BeerBorg

Hello All, I've got to do some bottling this weekend and I like to brew after bottling...well brewing anytime is fine too! I was wondering do you guys normally just buy a recipe or make a "shopping list" from a recipe. I've been looking at both ways and buying grains/extracts in bulk.

For instance only buying the select amounts that you need for a given recipe? Or do you just buy the ingredients that you're sure you'll use in pound bags or larger amounts? I would guess buying in the larger amounts might result in it being cheaper and the fact that you'll always having grains and extracts on hand for brewing. Of course that takes up storage space too and the possibly of the crushed grains and LME/DME getting old before you use all of them?
Thanks, Tony

You're going to get a mixture of answers. It depends is the right answer.

If you're a whole grain brewer and you make a lot of batches, then buying 50 pound bags of grains makes sense. People store them in airtight containers.

I'm an extract brewer. Steeping grains, bulk LME (that I buy in exact quantities), and hops. I figure out 2 or 3 recipes and then buy for those recipes. I buy in bulk yeast and hops (both for the first time a few months back). The grains are crushed by me when I buy them, then heatsealed in a thick plastic bag (not vacuum) sealed. LME is filled into containers as per the recipe (i.e. 6.2 lbs, 7.1 lbs...) and then refrigerated by me. You don't want to crush grains and store them for long periods if you can help it, and definitely not if you can't protect them from air (like ground coffee they get stale).

AIH lets me buy any amount of grains I want. 2 oz, 9 oz, 3 lbs. Same price per pound (cheaper to buy 50 lbs of course).

I brew within 6 weeks of buying everything, batch 1 right away, batch 2 in 3 weeks (or less), batch 3 in 6 weeks (or less). AIH is 32 miles round trip. If they were closer, i.e. near our grocery store, I would probably buy 1 or 2 at a time.

I have no doubt that I save enough money each year on bulk grain and hops and by making large starters and saving yeast for future batches, to brew an extra 3 or maybe 4 beers a year. Maybe not a huge amount but that's fine by me. I win by having enough on hand for last minute brews or substitutions. I'm not sure how much of a discount you get for buying DME and LME in large amounts but grain discounts can be substantial.
Plus, depending on what you buy, if they offer free shipping, you save even more.
But the final answer is how much you brew. Having stock sit too long at your house isn't going to help. And for me, space is a problem though I get by with that in other ways.

As Rick said, buying grains in bulk works if you do a lot of AG brewing.

And everyone's buying habits will vary from person to person, and time to time.

I have shifted more toward Partial Mash with Extract brewing so for me:

I like to use Pilsen LME so I buy that in 33 lb 'growlers' that I pour and measure from on brew day.
I save about 33% over buying individual 3 pounders...

For Yeast, I always have a selection of mostly ale, some lager, cider and wine dry yeasts in the fridge.
They don't take up a lot of space and they last for years. No real bulk discount there but they are pretty cheap by default.

I also buy select specialty liquid yeasts for many brews a short time before I plan to brew them.
Lucky for me, my LHBS is less than 10 minutes away and hase a full stock of liquid yeasts and hops at any given time. These cost more so you can save money buy making starters with one instead of buying two for ales, four for lagers!

I usually buy hops as I see them, or on a whim, or as needed for a specific brew idea and put the sealed bags into ziplock freezer bags and into the freezer. I find that they can actually stay very well for up to two years if unopened and nitrogen flushed. This lets me have a bunch of different hops available when I decide I want to try something. Things like EKG, Fuggels, Styrians, Hallertau, Tettenang, Saaz and various IPA style C hops, some NZ and Australian... And one lonely package of Sorachi Ace that I haven't done anything with yet...

Market price here boys and girls... Pounds offer discounts over ounces but for me, it's tough to decide on which pound or pounds to get so I end up buying a lot of individual ounces... Probably should just get a pound or two of some C hops and maybe something Noble.

All my specialty grains are purchased in one or three pound sealed bags, and I don't grind them until I need them. I store them cool and dry, in individual ziplock freezer bags, and then into no special container or anything, just a cardboard box lined with a large plastic bag that I can close up around them.

As I measure out grains, I heat seal the bags again, squeezing out as much air as I can, then I put the sealed bag into its ziplock freezer bag again and into the box. I usually have 10-15 different specialty grains around at any given time including CaraFoam, CaraPils, Several Crystals, a few CaraWhatevers, Melanoiden, Acid Malt, Biscuit, Victory, Vienna, Munich, Two Chocolates, Roasted Barley. I also currently have Flaked Wheat, Flaked Oats, Mesquite Smoked Barley, Oak Smoked Wheat and Six Row. For these type of grains, buying in bulk would be a waste for me as I couldn't use them fast enough. As it is, some of my grains are two years old but still in great shape.

Other needed brewing items like yeast nutrient, water adjustment chemicals, muslin bags, specialty LME or DME are simply purchased as needed.

I buy my brewing supplies at The Brewer's Apprentice, they're only a few miles away so its very convenient. They also have a brew-on-premise business located in the same building. Their business is 50% homebrewing supplies and 50% brew-on-premise and they move a lot of ingredients. They even double crush my grains so there's no need for me do it. I do wish I could find a less expensive way to buy the hops that I use most often. I think hops are the biggest expense in my recipes and they're pretty easy to store.

ScrewyBrewer wrote:I do wish I could find a less expensive way to buy the hops that I use most often. I think hops are the biggest expense in my recipes and they're pretty easy to store.

Check on-line, Farmhouse Brewing Supply, they are just south of Madison Wi area. They have some very good prices on hops, as Beerlord can attest to.

Agree. I bought from them earlier this year, first bulk order of hops I ever made. Prices ranged (including pro-rated shipping) from $0.90 per ounce for Cascade to $1.41 for EKG. I bought 4 oz packs, nothing more than 8 oz, and a total of 7 kinds of hops. I also bought a bunch of yeast packets, but should have bought more (they were cheaper also).

I buy what I need as I need it because I brew on an erratic schedule.
Luckily for me, I can swing by More Beer on my way home from work and it's only about 20 minutes out of my way.
I buy exactly what I need for my next upcoming brew (hops, yeast and all).

If I brewed more regularly I'd buy in bulk.

Kealia wrote:I buy what I need as I need it because I brew on an erratic schedule.
Luckily for me, I can swing by More Beer on my way home from work and it's only about 20 minutes out of my way.
I buy exactly what I need for my next upcoming brew (hops, yeast and all).

If I brewed more regularly I'd buy in bulk.

This is exactly how I do it too!! And for the same reasons.

BlackDuck wrote:

Kealia wrote:I buy what I need as I need it because I brew on an erratic schedule.
Luckily for me, I can swing by More Beer on my way home from work and it's only about 20 minutes out of my way.
I buy exactly what I need for my next upcoming brew (hops, yeast and all).

If I brewed more regularly I'd buy in bulk.

This is exactly how I do it too!! And for the same reasons.

Pretty much same, although I will take advantage of a 20% off NB or MoreBeer sale/coupon once in a while and buy some really expensive kit with a lot of hops/malt that I won't actually brew as is, and then turn it into 2-3 other brews later. So once in a while I build up a little stockpile of misc.

I go to my LHBS 1-2 times each month typically. It used to be within walking distance of my home, but they moved to a much larger space in August that is probably 1-1/2 miles from my home, so it is still really close by. I buy a 55lb sack of pale malt when I get low, buying some other specialty malts at the same time (1-5lb) that I know I will use; Munich malt, Crystal 40L, & some Briess Black Prinz. I crush all my grains just before mashing, so I never have to worry about freshness. Currently I have some 12 different grains on hand for brewing. The price for the 55lb sack of grain is about half the price of buying by the pound. I still buy all the specialty grains by the pound though, those sacks take up a lot of space.
I will buy hops by the ounce, or will buy by the lb if there is some crazy good deal, or free.
I always have some dried yeast on hand, so if I'm down to a last pack, I'll pick up a few more. I try to plan at least a week in advance of a brew day what I will brew, so that I know if I need another ingredient (usually a liquid yeast), I will have plenty of time to either get what I need at my LHBS, or, if they are out of stock, I can get it at another LHBS closer to my work, or cross town.

For a while I was harvesting yeast so I would always have some on hand, but since I wasn't keeping grains on hand I couldn't brew anyway. It is still cheaper so I will still do that sometimes, depending on the strain.

I buy pale 2 row, pilsner and Rye in 50# bags Cause I use a lot of all 3
Wheat and Maris Otter in 10# or 25# bags cause I use quite a bit of those
Every thing else I buy in 1@ bags most of the time
I buy Cascade, Saaz, Tett and NOW Sorachi Ace hops in 1# bags
Everything else I buy as I need

Dawg LB Steve wrote:

ScrewyBrewer wrote:I do wish I could find a less expensive way to buy the hops that I use most often. I think hops are the biggest expense in my recipes and they're pretty easy to store.

Check on-line, Farmhouse Brewing Supply, they are just south of Madison Wi area. They have some very good prices on hops, as Beerlord can attest to.

Thank you for sharing. I will check them out online tomorrow morning over coffee. I'm thinking on getting Northern Brewer, Cascades, Citra, Chinook and Hallertauer, that should last me an entire year.

The right answer is whatever is right for you.

Even though I have to drive 45 minutes to my LHBS, I plan ahead, make my list, and buy ingredients for my next two or three batches, since I usually get down there every other week, at best. Some guys buy 50 pounds of two-row and store it in sealed bins. That's what works for them.

Your needs and habits and schedule are going to determine what's right for you.