Bulk Base Grain Thoughts

For me it's just about cost savings, Maris is $3 per lb, or a sack is currently $90 for me, almost half. Savings of $75 per sack, or ~$13 per brew. For basic 2 row/ pale ale malt it's a savings of about $50 per sack, or ~$8 per brew.

Well worth the storage space, for me, but if you're space limited, or the time to mill your own grain isn't worth it for you then I totally get it!

By buying bulk grains, making starters and harvesting the yeast repeatedly, and buying hops by the 8 oz or 1 lb, I cut my cost for each batch by more than half.
 
Pricelessbrewing said:
For me it's just about cost savings, Maris is $3 per lb, or a sack is currently $90 for me, almost half. Savings of $75 per sack, or ~$13 per brew. For basic 2 row/ pale ale malt it's a savings of about $50 per sack, or ~$8 per brew.

Well worth the storage space, for me, but if you're space limited, or the time to mill your own grain isn't worth it for you then I totally get it!

By buying bulk grains, making starters and harvesting the yeast repeatedly, and buying hops by the 8 oz or 1 lb, I cut my cost for each batch by more than half.
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Huh. My LHBS gets $2.90 a pound for the Otter.

Looking at @Bulin's Milker Bucket Brews link to the 3 roller geared mill, I figure I can make one like that for well under $200. Maybe I will after some more research on the details, particularly the gap setting mechanism.
 
I'm super lazy and for a while I was brewing 10 gallon batches 3-4 times a month so it made sense. I may have bought a boat load of biscuit malt that I'm not sure what to do with now.
 
We had a brewery in the area with a very strange business model: It started letting homebrewers come in and brew batches on their equipment for sale in the tasting room. Needless to say, they got some weird beers, some marginally potable, and when they went out of business, they had some of just about everything imaginable in stock. Our homebrew club bought the grain at auction and split it up. I have a basement full of grain I'll never use as a result. I've started slowly throwing it away.

My practice now, for best ingredient freshness, is to buy just what I need from the LHBS and mill it just prior to use.
 
With everyone complaining about the price, I had to look at the homebrew store price online. Maris Otter is $1.65/lb. I'm not shipping anything when I can get it cheaper 20 minutes up the road.
 
Hawkbox said:
I'm super lazy and for a while I was brewing 10 gallon batches 3-4 times a month so it made sense. I may have bought a boat load of biscuit malt that I'm not sure what to do with now.
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See if you can either barter with it at your LHBS or try selling online in 5lb increments.....Just sayin'
 
I buy two base grains in Bulk: Maris Otter and Pale Ale. I store them in Vittel Vault containers. It take me 12-18 months to go through them. At that point they are still fresh. Although when I finished up the last of the Maris Otter (took about a 18 months) I compared it to a few grains from the LHBS's bin of MO. Mine had slightly less flavor. So, that confirms my rule-of-thumb to only get grain in bulk if I can consume it within 12-18 months. Of course with the many variations in ways to store grain and some of the extreme environments home brewers store grain in...you mileage may vary. Also, you may have better sensory apparatus then I do :p
 
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