Should a 3 BBL nano brewery contract or spot buy malt?

[amcclai7]

I have spent a lot of time and effort into securing a hop contract for my brewery, but I am woefully ignorant when it comes to contracting/buying malt. All the brewers I have talked to say its no big deal, but I just wanted to get the thoughts of others. How should I go about getting my malt in a 3 BBL nano brewery setting? (P.S. we plan on selling 40ish Barrels a month if that makes a difference)

[kugeman]

spot buy. Malt prices change slightly year-to-year (like a few cents per lb) but availability is never a problem. As a very small nano though you might think about teaming up with other local breweries so that you can order full pallets of malt and save on the shipping.

[AnthonyB]

If he's selling 40 BBL of beer a month on a 3 BBL setup, he will need full pallets of grain at least every month anyways... of course brewing every other day, he probably won't have much time to sit down and place the order!

[populuxebrewing]

Yup, what they said. I have a 1.5bbl nano and we just got an account with Brewcraft (Country Malt) and get pallets shipped in from them. Never even crossed my mind to contract malt at our scale. A hop contract would be nice, but we also buy those on the spot. So far so good.

So yeah just find a supplier, get the account set-up and order as needed. The shipping company will usually ask you if you have a loading dock or need a lift gate. Then they will tell you when the delivery is scheduled. Then they will show up 2 days later at 8 am when your closed and call you once they are already back on the highway to let you know it'll be another day. Then your pallet will be left on the neighbors parking strip in the rain. >

[amcclai7]

lol, that's funny, but also a little disconcerting. Have you actually had something like this happen? Anyway, thanks to everyone who has replied. My mind has been set at ease. The only other question I have is how often do you order? From the posts above it seems like once a month is about right.

[Brandjes]

My per bag price from Larry's is better than the 40 bag price from CMG and no freight since Larry's is a close drive for me. If you have a local supplier it's worth looking into. Freight charges can add up.


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