Malt costs :shock:

[crowds]

I have been meaning to ask folks about there LHBS and the cost of Malts.
I prefer to shop local whenever possible but my LHBS makes this feel like I'm being mugged every time I go in.
Hop cost's are not too bad but the range is poor and in comparison to some I bought online they were tired and past their best.
But the thing that bugs me most is the cost of Malts.

This November I gutted the kids pumpkin and used it in a pumpkin ale experiment.
I went to the LHBS to pick up a k of Maris Otter for it and was shocked to find it cost more for less than what I can get it elsewhere... either online or with a trip to Sheffield. It was £1.60 per 500g and when I got home one of the bags was out of date

Anybody else find their local supply shop to be way over the top when it comes to costs ?

[Stonechat]

At £1.60 for 500g that's £80 for a 25kg sack!!!!

[arkadiuszmakarenko]

I buy malt for 25.50GBP per sack. Which is very good price. And i can buy some hops for aprox 3GBP per 100g.

[mysterio]

My LHBS charges similar so I just shop online.

Wholesale prices for malt are what, 18 quid for a 25kg sack?

And 15 quid for a kilo of Goldings

So work out if you're getting ripped off from that.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

I'm paying £32.50 for a 25KG sack from a local(-ish) HBS. I can get it a bit cheaper on-line but once you add in delivery charges the difference is trivial.

[chris_reboot]

my LHBS charges around 36/sack.

find a friendly local micro brewery. I go to mine for malt now, they were homebrewers previously no doubt, so should be receptive to helping you out.
I've done some bottle swaps with them too! cost me about 24 quid from them

[Hawkinspm]

My LHBS also try to mug you as you walk through the door so I stopped using them, similar costs to what you are experiencing and inferior quality.

I now buy pale malt from a local microbrewery for £25 per 25kg and get pretty much everything else from Barley Bottom.

[crowds]

Yeah I normaly get mine from BB in fact I have some on order. Paul has done his back in at the moment so I'm gonna have to wait ill next week to get it
Im not quite at the stage to start ordering it by the sack, while I hear it keeps well. At my place it's the use of space I have to justify not the cost... well ok, the cost as well
The LHBS get supplies from Ritchies, so either they are charging them over the top or the LHBS is hiking up he price. To be fair the shop seems to be geared more towards wines and spirits (they sell still kits provided you can get a licence) not that thats any excuse...

I believe there is a micro brewery in chesterfield ( At least there was ) I will have to look into buying from them when I can find somewhere to keep it.
But to be honest I'm happy with BB for now

[vacant]

Flaked barley for horses is under £8 for 25Kg - 32p/Kg.

[crowds]

Yeah I think I saw that posted recently (probably you who mention it).
That's a great price.
Is it exactly the same thing as what we brew with ?

[vacant]

AFAIK, "micronized" is just a bit of infra red to dry it out. Local horse shop doesn't stock it but can order by the sack (I was hoping for a freebie).

[leedsbrew]

Next time you go in ask them if the recent reduction in wholesale malt price will be passed on to their customers. Going rate is now £15 - 25KG Does the LHBS staff uniform include a mask by any chance?

[crowds]

Does the LHBS staff uniform include a mask by any chance?

Not the uniform no, but there's a mask by the door as you go in.
The room is white and other than the mask completely bare.
It is lit by a single halogen lamp with such intensity that it's hard to make out the door on the far side.
Then a heavily vocoded disembodied voice speaks..
"It puts on the mask and takes three steps forward"
"Sorry I'm just after so..." I start to say.
"It puts on the mask and takes three steps forward"
I do as it says and things get a bit foggy from there...
I come to on the street 30 minutes later, all my money has gone and I have a bag of malts.
Looking behind me I see a launderette, the LHBS is gone.... but it will return.. it always does..

[GARYSMIFF]

I did do a BB grain buy for my last few brews and service / cost was v Good.

My last 6 or 7 25kg's came from

http://www.edwintucker.com/Tuckers%20Ma ... w_body.htm

Fab malt, great history.

I also have tried the "micronized" Flaked maize and its nayh problem prrrew preeeww must try the "micronized" Barley......and their off.

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=28635&p=309867&hilit=SMIFF#p309867


the FM is great, I'm sure the barley is too.. what else have we got to loose?

[Trefoyl]

My LHBS charges $2.50 a lb for Maris Otter (loose, not bulk) and he grinds it free if you like. Which is exactly the same as £1.60 per 500g, which seems weird. He's charging import prices.

For bulk comparison, I just bought a 25 kg bag from a store about an hour away for $66, or £39.68. Last year the best price I saw was $75, or £45. It is by far the most economical to pick up locally, shipping usually makes the price outrageous.

John Steed and Emma Peel are probably staking out your mysterious HBS right now