Hey all,

I'm somewhat new to all grain, and was looking forward to buying grain in bulk. I had a couple of questions, tho.

1) Are there retailers/sources that move grain enough so that what you buy will be reasonably fresh, and is so, whom?
2) As for the brands of malts, are there any reviews online? For instance, I was looking into getting some Belgian malts, and was wondering if there are enough sources to compare between, or is it a case where the choices are so few that it doesn't matter?
3) I've read where freezing a grain bill prior to crushing (if you have the ability) is good because it helps with the crush. Thoughts?

Thanks!

Mid Country malt has good prices, but you really need to buy several sacks to get a good deal on a pallet rate. The rate is around $115 to Texas.

http://www.countrymaltgroup.com/contact/mid_country_order.asp

Buying in bulk is a nice thing. Not only do you save money but you can brew whenever you want at the last minute.
I've never bought online, just LHBS.
As for brands, if you've just started AG, I wouldn't worry about the brand until you've gotten the hang of it and have been able to make your favorite beer multiple times consistently....that's just my $.02
Never heard that thing about freezing them. Just keep them dry, that's the most important part.

I don't know if freezing would help or not, but I don't know anyone who does it and no one seems to miss it.

I got in on a bulk order from Mid Country malt when I first got into AG last year. Bought 4 sacks for around $140 total including shipping. We were able to fill up a pallet and get it shipped to a local community college loading dock where one guy worked. Houston has a strong homebrew community, so ask some local clubs if they are interested in getting an order together. I think we ended up needing 40 sacks to fill the pallet. Also, make a post on several forums, tastybrew of course, northern brewer has a very frequented forum. The only other thing is that you will probably want a mill, I suggest the barley crusher malt mill, to keep your grain as fresh a possible. I still have ~100 lbs. of grain left and we ordered in December 2007.

I actually sat back in ran a spread sheet last night on this topic. I'd have to buy a butt load of grain to get past the shipping part... however it is cheaper for me to drive to B3 and pick up grain than it is to ship more than 1 sack via UPS. I have a savings of $91 by buying 2 sacks and driving to B3 than buying bulk grain from the LHBS on a per # basis.

The savings increase if I can get another brewer to split the fuel costs too.

I'll just need to order 2 sacks of 2 row and 1 sack of pilsner malt just for a start.

If ya like I can ship you my simple spreadsheet...

B3 does have good bulk grain pricing, but unless you can drive there, the shipping will kill the savings.

For Texas, if you can get to 20 sacks you're down to just under $6 per at Mid Country. You also need a way to unload it or a loading dock. If not, you have to pay more for the shipping company to bring out a fork lift. I suppose if a couple of guys could meet the truck, you could break up the pallet and get it off pretty fast.

I think everyone's covered the 'buying' part. Consider the 'storage' aspect... jefe- you will need a good place to store your grain. Ideally someplace cool and dry. Hard to find in H-town. Insects like weevils can become a real problem- not for the beer but they'll overrun everything if you let them... Another problem is mold which may or not affect you.

All grain is wonderful and the savings help, but bear in mind what it'll be like with all those sacks of grain. I only keep one 50# sack on hand at a time now, though I used to keep more. Then the weevils reared their little horned heads...

http://www.brewbrothers.biz/

Not sure there are reviews online, I certainly haven't seen anything dedicated to them. I've had great luck with all of the Malteries Franco-Belges malts that I've used so far though.

I also haven't ever heard of #3.

I'm not planning on buying any more then just one bag, so I was going to store it in a rubbermaid sealable container inside my house. I've seen the concerns about weevils, so I'm preparing to avoid them.

I may just order a bag via my LHBS of a standard pilsner malt. I wasn't sure if this was something I can shop around for and compare brands. Just worried about the quality.

Re: Malteries Franco-Belges - that's great to hear. That's what I was looking at. Thanks!

That's going to be quite a drive for you. Brewbrothers is in Portland and they don't ship.

Brewbrothers is a great site. Thanks for the link!

If I had a place like that close to me I'd probably not stock much grain myself.