Cheapest overall online retailer for ingredients?

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It galls me that things can cost so much more. Sabro hops that both have just got in are a good example. Nearly twice as expensive with MM.
It's all about the contracts they have with the big suppliers. GEB have some good hop contracts and obviously buy in bulk. Take sabro for example, cml only bought 10kg whilst I would imagine GEB bought more than 10 times that.
 
I like Malt Miller and have always had great service from them. However, 25kg of Crisp Clear Choice pale malt (which is my go-to base malt) is £34 with them (https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/crisp-clear-choice-ale-malt-25kg-sack-2/) but £25.50 with GEB (https://www.geterbrewed.com/crisp-clear-choice-ale-malt-ebc-4.5-6.5/)

With all the problems I’ve had with Parcelforce’s delivery I should really be looking to switch suppliers but being a typical accountant I’m not prepared to pay almost a third more for the same product.
If you are ever in Central Scotland Crisp Maltings in Alloa sell a 25kg sack of Crushed Ale Malt for £20, need to pick it up though. D40C53AF-4357-4F39-9D25-9389419E4240.jpeg
 
It's good to shop about. I use the homebrew company Ireland for large orders of grain. 25kg Minch malt with the euro converted is costing me 19 pounds. 100g of mosaic 4.52. fixed price delivery up to 31kg which is easy filled. For small orders of yeast or hops I use CML. Just starting to look at geterbrew but I have never used them. Probably wait until they get sabro hops back in
 
If you are ever in Central Scotland Crisp Maltings in Alloa sell a 25kg sack of Crushed Ale Malt for £20, need to pick it up though.View attachment 22707
Don’t think I’d get through 25kg crushed quick enough. I bought my last lot of grain at the start of September and on Friday I’ll be doing my 3rd brew with it.
 
The Homebrew Company is my go to. I like the way that they do 10 kilos of base malt for a reasonable price. Typically I'll buy 10kg pilsner / lager, 10kg pale, 5kg specialty malt / Munich / Vienna plus hops, sundries etc to keep within the 31kg postage bracket. I just find that 25kg of any one specific base malt does not give me the flexibility I like in my brewing
 
It's good to shop about. I use the homebrew company Ireland for large orders of grain. 25kg Minch malt with the euro converted is costing me 19 pounds. 100g of mosaic 4.52. fixed price delivery up to 31kg which is easy filled. For small orders of yeast or hops I use CML. Just starting to look at geterbrew but I have never used them. Probably wait until they get sabro hops back in

They are showing in stock for me
 
I buy a sack of ale malt from THBC (whatever's cheapest. THBC seem to be cheapest supplier for a bog standard ale malt). I buy my hops from CML as there no postage. Although they might be a bit more expensive, I dont like having loads of half used pack of hops in my freezer. So I can order what I need when I need it.
CML for yeast. I dont have brew fridge so 'brew with the seasons'. Therefore I need a cold/winter weather yeast, hot/summer weather yeast plus a 18C-23C yeast. CML have my the cold weather yeasts I like (Beoir and CaliCommon) and possibly the hot weather (Im eyeing up the hog norsk for that). I've used notty in the past.
I also have a LHBS I can cycle to but for grains and hops they are a little expensive but they have the full range of MJ yeast at 'normal' price and I like MJ Liberty Bell so I will buy it from them ocassionally. For anything 'exotic' I bottle culture
 
My only little problem with GetErBrewing is they are quite slow to progress order, orders on Monday arrives on Friday. But this is minor issue, packing is very good, liquid yeast came with cool pack. When you order custom kit, you need to remember all the grain will be mixed together - which is good for environmental reasons.
How is THBC? Are they quick with processing and who they use for deliveries?
 
DPD deliver for THBC in the UK for my orders and are generally 3 days from order unless a weekend in the way in which case it may take a extra day, also 5% forum discount
 
I would think it depends on your order. If you are only doing it one brew at a time with a grain bill made up to order and exactly the right quantity of hops then maybe your local HBS would work out cheaper as there is no postage and no waste/ leftover.
Getting an order that is enough to qualify for free postage seems the best deal.
I would also think you could stock up on a base malt that needs crushing as I believe that stores better/longer.
That leaves small orders of grain and hops that should be cheaper by post.

If you know anyone close enough to meet up you could combine an order too.
 
Isn't it one of those things where "it depends", and there's no one simple answer? And the best answer will depend on whether you only care about price, or whether other factors are at play. For instance, someone only brewing stouts and milds will be less worried about the quality of hops than someone brewing NEIPAs - I've not heard much good about Worcester on that front, but YMMV.

For someone who only brews the odd beer using speciality malts then one of the places that does malts to measure may be cheaper, whereas if you brew them regularly then you may be better off buying a standard-size bag elsewhere. Recently I had cause to make a small batch of porter, and the best route was Brewstore in Edinburgh - their flat-rate pricing is good for more expensive speciality stuff and they sell in units of 10g which was perfect (and without the small-custom-order fees of say TMM) - and they're more generous than some on the weight they'll send by post not courier. As a shop they have higher overheads than others, but for this particular order they worked best (they also have other "oddities" like not charging extra to courier to the Highlands - not a big deal for most of us, potentially a big deal for a small minority, and they do some hops in 200g bags which helps the unit price).

And for some things you don't have much choice on "cheapest" as it's more a case of "only" - in fact my orders tend to be dictated by who has particular rare yeasts or obscure hops, and then making up an order to get free postage. Also if you really want particular speciality grains you often have to go to the people who get all their stuff from a particular merchant - BrewUK is best for Warminster, Brewstore has the full set of Simpsons including things like DRC which you don't often see elsewhere.

But frankly your best bet for sacks of grain is picking them up directly from local breweries - obviously it may require developing a bit of a relationship with them first although some are quite geared up as mini-wholesalers as the volume helps reduce the cost of their own inputs. Staffs are an example of the latter, and I've been quoted £20 all-in for single sacks if I pick them up from a brewery closer to home.

If you ever find yourself near Peterborough then Brewers Select could be an option. They seem to be winding down their hop stocks as the main hop merchants are getting more organised at direct sales - Farams do 1kg packs but the list seems to be down at the moment, I guess because about now is when the new vintage hits the non-contract market. Simply Hops (Barth-Haas UK) sell 5kg boxes, but again are a bit thin at the moment. And some varieties are only available direct from the farm - Stocks Farm usually have at least one new experimental variety whereas Bushel of Hops specialise in heritage varieties.
 
I've been using the Worchester hop shop very good for hops, grain and dry yeast. The only downside is their delivery cost but it is staggered unlike most others. CML are great for yeast and pellet hops (I prefer leaf).
 
I've been using the Worchester hop shop very good for hops, grain and dry yeast. The only downside is their delivery cost but it is staggered unlike most others. CML are great for yeast and pellet hops (I prefer leaf).

I do like Worcester mainly because they are happy to scale down their all grain kits if asked, and have always worked well.

Malt Millers I find are good for liquid yeast (mainly because they have good range and being mainland UK means it will almost always arrive next day when sent first class post), so will order the yeast shipped to my work address, guaranteeing it can go straight into the fridge at work, until I leave for the day.

As for GetErBrewed I do like their custom grain kits downside is they use Parcel Force who have a habit in my area of leaving packages by the back door when I’m out (which is fine most of the time, but I always have the horrible thought in the back of my head of a package with liquid yeast sitting out in the sun in mid August, so will often order everything but the yeast from them (unless I’m using dried)

Basically as others have said it depends on my requirements at the time and sometimes the cheapest option isn’t the best.
 
I would imagine if a retailer could consistently offer the lowest prices on every product they sell, the would be the only retailer in their field.
 
As for GetErBrewed I do like their custom grain kits downside is they use Parcel Force who have a habit in my area of leaving packages by the back door when I’m out (which is fine most of the time, but I always have the horrible thought in the back of my head of a package with liquid yeast sitting out in the sun in mid August, so will often order everything but the yeast from them (unless I’m using dried)

I’ll happily swap you drivers. They refuse to leave mine in my safe place and prefer to take the parcel back to the depot 35 mines away- I even get GEB to write “if not in please put in kids playhouse in back garden” on the package and they still don’t leave it!
 
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