Online homebrew shop?

[Hwk-I-St8]

I buy hops from Yakima Valley or Farmhouse.

I buy yeast and specialty grains and other misc (bottle caps, bottles, etc) from Ritebrew

I buy bulk base grains through our homebrew club who works with a local brewery. $25-30/bag for anything Briess

I buy hardware and such from Brewhardware.com or MoreBeer as a general rule though I don't buy much hardware anymore. My rig has been pretty stable for about 18 months now.

 

[okiedog]

Are you buying full 50 or 55 lb. bags of malt or smaller bags? I can't understand why anyone would want crushed grain in that quantity, unless you're brewing a LOT of beer. If you buy full bags, you have to have a grain mill, or it doesn't make sense. Whole grain malt may be okay for up to a year, if properly stored. Crushed grain starts to go down hill soon after it is crushed. Usually it should be used within a month or so; sooner if not stored in an airtight container. I used to buy crushed malt, and I either lived with the efficiency I got (70 - 75%), or I mashed longer. Then I bought a $99 grain mill and could never imagine going back (+/- 82%).

 

[smata67]

Are you buying full 50 or 55 lb. bags of malt or smaller bags? I can't understand why anyone would want crushed grain in that quantity, unless you're brewing a LOT of beer. If you buy full bags, you have to have a grain mill, or it doesn't make sense. Whole grain malt may be okay for up to a year, if properly stored. Crushed grain starts to go down hill soon after it is crushed. Usually it should be used within a month or so; sooner if not stored in an airtight container. I used to buy crushed malt, and I either lived with the efficiency I got (70 - 75%), or I mashed longer. Then I bought a $99 grain mill and could never imagine going back (+/- 82%).

Briess claims a 6 month shelf life for crushed grain if properly stored.

http://blog.brewingwithbriess.com/about/

 

[smata67]

Some price comparisons of NB with Atlantic Brew Supply: the candi syrups at $6.99 vs. $11.99 for NB. Omega yeasts are $7.49 vs $10.00 for NB. DME 3# $10.00 vs. $13.99. Hops I found to be about the same. For grain, NB seems to have a slight edge, but Atlantic sells grain by the ounce and will double crush if asked. The kit prices are very reasonable, about the cost of the ingredients. I checked a few kits on MoreBeer and found they were upcharging the kits I looked at $6-$8 over ingredient prices. I have not ordered from them (Atlantic) yet, but they are almost certainly going to be cheaper for most orders based on a cursory, unscientific survey.

 

[okiedog]

Briess claims a 6 month shelf life for crushed grain if properly stored.

http://blog.brewingwithbriess.com/about/

That is under optimum conditions, but I still think you'd notice the difference. The flavor difference of roasted malts/grains is probably less noticeable than lighter kilned malts. The big plus of having a grain mill is that you have control of your crush, as well as crush grains just before mashing.

 

[kh54s10]

Whole grain malt may be okay for up to a year, if properly stored.

I can personally attest that whole grain, properly stored lasts much longer than a year. In preparation for a move I only brewed a couple of times in a year. When starting again I detected no significant difference using the grains bought before that. In fact I looked at my purchases and discovered that most of my grain is at least 3 years old. In December I brewed an IPA with some of that older grain - one of my best ever, out of now, 106 batches.

I would suspect than most of the grain, by the time it reaches the end user is at least close to a year old already. And that grain has not been stored in the most optimum way. Think silos.......

 

[okiedog]

I've used (whole) grain that I had stored for more than a year. It was mostly specialty malts, and stored in 5 gallon gamma seal buckets. I use up my base grains faster than that though. That's not to say that a brew made with older grain is bad, but perhaps it could be better with fresher grain (or not). Crushed grains seem to lose character much more quickly.

 

[WaltG]

Anyone tried storing grains in vacu-seal bags to store grains?

 

[okiedog]

Haven't tried vacu-seal bags, but that's not a bad idea for smaller quantities. Are those bags oxygen barrier?

 

[WaltG]

Haven't tried vacu-seal bags, but that's not a bad idea for smaller quantities. Are those bags oxygen barrier?

When my LHBS announced they were closing i bought like 3 recipies. I didn't have a mill so I milled them there. This is 10lb

 

[WaltG]

When my LHBS announced they were closing i bought like 3 recipies. I didn't have a mill so I milled them there. This is 10lb

Pic

 

[okiedog]

When my LHBS announced they were closing i bought like 3 recipies. I didn't have a mill so I milled them there. This is 10lb

Did they vacu-seal it? Isn't that a lot for a vacu-seal bag? I guess it could be done, or split to a couple of bags. EDIT: I didn't see your picture. I guess it works.

 

[WaltG]

Did they vacu-seal it? Isn't that a lot for a vacu-seal bag? I guess it could be done, or split to a couple of bags.

I did. Buy the rolls off ebay. I got a wider roll that'll be about 25% less. Got the sealer at goodwill for like $7

 

[MaxStout]

I've used vac seal bags for storing small amounts of leftover grains. It keeps most of the air out, certainly moreso than just regular bags. But for larger amounts I just put it in buckets with Gamma seal lids.

 

[Sadu]

I'm up im Redding. This is the response.View attachment 614372

That crush looks truly terrible. To suggest that mash pH or beersmith is the reason you got 40% efficiency when your crush looks like that is just crazy talk.

I don't think it's fair to expect every staff member to be an experienced all-grain brewer but there has to be someone on site who can look at that picture and come to the same conclusion as everyone here.

 

[TheMadKing]

Operation Homebrew here in Georgia is my LHBS and the owner is a great guy. They always keep fresh grain in stock and he communicates immediately if something is sold out.

 

[TheMadKing]

Anyhow, back to my original point which was it seems something is amiss if I, living in Canada, can buy US ingredients from a western Canadian shop for substantially less than Americans can from large US online retailers. That's what people should ponder, as I have no reason to have made this fact up. Just trying to help.

I do some work in international shipping, and its not uncommon to see the prices of imported products be lower than the prices of native ones. Many times the sheer volume of export of a product means that it can be sold dramatically cheaper and still make a profit.

I would guess that the price difference is due to subsidies on agricultural tariffs/duties or something along those lines.

 

[okiedog]

Aggie10, I agree. It does sound strange that US products are cheaper in Canada. Who can tell us why?

 

[TheMadKing]

Aggie10, I agree. It does sound strange that US products are cheaper in Canada. Who can tell us why?

See above

Canada and Australia are the world's leading producers of malting barley.

The OP said that he sees US origin barley in his stores, which seems odd to me considering Canada produces more than double the barley that the U.S. does. That combine with much larger agricultural subsidization in Canada would result in cheaper grain.

It's also probably a product of simple market economics. $67 Canadian may be all the market can bear. I bet if the U.S. dollar weakens vs the Canadian dollar, they'll still sell it for $67 Canadian.

You can't look at it in terms of converted currency because it's probably on par with prices across the board in Canada. Wages are also likely lower when viewed in the context of converting them to US dollars, but if you live in Canada and everything is cheaper your wages will pay for the same amount of goods that they will in the US.

If I tried to buy grain in Canada and bring it into the US, I would have to pay duties on it negating any savings anyway. So in reality, the grain in Canada is the same price it is here when you account for all that.

 

[Aggie10]

My original comments re prices pertained to extracts and hops, specifically Briess and Yakima Chief. Those are US produced ingredients.

I quoted some Canadian grain prices, as I was asked to do so. I speculate that the price situation is more complex re bulk grains.

Also, I wouldn't claim ingredients are cheaper at all Canadian suppliers, but are significantly so at some compared to the large US online suppliers.

TheMadKing may be correct in several points above, I don't know. But the comment re what the market can bear, or willingness to pay, may support my original assertion that Americans are paying a higher markup on some US produced ingredients.

Peace out.

 

[devilssoninlaw]

My LHBS is only 5 miles away in our small town of about 1000. It's in the back room of a headshop and if I need sanitizer or small items, I'll buy from them but there's not enough turn around, in my opinion, to buy anything perishable.

 

[LuckyDuckAT]

I use morebeer, atantic brewing supply, adventure in homebrewing, and keg connection.

We go to ABS twice a month to restock, super sweet shop. Raleigh Brewing, the brewery portion of the business always had great brews on draft!

 

[LuckyDuckAT]

What online shops offer an AHA discount?

Atlantic Homebrew Supply does.

 

[okiedog]

All these comments about brewing grain pricing, comparisons and the grain market/supply economics is very interesting. In comparison to what I pay here in California, I have found some better grain prices around the US and Canada. But it is the shipping costs that seem to always negate any savings.

 

[LittleRiver]

I've had great service from these suppliers:

• GreatFermentations.com for grain
• AdventuresInHomeBrewing.com for kegs
• BrewHardware.com for all other hardware

 

[AzOr]

Digging this from the grave so I don’t start another thread but

Cheers to Austin homebrew! I’ve only ordered from them a few times but had great experiences. This last time I ordered a bottle filler and a 3g keg. I forgot to enter the coupon code at ordering for 15% off. I emailed them the next morning and within a few minutes they responded with “no problem, we’ll fix it”.

I live in an area with really good local shops so I do 90% of my shopping there but when I do need to order online, they’ll always get my business.

 

[Snuffy]

I usually get kegs and equipment from AIH or Morebeer. Ingredients and kits I get from Austin Homebrew and Great Fermentations. I like Austin Homebrew's clone kits of classic Brit and Belgian beers. I will order from NB if I get a coupon or something is on sale. Seems like most online shops are getting back to offering decent deals and free shipping now that the initial work-from-home brewfest freakout has settled down.