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…):
