£13.30 for 25kg bag of Pale Malt - North West England and the Midlands

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

If you live in the North West or the Midlands we would like to invite you to consider the following

Recently a few of us in South Cheshire have collaborated to buy brewing ingredients from Staffordshire Breweries Malt, Yeast & Finings - Staffordshire Brewery

Here is the thread from the Home Brew Forum South Cheshire Ingredients Buying Club

Buying collaboratively we purchased 325 Kg of Malt, 500g of yeast, 1 kg of bottle caps and 2 X 4 pint kegs for a total of £240.83

We are now starting to think about our next buy in Feb 21 and would like to extend it to any one who lives in travelling distance of Sandbach or Cheddelton in N Staffs; we would also like to explore the idea of relaying grouped orders across the North West and Midlands by using any of you who are able to collect for others in your area – and then they would collect from you

Prices are below (might change by Feb)

Ingredient​	Price/Bag (6-19 bags)	Price/Bag (20+ bags)	Price/Kg (6 -19 bags)	Price/Kg (20 + bags)
Pale Planet​	£15.300​	£13.300​	£0.612​	£0.532​
Extra Pale Planet​	£15.300​	£13.300​	£0.612​	£0.532​
Pale Craft​	£15.300​	£13.300​	£0.612​	£0.532​
Blend MO 50:50​	£16.850​	£14.850​	£0.674​	£0.594​
Maris Otter​	£17.900​	£15.900​	£0.716​	£0.636​
Lager​	£15.300​	£13.300​	£0.612​	£0.532​
Crystal 110​	£21.750​	£19.750​	£0.870​	£0.790​
Crystal 150​	£21.600​	£19.600​	£0.864​	£0.784​
Crystal 240​	£21.600​	£19.600​	£0.864​	£0.784​
Dark Crystal 400​	£20.850​	£18.850​	£0.834​	£0.754​
Amber​	£23.400​	£21.400​	£0.936​	£0.856​
Black​	£20.500​	£18.500​	£0.820​	£0.740​
Cara 30​	£21.850​	£19.850​	£0.874​	£0.794​
Chocolate​	£22.100​	£20.100​	£0.884​	£0.804​
Munich​	£17.100​	£15.100​	£0.684​	£0.604​
Roast Barley​	£20.000​	£18.000​	£0.800​	£0.720​
Torrified Wheat​	£15.500​	£13.500​	£0.620​	£0.540​
Wheat Crushed​	£17.500​	£15.500​	£0.700​	£0.620​
S-04 Yeast/Kg​			£73.98​	£73.98​
Bottle Caps/Kg (inc VAT)​			£8.34​	£8.34​
4 pint kegs (inc VAT)​			£3.00​	£3.00​
other item (inc VAT)​			£0.00​	£0.00​
other item (inc VAT)​			£0.00​	£0.00​

If we can increase our order to 20+ X 25kg we would all benefit from the best possible prices (reflected above in the cheaper price for 20+ bags vs 6 – 19 bags) and increase the chances of us being able to buy and share bags of the more specialist malts

So, what we would like to have a sense of at this point is who might be interested in being part of this collaboration

We are asking for possible expressions of interest (not a commitment at this stage) covering the following

• How many 25kg bags of which malts might you buy (It’s OK, you do not need to have an interest in any large bags)
• How many 3 kg bags of which malts might you buy (to see if we can buy a 25kg bag and split)
• Would you be able to travel to Sandbach or Cheddleton to pick up on behalf of others in your area – again this is not a condition of being part of the collaboration
• What is your (nearest) town – so we can see how a local collection might work for you

We will hold the “expressions of interest” window open until end December, so that by early next year we can create a plan for how it could all work

We would contact you again in January to see where you are up to in terms of what you would want to commit to

 

[Falco]

Count me in again @Obadiah Boondoggle

Also want to add that all malts are VAT free as are classed as foodstuffs

 

[chopps]

I'm definitely in again.

I would be happy to drop-off to the surrounding South Cheshire area for those that are not able to haul 25kg of Otter on the bus, or ride a motorbike :)
If enough other members plan to join the buy and would be prepared to let others collect from them, that really would help get local collection points. I mean Sandbach is all very nice, but If I lived in Wigan collecting from Warrington would be better.

I just noticed that the use by dates on the last batch are March 2022 ! That's really good, and no chance of it going bad before I use it up.

By Feb I will probably need more Maris Otter and Pale Ale, so a full bag each of those.
I'll probably do some Chocolate, and of one of the Crystals if we can get a few other people on board. Any takers?

So, as you asked so nicely :

• 2 bags of 25kg (MO and Pale)
• 3 bags of 3kg (Chocolate, any Crystal, Munich)
• I can collect from Sandbach, and would be happy for other members to collect from me too.
• Town - Sandbach.

edit: added my malt choices

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I could act as a transit point in north Cheshire. I live about 3 miles from the M6/M56 junction.

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

I'm definitely in again.

I would be happy to drop-off to the surrounding South Cheshire area for those that are not able to haul 25kg of Otter on the bus, or ride a motorbike :)
If enough other members plan to join the buy and would be prepared to let others collect from them, that really would help get local collection points. I mean Sandbach is all very nice, but If I lived in Wigan collecting from Warrington would be better.

I just noticed that the use by dates on the last batch are March 2022 ! That's really good, and no chance of it going bad before I use it up.

By Feb I will probably need more Maris Otter and Pale Ale, so a full bag each of those.
I'll probably do some Chocolate, and of one of the Crystals if we can get a few other people on board. Any takers?

So, as you asked so nicely :

• 2 bags of 25kg
• 3 bags of 3kg
• I can collect from Sandbach, and would be happy for other members to collect from me too.
• Town - Sandbach.

Thanks Chopps

What malts might you be interested in, in 3kg bags - chocolate, one of the crystals and ?

 

[chopps]

`probably Munich, but I could be tempted to try something different

 

[Falco]

Would probably need 1 x 25kg of MO or pale and if there’s a choice of 3kg bags then 1 or more of those please

 

[chopps]

Wow, just chatting to OB last night and the group is at >200kg already (subject to changes of course)
With Cheshire Cat offering to relay orders from his place, members in quite a large area now can collect from a locations within 20 miles, or maybe 30 mins. Cheers CC.
Another couple of willing members and we could have a really convenient thing going for the region - anyone in Stone/Stafford or Lancs interested?

Cheers

 

[Clint]

I mentioned this to a chap I know yesterday who is going ag very soon.
It would be worth us getting a couple of sacks each even coming from Wrexham to pick it up.

 

[chopps]

Thanks Clint. Under normal circumstances I'm often around Nantwich, so could even meet you half way.
...when Boris and Drakeford let us.

 

[Michael Burnley]

I'm interested and I'm in Burnley and I have a vehicle able to transport quite a bit, I'd happily share fuel costs with other East Lancashire members (Blackburn, Accrington, Nelson/Colne etc)

Are these already crushed? And if so how long could I keep a 25kg bag if its stored correctly?

 

[chopps]

Thanks @ceborame.
You'd only have to get to the Warrington area to collect too.
It's Munton's malt and already crushed, in original and un-opened 25kg sacks.
The brewery turns over quite a bit of malt it seems, so the dates are pretty long.

The batch we just bought last week has use buy dates :
Pale Ale, March 2022
Munich, March 2022
Maris Otter Feb 2022
Lager Jan 2022

Cheers

 

[Michael Burnley]

Warrington is no problem, ideally at these good prices I'd probably buy a years worth which I would guestimate at 6x25kg bags of pale malt, so this is perfect for me

 

[Mungri]

I would be interested for February @Obadiah Boondoggle
I live in West Lancs, not far from Southport and Ormskirk.
Don't really have the storage space to be a hub. I could pick up from @Cheshire Cat if his kind offer still stands.
25k Pale Planet
25k Maris Otter
2 x 3k Lager
2 x 3k Crystal 110
2 x 3k Munich
1 x 4 pint carry keg

 

[NPi]

Wow this snow ball is really rolling, well done all.

I should need another 25kg sack of planet come Feb, and will be able to advise on other malts in split quantities closer to the time.

I can barely decide what's on my brew list week to week, so a few months is to far to plan just yet.

Cheers

 

[chopps]

543kg now. Hope you have a big car boot OB? :)

And thanks to everyone that's volunteered to help. We now have a few collection points from members that have so kindly offered to take grain back to their own locations for others to collect (or even drop off potentially). I'd hope that's worth a bit of petrol money on collection to support the gesture!

Here's the map. The circles are 20 miles radius, so perhaps half an hour or so travel. The collection points are in the centre. Burnley (@ceborame), Warrington (@Cheshire Cat) and Sandbach (@Obadiah Boondoggle)

Cheers

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Just clarify I will be a hub for my area but cannot be a transshipment point for the Burnley hub or I could end up shipping and storing 360kg.

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

Just clarify I will be a hub for my area but cannot be a transshipment point for the Burnley hub or I could end up shipping and storing 360kg.

Indeed CC

It's very helpful of you to be a hub for Warrington

We need to find a different solution for East Lancs, we can't let any of it become too onerous for any of us.

We are just enthusiasts doing each other a favour

I hope that as more people express interest we find a more practical solution for E Lancs

Thanks

 

[chopps]

Thanks for clarifying CC, that's fine - we will work it out. You don't need to set up a distribution centre :)
I'm up and down the M6 anyway, and my wife has an Ikea Warrington season ticket so it's no problem for me to meet ceborame up there in the Warrington area or further North. I can get a few hundred kg in my transport.

Cheers

 

[DavidB]

Hi,
just starting in AG but if all goes well then by February I should be up for this. Not certain but probably 1 x 25kg Maris/Pale and then 3kg of Chocolate & Crystal, possibly others, depends how the experimentation goes in the next couple of months, plus I am starting from a low stockholding!

Possibly also a split on some yeast if there are any other takers.

No problems on transport. I'm in Sandbach too.
Given the number of pubs in Sandbach its surprising how many of the inhabitants seem to brew at home!