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How much Grain Storage should we have?

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  • How much Grain Storage should we have?

    Wondering if anyone can help me figure out how much grain storage we need. Is there a general number or calculation for it? We will have a 10bbl system and are planning to have 5 to 8 different beers regularly with 4 being lagers and the rest being ales.

  • #2
    I dont know how accurate it is, but the guide that JV North West has on their site suggests 0.15-0.25 sqft/bbl of yearly capacity for bagged malt storage. Hopefully folks with direct experience will be able to chime in and let us know if that seems like a good ballpark figure.
    Brandon Besser, P.E.
    "He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom" - Gandalf

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    • #3
      I have zero square feet of dry storage. I arrange to have grain delivered the day before brewing.

      So I suggest more than 0 sq ft.

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      • #4
        what does shipping cost for your malt?

        is it a fixed price per skid, or a base price with a bit more for the second, third etc?

        You should have room to receive a skid of 2 row base malt and one of specialty malt. maybe you can store the specialty on shelves?

        It would be good to be able to receive a back up skid of 2 row before you have run out of the first.

        also, figure out your recipes: you may need 250kg for a 12P brew, so figure how many brews a week you expect to do.

        also: do you have a loading dock? handbombing grain is not fun and requesting a lift gate truck gets old.

        Maybe reserve a bit more space than you think you need now rather than struggling later???

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        • #5
          My recommendation for doing around 1000 bbl/yr is room for 4 - 6 skids (you can use pallet racking to make the total space less)
          You'll want room for up to 2 skids of base malt and room for your specialties. You can store all the specialty malts on just one or two skids, but it makes finding that one bag or crystal malt you need much more difficult.
          Think about how many times a week you're planning on brewing and how much malt you'll need for that. And keep in mind that by ordering multiple skids at once you usually save on shipping too.
          Manuel

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          • #6
            Awesome. I appreciate the recommendations. I was thinking one 3-tier pallet rack and it sounds like this should be good enough for now.

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            • #7
              We order in enough malt for about 1.5 to 2 weeks. Typically I can get three 10bbl brewlengths through on a pallet, so we usually will have one to three pallets of malt around. We also store spare and open bags of specialty malts in the mill room. So probably about space for three skids. Pallet shelving is your friend, plus a standard wire shelf or two in the mill room for half-empty bags of this and that.
              Russell Everett
              Co-Founder / Head Brewer
              Bainbridge Island Brewing
              Bainbridge Island, WA

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              • #8
                Optimizing Shipping is great, but we only do 2 pallet orders (3bbl brew length with lots of double and triple batches).
                We found while it's nice to save a few bucks on shipping it was cheaper for us to have a smaller space and receive shipments more often. Guess you have to find the balance


                Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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                • #9
                  Check with your grain purveyor of choice. Shipping for us is less than $50 for the first pallet, and even less than that for each subsequent pallet

                  Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

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                  • #10
                    A good point. Shipping from the Vancouver warehouses of CMG or BSG takes 3-4 days from ordering and is only like $50-$60 for us. So if you're out in the boonies, YMMV and it might make more sense to hold more on hand. Which reminds me: crap, time to order malt!
                    Russell Everett
                    Co-Founder / Head Brewer
                    Bainbridge Island Brewing
                    Bainbridge Island, WA

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