Purchasing malt by the sack is a convenient way for all-grain brewers to enjoy a spur-of-the-moment brew day and save some money in the process. Purchasing by the pound from a homebrew retailer is great for one-off batches and for specialty grains, but if you go through a lot of base malt, it’s worth thinking about buying by the bag.
American pale malt is probably the most widely available bulk malt, and more than likely, you could just walk into your homebrew store and ask to buy a bag. Other base malts such as Maris Otter, Munich, and Vienna are also fairly easy to come by, but bags of specialty malts might require a special order. Call ahead to your favorite homebrew store to find out what’s on offer.
Here are five things to consider if you’re in the market for big bags of barley (or wheat, or rye…):
1. American malts are typically sold in 50-pound sacks, while European malts usually come in 25-kilogram bags. Twenty-five kilos is about fifty-five pounds, so be sure to take that weight difference into account when comparing prices of different malts.
2. Unless you use a lot of a given specialty grain, it’s almost never a good idea to buy crystal malts, roasted malts, or unmalted adjuncts in larger amounts. Do you really need 25 kilos of peat-smoked malt? Probably not. But if many of your recipes feature Crystal 60, then a 50-pound bag might be warranted. If you don’t think you’ll use it within a year, it’s probably best to just purchase smaller amounts as you need it.
3. See if your friends or your homebrew club might organize a bulk purchase. Some retailers will offer sacks of malt at a discount if you can meet a certain minimum order. Bags of malt are heavy, and the more you order, the less (per bag) you’ll pay in shipping.
4. Alternatively, chat with your local craft brewer and ask if he or she would be willing to tack on an extra sack of grain or two when (s)he places the next order. Breweries go through so much malt that the incremental shipping cost for an extra couple of bags is virtually negligible. You might even be able to share in the savings that the brewer enjoys from buying in bulk.
5. Make sure you have a good place to store a large amount of grain. That means a location that’s cool, dark, and dry. You also want to choose a spot where rodents and bugs won’t make a feast of your grain stash. Metal containers are a good solution if you’re worried about furry little paws.
I like to keep a variety of base malts on hand that cover the majority of styles I like to brew. For me, that means American pale malt, Maris Otter, German Pilsner, and Munich Type I. Take a look at the styles you brew most frequently and estimate how much of the most common malts you might go through in a year. If your number is around the 50-pound or 25-kilogram mark, then buying in bulk may be right for you.