Where do you buy malt?

[MarTeBrew]

Greetings,

Instead of ready all-grain recipes, I would like to build them on my own from malts.
Can you recommend sources where malt can be purchased per pound for homebrewers?
Do the malt factories sell per pound instead of large bags?

Thanks,

 

[3 Dawg Night]

Any of the online homebrew shops sell grains by the pound. I recommend Atlantic Brew Supply. I've found their prices to be the best, and they sell by the ounce, so you don't have to pay for a pound of something you won't use all of. They usually have a discount code in Zymurgy as well.

 

[jrgtr42]

There;s a million online homebrew shops, and depending on your area, likely some brick and mortar ones as well.
Where are you located? |Presuming you're in the US, the big ones are Northern Brewer / Midwest Brewing, MoreBeer, Austin Homebrew, Williams Homebrew, Atlantic Brew and Adventures in Homebrew.
Look online for local ones - they may be slightly more in proce, but you have to balance off the shipping fees for mailorder.

 

[kevin58]

Do you have a local homebrew store (LHBS)? You would save a lot on shipping and not have to wait for delivery.

 

[rburrelli]

The maltsters do not usually sell in anything less than a sack (50-55lb) increments.

 

[day_trippr]

Love to help but sans any location context there isn't much point.

Folks might help themselves out by putting some hint as to their location in their visible profile.
Doesn't have to be as explicit as mine but maybe narrowing down to country at least might be a good idea...

Cheers!

 

[Soulshine2]

find a lhbs and visit. ask if they special order or only carry whats on the floor. find a microbrewery and ask if they can supply . never hurts to ask. ii still visit my lhbs in huntsville al, and they will order anything i ask . otherwise i go online if im not in any hurry.

 

[GoeHaarden]

RiteBrew for ingredients

BrewHardware for parts

Driving time, cost of gas, and taxes makes any lhbs inconvenient to me and not any cheaper than just paying the shipping.

 

[day_trippr]

Find someone (or get your own) BSG Customer account. Again, location dependent.
Massholes are already hooked up via Niles @whosradl. Bag prices are typically a buck a pound for stuff like GP and MO and less for random base malts...

Cheers!

 

[dwhite60]

I have two lhbs's that I try to support. I split my business between them.

I don't mind paying even thirty percent more to support the local guys versus buying online.

 

[reuliss]

I’ve always thought more beer had best prices on grain, though they very recently jacked them up, in some cases by 30%.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I get my specialty grains, yeast and other ingredients from RiteBrew.com. They are only a couple hundred miles away and stuff arives within 48 hours typically.

We have a local homebrew supply place, but their hours are horrible and prices high. I want to support them, but they make it really hard.

For base grains, our homebrew club does a couple group orders. For generic pale ale malt, brewers malt, pilsner etc, we work with a local brewery who adds our order onto their order from Briess. It's typically $25-30 a bag.

For European grains, we do a group buy and get stuff like floor malted Maris Otter for $40/bag. Frequently members will split a bag if they don't want a whole one.

In general, if you're not in a homebrew club, see if there's one around and join. It's a great source of information, feedback, sampling and events (we serve our homebrew at a nearby community's beer fest, for example).

 

[bracconiere]

it's $12.99 for a 50lb sack of whole barley at my local feed store? takes a bit more work to malt it. but makes a fine beer.....?

you can get creative with the crystal malts too!

 

[MaxStout]

I’ve always thought more beer had best prices on grain, though they very recently jacked them up, in some cases by 30%.

Been a long-time MoreBeer customer, but have been watching their prices slide up and up recently. You pay for shipping one way or another. And their service is getting a little spotty. I've been going round and round with them for weeks over some items they left out of an order, still waiting. I'll probably move on from them.

I'm a notorious tightwad, and when I need to order stuff I'll open a few browser tabs, go to different vendors and populate carts with my list in each. Add in their shipping and see which one wins. Lately, I've found that Midwest, with added shipping costs, still beats out some of the "free shipping" places. Other times, William's wins. Depends on what I'm getting. I usually never check Northern, as their prices are in the stratosphere, sometimes 50% higher than the same item from MW.

Brewing ingredients are getting expensive. It pays to shop around.

 

[tracer bullet]

RiteBrew for ingredients

BrewHardware for parts

Driving time, cost of gas, and taxes makes any lhbs inconvenient to me and not any cheaper than just paying the shipping.

I'm a Ritebrew fan as well. Price, selection, all good and love the service. I've even had them pause an order and ask if I ordered incorrectly (you really want this many pounds of roasted malt in this recipe?).

My LHBS is Northern Brewer, and so I figure they'll be fine, LOL. And for quite a while you had to order online, couldn't go into the grain room. Ritebrew arrived 2 days after ordering, NB would have been a week +.

 

[Deadalus]

I do that too @MaxStout. Ordering usually revolves around some specific hops or part I need. That sometimes winnows the list of available merchants.

Label Peelers sometimes runs specials on grain sacks. Rite Brew has an easy grain ordering page and you get a $0.20 discount for 10+ lbs of a single grain.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

RiteBrew for ingredients

It seems that the money they saved on website design was put into lowering product prices...they have some really solid prices. S-04 for $2.69, 1 lb of Centennial pellets for $7.29, 3 lbs of DME for $9.19. I just might have to give them a try.

 

[reuliss]

It seems that the money they saved on website design was put into lowering product prices...they have some really solid prices. S-04 for $2.69, 1 lb of Centennial pellets for $7.29, 3 lbs of DME for $9.19. I just might have to give them a try.

I checked out website too. But shipping is expensive. My $60 cart triggered $30 in shipping.

 

[tracer bullet]

I checked out website too. But shipping is expensive. My $60 cart triggered $30 in shipping.

Odd, I've had 20+ pounds of grain delivered for single digit $ amounts. But - I'm in MN and they are in WI, border buddies, likely has something to do with it.

 

[IslandLizard]

I know some homebrewers that take good advantage of all grain kit specials, such as offered on Nortern Brewer and MoreBeer from time to time. Sign up for their email alerts.

Especially the 2-fers and 3-fers can be lucrative, as it will qualify you for free shipping. Just stock up on them, buy 6 or more kits.
Buy a mill, and order unmilled, their milling is quadruple crap, while they throw everything milled, together in one bag.

You can then tweak the recipes/ingredients (they can be a bit skimpy on hops, so buy some by the pound (or half pound) from HopsDirect, YVH, etc.), or pull them apart and brew your own recipes.

Me, I like our group buys, where we also split sacks (we're that organized!). I also get my DME (for yeast starters!) by the sack (or split one with a few other buyers) for less than $2.50 a pound.

But our group ordering frequency has been going down the past 3 years, so next time I'll probably buy a few sacks from my LHBS. Their pricing on whole sacks has become rather competitive with the group buy, as those prices went up, and the selection went down. Besides, our LHBS sponsors many of our events, so we all need to support them. And I do, in many ways.

As long as I can get my Simpson Golden Promise (or better), and a few other malt specialty goodies (e.g., malted oats) I won't complain. Even if I need to spend another $10-20 on a sack, it's all worth it.

 

[GoeHaarden]

It seems that the money they saved on website design was put into lowering product prices...they have some really solid prices. S-04 for $2.69, 1 lb of Centennial pellets for $7.29, 3 lbs of DME for $9.19. I just might have to give them a try.

Yeah, don't judge that book. Lol. You can play around with your purchase/shipping to get a discount when you spend enough. Plus they will take off $0.20/lb for any grain bought over 10lbs. They also sell a 4lb PBW refill that is cheaper than anywhere else...

 

[GoeHaarden]

I checked out website too. But shipping is expensive. My $60 cart triggered $30 in shipping.

I think the magic weight limit is under 48lbs and you wont trigger the freight charge...

I usually buy abt 40lbs of grain and a few pounds of hops and some yeast to hit just at $100 - it gives you a $10 discount. Making shipping like $15...

 

[IslandLizard]

They also sell a 4lb PBW refill that is cheaper than anywhere else...

Just... not as cheap yet as my homemade PBW, at under $2.50 per pound.

Only at our group grain buy can I get the real PBW at around $3 a pound. It indeed has a much higher (double) PerCarbonate content.
But I really don't care about the extra oxygen, I think most of it is wasted, anyway.

 

[GoeHaarden]

extra oxygen, I think most of it is wasted, anyway.

I dunno. Watching it fizz just does something for me.

 

[reuliss]

I think the magic weight limit is under 48lbs and you wont trigger the freight charge...

I usually buy abt 40lbs of grain and a few pounds of hops and some yeast to hit just at $100 - it gives you a $10 discount. Making shipping like $15...

I think the magic weight limit is under 48lbs and you wont trigger the freight charge...

I usually buy abt 40lbs of grain and a few pounds of hops and some yeast to hit just at $100 - it gives you a $10 discount. Making shipping like $15...

thanks for tip but tried and didn’t work for me. 47 lbs of basic 2 row and got $28 shipping quote.

 

[smata67]

It seems that the money they saved on website design was put into lowering product prices...they have some really solid prices. S-04 for $2.69, 1 lb of Centennial pellets for $7.29, 3 lbs of DME for $9.19. I just might have to give them a try.

And cascade on sale $5.99/lb.

 

[Nate R]

Greetings,

Instead of ready all-grain recipes, I would like to build them on my own from malts.
Can you recommend sources where malt can be purchased per pound for homebrewers?
Do the malt factories sell per pound instead of large bags?

Thanks,

As mentioned above... location, location, location!!
But... some stores offer "free shipping" if you hit a threshold.
Ya gotta do the homework, but as @MaxStout said, i too am a cheap wad (i say cheap.azz).

Morebeer.com sells 10# sacks of grain for a fair price. If you hit $59 you get free shipping. Ditto for a lot of other companies.
So, if you can wait until you reach a $59 order you can do pretty good.
Or watch the homebrewing deala thread on this very forum... often you will great deals and occasional downright steals (like 100% free shipping on bulks sacks of grain!!).

 

[GoeHaarden]

thanks for tip but tried and didn’t work for me. 47 lbs of basic 2 row and got $28 shipping quote.

Hmm. Yeah, I don't know then. I live within their 2 day shipping zone. They ship from MN.

EDIT: and my boxes always make it in 2 days. Never had an issue

 

[bwible]

My “local” homebrew shop is over an hour’s drive. I mail order small amounts of grain from them and I drive there if I need to pick up a sack or other large items. Shipping is a factor, it doesn’t make sense to order $12 worth of grain and pay $15 for shipping on top of that. So you need to place a decent order, find other things you “need” to make the order worthwhile.

Group buys are all fun and games until one day you find you no longer have a local homebrew shop. Then I guess you’ll wonder why.

 

[Mark3885]

I just went to Ritebrew and Morebeer made a sample order for 20# Breiss 2 row and 20 #Bairds Maris Otter , Morebeer was $65.96 and Ritebrew was $67.34. Shipping is going up all across the board for many reasons, increased future fuel costs , for one , COVID screwed every body and the shippers are taking advantage of the online shopping craze. My not so local LHBS ( about an hr away) , now is the same price or cheaper than Ritebrew and Morebeer, I can buy a 50# bag of 2 row for $54 and 50 lb Maris otter for $74.50

 

[GoeHaarden]

I just went to Ritebrew and Morebeer made a sample order for 20# Breiss 2 row and 20 #Bairds Maris Otter , Morebeer was $65.96 and Ritebrew was $67.34

Yeah, example of how other places can offer "free shipping" - just hide the cost in product pricing! I'll stick with Ritebrew...

 

[Craiginthecorn]

Big Ritebrew.com fan here. This is due, in part, to the fact the they are only a couple hundred miles north of me. In the Midwest, you can ship using SpeeDee, which is markedly cheaper than the alternatives, especially for heavier shipments. In my experience, if I order in the morning, there's a very good chance that SpeeDee will be delivering the order to me the next day.

Another cool service offered by Ritebrew is pre-ordering Wyeast and Omega yeasts. You place your order for a specific strain, then the following Monday, they place the order and receive the ultra-fresh yeast usually later that same week. They will then ship it to you, or if you choose, they will wait until the following Monday to ship it in order to avoid the chance of the yeast languishing on a truck over a weekend.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

It seems that the money they saved on website design was put into lowering product prices...they have some really solid prices. S-04 for $2.69, 1 lb of Centennial pellets for $7.29, 3 lbs of DME for $9.19. I just might have to give them a try.

I've been ordering from them for several years with excellent results.

thanks for tip but tried and didn’t work for me. 47 lbs of basic 2 row and got $28 shipping quote.

Must be a distance thing. I order from them all the time. I'll get 20 lbs of misc grain, some yeast and any other stuff I happen to need and shipping (via SpeeDee) will be arounc $8-12. I'm in Iowa though, so again, adjacent state.

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

Any of the online homebrew shops sell grains by the pound. I recommend Atlantic Brew Supply. I've found their prices to be the best, and they sell by the ounce, so you don't have to pay for a pound of something you won't use all of. They usually have a discount code in Zymurgy as well.

I never heard of them but it looks like I may be placing my next order with them - Thanks for the tip

 

[Snark_Wolf_Brewing]

This is where I buy all my grains and other homebrew supplies.

https://www.homebrewing.org/

 

[khannon]

For full bags, I would strongly suggest talking to a local brewpub/craft brewery.. Often if you have any sort of relationship with them they are willing add a bag or two to their next order, and sell it to you at close to cost.. Then, when you pick it up you can have a pint or bring home a growler.. And you might develop a relationship...

 

[Wigglebutts Brewery]

I’ve always thought more beer had best prices on grain, though they very recently jacked them up, in some cases by 30%.

I also bought from Morebeer in 2020 and haven't checked prices this year as I got a bunch of kits for Xmas. WOW, prices have inflated.
Our LHBS has a monthly 15% discount coupon if you're on their email list... Their bag pricing with this discount is my the new normal!

 

[smata67]

The North American malt prices are certainly higher, but the Viking 10# bags are still at around $11.99.

 

[smata67]

I never heard of them but it looks like I may be placing my next order with them - Thanks for the tip

Try codes ZYM2021 or BREWFILES for 15% off their already very reasonable pricing.

 

[reuliss]

The North American malt prices are certainly higher, but the Viking 10# bags are still at around $11.99.

Agreed but those use to be 8.99