructions from online stores like like MoreBeer and Northern Brewer, if you want to buy ingredients separately. The only reason I ever buy them, though, is that sometimes they're a good bargain when on sale -- especially for those with lots of expensive hops.

 

[Oldpaddy]

I was shocked to find there's a store that carries brew supplies about a half hour away. I'll have to go there one of these days and check out the pricing. Though considering where I live, I'm going to guess they're pricey. Anyone want to give me an idea what you're paying for grains and hops where you're at? I see online that grains seem to be anywhere from $1lb to $2+ depending on which website I look at. I haven't looked at hop prices. I understand different grains and hops have different pricing. I'm looking at prices on an average.

 

[kevin58]

It's like making a cake... you can make it from scratch or you can buy a box of Betty Crocker mix.

Well, that's not quite true. I do a lot of baking and bread making. Buying a box is a lot different. Especially betty Crocker. That stuff is like comparing a tv dinner to a home cooked meal.

I appreciate the advice and opinions, guys.

Um, that was exactly the point I was making. I assumed everyone understood that a box cake mix isn't going to be as good as a cake made from scratch. Guess I was wrong.

 

[Craiginthecorn]

It's like making a cake... you can make it from scratch or you can buy a box of Betty Crocker mix.

While I agree completely with the sentiment, I will have to politely disagree with your specific example of Betty Crocker cake mixes. For most people, they'll have better success with the boxes mix due to conditioners that are incorporated that are generally not available to home baker's.

But this does bring up the issue of ingredients. Yes, you can buy the exact same malts, adjuncts, yeast and the like and make the exact same recipe without the kit, however you have the freedom to modify, too. On the whole, the kits include mostly US-made malts. At least that's been my experience. If you're making a British ale, you might want to swap Briess 2-row for Muntins, Thomas Fawcett, or another British-produced pale 2-row malt as an upgrade.

Regarding the local homebrew shop prices, yes, they will undoubtedly be higher, but within reason I try to buy as much as I can from them. In spite of having a significant inventory of ingredients, it seems I'm always needing a ounce of this or a pound of that, a length of hose, or a CO2 tank swap. Liquid yeast in the summer is a risky thing by mail. Finally, if you buy sacks of grain, the price can be very competitive locally after taking into account shipping. Keep em in business!

 

[Oldpaddy]

I've ordered a few kits from Austin homebrewers supply and I recieve grain and yeast. Betty crocker isn't the same as baking a cake with store bought ingredients. It's full of preservatives or something. That was my point about it being a bad comparison. I understood the comparison though.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I agree with everybody. It's like leading a horse to water. You can't teach it new tricks before they hatch.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I buy my grain and hops in bulk. It saves me a lot of money, but I end up bending my recipes to make use of what I already have on hand. No biggie when it comes to base malts, I can augment my recipe with specialty grains by the pound for a few bucks, but when it comes to hops I find myself using whatever I have a lot of and end up producing beers that aren't quite what I wanted.

I suggest you list out your favorite styles, identify common ingredients and only buy those in bulk. I sometimes jump on a sale and end up with pounds of hops that I really don't have a use for. Then I go down to my LHBS and groan about spending $3/oz. on the hops I really need.

 

[RePete]

It might just be a function of how often you brew. Since the pandemic shutdown started, I have been brewing nearly every weekend. Buying kits every time would kinda be a PITA. I bought kits for years, but brewed less frequently. Then for a while was just going into the LHBS and buying the exact ingredients for each batch. But that takes planning ahead. As it is now, I have ingredients on hand. I often don’t know what I’m going to brew at the start of a brew session. I just know I’m going to brew, not necessarily what. I start heating a kettle of water, and look through what I have on hand.

 

[Gruel]

Now I feel like I beached myself at the shallow end of the internet pool.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Now I feel like I beached myself at the shallow end of the internet pool.

Water's warm down here at the shallow end, innit? It's the pee.

 

[BYOB504]

I just got into all grain and I went with the buy in bulk. I get bulk 2-row and bulk white wheat from lhbs and I get specialty malts and hops from the cheapest online which for me is usually northern brewer and the ship for free. Most of my favorite beers are based on white wheat and 2-row so I bought enough hops and spec malts to run thru a few batches leaving plenty of grain left so when I come across def recipes I shop for the spec malt and hops most of the time end at NB And when I have enough in my cart to get the free shipping 49$ I think I ship. I think I got it down to 19$ batches that’s yeast and all which to me is good cause the cheapest I see online are 21 ish 25. Then I still have to add yeast