# What are the best online All Grain stores?



## Bats (21/1/13)

My local Home brew stores aren't that cheap when it comes to buying grain where I live.

Therefore for the past year or so I have been ordering my grain, hops, yeast etc online.

In the past I have ordered from Central Coast Homebrew (Amber Nectar Brewing, although I'm not sure of they're still around) and more recently from Mark's Home Brew.

I must say, Mark's Home Brew is by far the cheapest and easiest I have found so far. I am pretty lazy and don't really have the time to research or create recipes so I like that Mark has the brewbuilder software with preloaded recipes. However it's been difficult in ordering from here lately as I feel postal orders aren't that much of a priority.

My question is, are there any links or can someone recommend any other online stores that post pre prepared All Grain recipe kits for reasonable prices?

Where do you guys buy your ingredients from online?


----------



## Bribie G (21/1/13)

Dave's home Brew in Miller Street, North Sydney, aren't the cheapest but are still within the ball park and will post in NSW for $15 which isn't bad if you make up an order big enough to "dilute" the freight per item. I'll be staying with a buddy in Chatswood next week and will pop down to check him out. I don't think he does pre prepared mixes, going on the site.

I normally buy from MHB and CraftBrewer. For yeasts, hops and lighter stuff like starsan etc CraftBrewer use Fastway and their 3kg satchels at around $10.60 are the same as Brisbane, so possibly the Gong as well.
Hopefully MHB will dig himself out of the sand trap as he's got a new assistant I hear :super:


----------



## NewtownClown (21/1/13)

Absolute Homebrew in St Mary's will deliver to you in the 'gong for $12 for up to 3Kg or for free if the order is over $125


----------



## Bats (21/1/13)

Bribie G said:


> Dave's home Brew in Miller Street, North Sydney, aren't the cheapest but are still within the ball park and will post in NSW for $15 which isn't bad if you make up an order big enough to "dilute" the freight per item. I'll be staying with a buddy in Chatswood next week and will pop down to check him out. I don't think he does pre prepared mixes, going on the site.
> 
> I normally buy from MHB and CraftBrewer. For yeasts, hops and lighter stuff like starsan etc CraftBrewer use Fastway and their 3kg satchels at around $10.60 are the same as Brisbane, so possibly the Gong as well.
> Hopefully MHB will dig himself out of the sand trap as he's got a new assistant I hear :super:


Yeah... MHB is definitely the go for people like me who don't have the skill/time to create my own recipes.

I love being able to look up what type of beer I want to do, what volume and brewhouse efficiency and my ingredients pack is sent with all the R&D already done for me. Now that's easy brewing.


----------



## joshF (21/1/13)

Check out thebrewshop in Peakhurst, i'm pretty sure they have all-grain recipes for sale on their site but don't give the breakdown of what's actually in them other than 'grain, hops, yeast' which is a bit annoying and you can't customize/tweak it. Surely the recipe isn't that secretive that you have to pay the $45 for the priviledge of viewing it? It's not KFC's secret herbs and spices after all.

Anyway, not sure if the postage would be any cheaper but it's probably the closest HB place outside of Wollongong and the postage may be a little cheaper ?


----------



## Bats (21/1/13)

joshF said:


> Check out thebrewshop in Peakhurst, i'm pretty sure they have all-grain recipes for sale on their site but don't give the breakdown of what's actually in them other than 'grain, hops, yeast' which is a bit annoying and you can't customize/tweak it. Surely the recipe isn't that secretive that you have to pay the $45 for the priviledge of viewing it? It's not KFC's secret herbs and spices after all.
> 
> Anyway, not sure if the postage would be any cheaper but it's probably the closest HB place outside of Wollongong and the postage may be a little cheaper ?


I just checked out the site.

Not a whole lot to choose from the recipe list. 

Have you tried any of these? $45 is a bit steep if it is just an ordinary beer.

I used to get Pale Ale and Wheat beer packs from MHB for under $20 and they are great beers.


----------



## bum (21/1/13)

Sounds to me like you know where you want to order from. Just order with more lead time and you'll have what you need for the price you want.


----------



## Nick JD (21/1/13)

Bats said:


> Not a whole lot to choose from the recipe list.


Are you serious? The thing I most enjoy about brewing beer is recipe hunting and formulation.

Let go of your retailer's hand and try the swingset - it's fun!


----------



## Mikedub (21/1/13)

Nick JD said:


> The thing I most enjoy about brewing beer is recipe hunting and formulation.


agree, designing is as fun as the brewing and the drinking bits.


----------



## joshF (21/1/13)

I haven't personally tried any of them but i'm sure they are drinkable.

While I'm only guessing, i imagine those grain kits only have the exact weight of hops needed for the recipe rather than say a 100 gram pack, so for the $45 you pay, you are only getting 1 batch when you could probably get all the grain, hops and yeast for a fraction less, plus you would have enough hops for maybe another 2 or so beers, depending on what you make. It's only a saving of a few bucks but it adds up.

Instead of buying a pre-made beer kit, why not give some of the awesome recipes on the aussiehomebrewer database a go? I've only done 4 all-grains myself now but i started with Tonys Little creatures BA (friggen awesome), then Docs Bavarian Weizen, then Dr Smurto's golden ale, and in my last batch (yesterday  ) I just chose a few random grains, hops and yeast and am making some german wheaty thing that i have absolutely no idea how it will turn out.

As Beer God just mentioned, the most fun is when you are making it all yourself, whether it's by formulating a recipe using software or just going all out and throwing in a bunch of stuff to expect the unexpected. It all adds up to the fun of making your own beer

good luck whatever you end up doing


----------



## jaypes (21/1/13)

Bribie G said:


> Dave's home Brew in Miller Street, North Sydney, aren't the cheapest but are still within the ball park and will post in NSW for $15 which isn't bad if you make up an order big enough to "dilute" the freight per item.


He is my LHBS, and yes I can buy cheaper elsewhere but I get:

Free advice and a good yarn whenever I am there
He ALWAYS chucks in something free, like a pack of yeast, rack tubing etc when I go there
Needless to say I am always there


----------



## yum beer (21/1/13)

if your not into designing your own recipes a great place to 'cheat' is http://midwestsupplies.com.
Check out their grain kits, they have instruction sheets on the website that list all the ingredient amount and process.
Find something you like and order from selected LHBS, I like Absolute Homebrew, you can order ready mixed grain and list exactly what you need for a recipe and it comes in one bag/ or 2 or 3 and is ready to go.
Midwest have a lot of different styles to choose from.


----------



## joshF (21/1/13)

Gotta agree there Mini Mash. I live in Artarmon and Dave's is literally a 5 minute drive away.

Went in there on saturday and grabbed a pack of Light DME which said $13.50 on the pack, charged me 10 bucks.
Another time i went to order in a bell flange thing for my capper, didnt have it in stock so he gave me a hammer-on capper thing for free to get me by.

Actually i'm pretty sure he's entering in how much you owe, he often just types in whichever numbers are closest to his finger at the time lol :lol:

Awesome service from Daves


----------



## stux (21/1/13)

I order from gryphonbrewing, craftbrewer and absolutehomebrew (pickup from absolute)

I tend to pad out orders from craftbrewer with hops or malt when I need some of the more esoteric stuff... <5KG is pretty much the same shipping cost no matter what


----------



## Bats (21/1/13)

yum beer said:


> if your not into designing your own recipes a great place to 'cheat' is http://midwestsupplies.com.
> Check out their grain kits, they have instruction sheets on the website that list all the ingredient amount and process.
> Find something you like and order from selected LHBS, I like Absolute Homebrew, you can order ready mixed grain and list exactly what you need for a recipe and it comes in one bag/ or 2 or 3 and is ready to go.
> Midwest have a lot of different styles to choose from.


Midwest supplies? 

Looks like an American supplier. You buy grain and hops from them? If so, what's postage and shipping times?


----------



## slash22000 (21/1/13)

Bats said:


> Midwest supplies?
> 
> Looks like an American supplier. You buy grain and hops from them? If so, what's postage and shipping times?


What he's saying is their website gives instructions for the grains etc you need to make their kits, then you can buy those grains in those amounts locally.

For example, take a look at: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/hop-scare-ipa-all-grain-kit.html

It says: Recipe includes 11.5 lbs. 2-Row malt, 1 lb. Caravienne grain, .75 oz Yakima Magnum, 1 oz. Amarillo, 2 oz. Cascade hops. The American Ale II or White Labs California Ale V yeast bring a slightly fruity flavor to the party and a malty finish balances the hop bitterness perfectly.

So you basically know exactly what you need to buy to make that beer (just convert to metric).


----------



## Bats (21/1/13)

slash22000 said:


> What he's saying is their website gives instructions for the grains etc you need to make their kits, then you can buy those grains in those amounts locally.
> 
> For example, take a look at: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/hop-scare-ipa-all-grain-kit.html
> 
> ...


Ahh.. Of course.

Silly me for not paying much attention.

Cheers.


----------



## joshuahardie (23/1/13)

I "think" Amber Nectar on the coast is now http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/pages/Toukley.html

Which also might be an avenue for you.


----------



## eviltabouleh (30/1/13)

Mark's Homebrew is my local and the cheapest I can find anywhere... He moves some serious amount of grain through there

Yes sometimes his All grain orders get delayed but this has been due to his #1 lackey going to work for Murray's Brewery and he has been unable to get "good" help

I have found that if you give him a follow up call you can get your order through without any hassles

But I'm always on the lookout for cheap bulk grain


----------



## tiprya (30/1/13)

Northern Brewer has a stack of all grain kit recipes that they sell, so they must be alright:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/learn/documentation/all-grain-kits/

I have a glance at other people's recipes to get an idea, but I think recipe formulation is the most fun part of brewing - seeing how the ingredients and processes you've chosen affect the taste.


----------

