Purchasing suggestions

RoadRoach

RoadRoach

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My LHBS is a great guy and all, but I really haven't been on my toes about watching my costs in this hobby, and tend to pay what he asks for a given recipe.

Do any of you guys who purchase your ingredients online have any strong recommendations one way or another about who to buy from and perhaps why? I'd like to do a little bit more competitive shopping, but I also want reliable delivery and some assurance I didn't just donate to someone's personal enrichment funds.

I'm averaging between $35 and $45 per batch, and haven't particularly noticed a huge difference in all grain versus extracts with specialty grains. Perhaps that's because he mills the grain for me too. I've looked at mills, and they tend to be a little pricey, and can apparently be easily damaged with improper settings. That's also going to add some labor to the process, which isn't a real problem, other than getting me off my lazy butt to do it.

Hints? Suggestions?
 
I buy most of my grains from Morebeer.com with free delivery with $49 or more purchased (when do you not spend more than $50). I just started last year buying my hops from Yakima Valley Hops. I've learned that the hops you use over and over, it is probably better to buy in bulk instead of the 1 oz pkgs. When I need something quickly, I'll go to the LHBS with the hopes they have what I need. As for online shopping, you have to be planful.
 
As someone who now has to travel an hour to the closest LHBS after my local one closed down, I would buy anything I could reasonably justify from my local place. "Reasonably justify" being a relative term.
When I order online, I always order enough goodies for 5 or 6 beers, trying to order enough for free shipping. I would much prefer to just go batch to batch and remain more flexible, but without a LHBS, it's kind of hard to do.
 
I buy unmilled in bulk from more beer a couple times a year and take advantage of the free shipping deal. If I’m short specialty malt or something and near the lhbs I’ll pick it up there. I get bulk hops deals at farmhouse
 
I try buying from my LHBS as much as possible because many of my recipes are, some would say exotic others confusing, in the sense that I have a lot of “2 ounces of this, 3 ounces of that” which I can’t buy online. Also, a lot of my darker recipes only require an ounce of hops. So, buying a pound, although more cost efficient in terms of cost per ounce, is way more than I need. However, my LHBS doesn’t carry everything. In those cases I prefer Norther Brewer and Yakima Valley Hops.
 
My brew schedule runs between 8 & 10 batches per year, so it doesn't make a lot of sense for me to buy in quantity. I buy from my lhbs per brew & I use their mill to grind the grain bill. My batches run between $35 & $45 each. Yeast & grains are always fresh. No wait for delivery & the guys are always helpful when I'm looking for something unusual. Buy local, when you can.
 
I like Atlantic brewing supply for grain, yeast, and hops. But shipping is terrible unless you spend $59 and the you still pay $8. I like that that will package everything In separate recipes if you request. I use northern brewer and more beer quite a bit especially if I’m not buying a lot since their shipping is cheaper.
I have no local brewing store ….within 90 miles
 
Typical brews are $25-30 for grain and yeast from LHBS, and I got a bunch of hops from hops direct. I prefer to give LHBS most of my business because I want them to succeed, even though they've been there for over 20 years.
 
Ritebrew.com is great place to order from. They are cheap and fast.

Midwestsupplies.com is another great place to buy grains

Milling it yourself will pay for itself....... someday. Lol

I have a great LBHS that I buy most stuff from. $0.09 an oz is hard to beat.
 
I have access to 3 stores. One is a mile from my office. Very, very expensive. I bought 10 lbs of Golden Promise there and 2 oz of galaxy hops and it was over $50 USD. I priced the same items on morebeer.com and it was $29 USD. I like to keep $$'s in my pocket too.
 
RoadRoach said:
My LHBS is a great guy and all, but I really haven't been on my toes about watching my costs in this hobby, and tend to pay what he asks for a given recipe.

Do any of you guys who purchase your ingredients online have any strong recommendations one way or another about who to buy from and perhaps why? I'd like to do a little bit more competitive shopping, but I also want reliable delivery and some assurance I didn't just donate to someone's personal enrichment funds.

I'm averaging between $35 and $45 per batch, and haven't particularly noticed a huge difference in all grain versus extracts with specialty grains. Perhaps that's because he mills the grain for me too. I've looked at mills, and they tend to be a little pricey, and can apparently be easily damaged with improper settings. That's also going to add some labor to the process, which isn't a real problem, other than getting me off my lazy butt to do it.

Hints? Suggestions?
Click to expand...
Our LHBS is so good I rarely need anything they don't have and if I give them enough lead time they'll get it. No help here, sorry...
 
Wow, I feel lucky with 2 lhbs close to work, about 20 minutes from home. And both places serve craft on draft, and bottles too. I enjoy supporting these local businesses, and am happy that Windsor is expanding. Prices are reasonable, I guess, seeing that I have never purchased grain anywhere else. For my 2.5 gallon batches, 5+ pounds of milled grain (1 shop lets you mill your own, the other mills for you) usually cost about $10. Most hops that I use are available from reputable suppliers, in the range of $2.50-$3.25 per ounce. Dry and liquid yeasts are available from $4-$10 per pouch. Since I overbuild yeast starters, my actual cost per batch is pretty low. Sometimes living near a metropolis has its advantages. For the rest of you, I admire your persistence in pursuit of the perfect pour.
 
I found a new to me hombrew store up in Noosa 30 mins from me with very competitive prices An ex Hombrewer turn Hombrew store owner.
This bloke is stocking kegking products at almost website prices!
I dropped in recently to check out his stock plenty of lager style malts hop selection is abundant as is the yeast selection.
I'm looking forward to spending some coin at his shop.
He seems a fair man with fair prices he will do well I know compared to my local HB store the bloke that owns that is little bit arrogant thinks he knows it all sorta looks down his nose at you and 6$/kg across the board on his malts.
Are well less informed people get ripped on his prices
 
Support Local if you can or you won't have a choice.
In the years that I've been in this hobby, I've been blessed to learn a great deal about it but then also the supply side as well.
We all get into the hobby for a number of reasons and rely on others/ Mentors to help us down our path. At some point, we know enough to go ahead by ourselves.
Somewhere in that journey, inevitably we ask ourselves how cheaply we can get a beer to the glass. That can have some significant affects on your beer.
I've learned that at almost any cost, the freshest ingredients always make a superior product.
From fresh base grain ( does your online seller buy a weeks supply at a time or a truckload? Is your grain the 1st or last grain to be sold) , specialty malts, hops and yeast.
So, if it's reasonable to do so, buy from your local supplier and build a relationship with them.
They will likely order fresh specialty yeast for you, bring in a different hop if they can get it, get you fresh grain, by the pound or sack, and in their best interest, keep you happy and satisfied so you become a regular. Plus, most will be happy to share information with you about brewing or related things.
Another thing to consider if it's out of your way, is that they'll also likely ship it to you at a reasonable price.
Remember these shop owners pay taxes in your community, hire local help and spend their earnings locally.
So when you end up needing something in a pinch, they'll be there for you.
Ok, rant over.
Cheers!
Brian
 
Like I said, he's a great guy, and I've taken a few recipes to him rather than pulling one from his book. He's all over it and will jump through flaming hoops to match the best substitution if he's out of stock on something and there is one. He's a stickler for making sure the ingredient nationalities match up with the recipe's nationality, so if he can avoid substitution, he does. He has a very impressive inventory in a very small shop. Only one time have I had to wait a week for him to get some Galaxy hops, which was during the peak of the transportation crisis caused by you-know-what. A week for delivery of hops from the West Coast was actually pretty astounding, considering it took two weeks for the Post Office to deliver a letter from the other side of town at that time. And that, was probably because he used FedEx standard instead of overnight for the delivery. I can't ask him to waste his profits on a hurry for me. I'm not in a hurry anyway. He still brews behind the store (I've in fact helped him with a sparge) and I have to say, his equipment isn't much higher tech than mine, other than some of his testing hardware and temperature controls for fermenting. He usually has a keg of his latest lager in the fridge, and is always generous with a sample for tasting, but he can't sell it out of his store without getting a state liquor license and a local restaurant license in addition to the business license he already has. Not having all those licenses probably keeps prices down. I do actually prefer to shop local for all the reasons stated, and if I can get what I need in a non-chain store I will. The Ma and Pa shops have the most difficult time staying in business. Their pockets simply aren't as deep as Big-Box, but they ALL seem to care more about the quality of product they sell.

So, for a 5 gallon batch, what kind of costs are you guys usually seeing? @Trialben, you're fully welcome to chime in as well, because I have a link for Aussie to US conversions. :D I fully realize what goes in a batch is going to affect the cost, but a ball-park average number would suit just fine for a comparison. I'd just like to figure out if I'm not buying the right way. I'm sure if I bought larger quantities from him based on upcoming recipes, it would be less expensive. Dunno, though, really. He doesn't give line-item pricing on what he puts in a given recipe, but the price does fluctuate some as I buy from him, so I'm pretty sure he does indeed account for the more expensive ingredients and gives his customers best price and service by doing so. Like I said, he's a good guy, and seemingly honest and fair. All this is just about too many years of being forced to get competitive bids on everything I purchased. More curiosity than need.
 
This is what today's brew will cost roadie.
27 for 4.5kg grain 220g hops.
Screenshot_20220122-063820_Samsung Internet.jpg
 
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