how are people getting the best deal for their hops?

[Beil]

I've been looking at the best way to purchase hops in bulk and I can't seem to be able to justify any big outlay.

Simply trying to buy 500g online seems cheap enough, but as soon as you add postage it bumps it up to LHBS prices, so there's not much point there.

Buying from the US, with postage and exchange rate, again I just seem to be a couple of dollars better off per 100g for the hassle of a big outlay, I'm seeing the same with Australian suppliers too, ie. Dollar or two saving per 100g when buying in bigger amounts.

I guess if I could justify (read: afford) the $100+ to buy a fair amount, the 1-2$ per 100g would add up, I can't deny that.
Local bulk buying from LHBS is a saving of a dollar per 100g when buying 500g (US cascade as an example as that's what I've been looking at buying)

I guess if I'm happy with the extra $1-2-3-4 (depending on strain) I spend when buying per 100g every few weeks, I can't really complain if I'm not prepared to fork out the bigger outlay for more.

Found 25kg sacks of Aussie pale malt (joe white) for $60, so $2.4/kg for that should even out my savings.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Freshness is all I care about. And with the quality control of the product.
Call me fussy but I doubt hops of 24 months old are anywhere as good as the harvest date. Its a hard fact.

 

[peteru]

500g at a time is not bulk, that's still retail. If you want bulk pricing you'd have to start making orders that start in the 20kg bracket.

 

[Beil]

Dan: valid point, not sure how it's relevant to my question on pricing though. Surely there are ways to make savings on new season hops..

Peteru: that makes sense, but what homebrewer is buying 20kg of hops at a time? I've seen mentioned in posts the 'savings' in ordering in 'bulk' off the net, it may be a case of using inaccurate terminology and meaning a few kgs, because I doubt the average home brewer is buying 20kg at a time. Most references are to half/full kilos. And buying at that volume would mean going direct to wholesale, national or international, and at that volume international shipping would probably kill the savings. And group bulk buys from international seem like a lot of hassle for again; a few dollars savings
I stumbled upong niko brew last night, they are closing down and liquidating their stock, eg. 24 pounds of german cascade, us.$144. That's us.$6 a pound. But shipping to here is us.$300. That works out to aus.$24.5 per lbs. In this case it's a deal, but I'm not paying $450 for 10kgs of hops.. another case of don't complain if you're not going to buy.

 

[pcmfisher]

So you want to pay bulk prices for 100g of hops and pay no freight?

 

[manticle]

I used to use ellerslie a fair bit but I don't know if they still exist.

I thought Hop dealz were winding up but they still seem to be going.

 

[Beil]

Pcmfisher: no, what I'm saying is that for the expense of an additional $1-4 extra per 100g (depending on strain) per buy in 100g packets (every other week), I can't see the benefit of outlaying a substantial amount in one go. Sure if I had the disposable income to spend on this I probably wouldn't be asking, and the extra couple dollars per 100g every other week may bug me, but having a family, house, cost of living etc. And being a firm believer of living within your means, I can't help but wonder if I'm missing something when it comes to buying stuff for a hobby that has the ability to cut costs, albeit some of these avenues seem to be of my reach.

Manticle: I've briefly looked at ellersie, but can't remember if I made 'notes'. The hop dealz prices seem good, but as I mentioned above, once postage is added, even for upto 5kg, the cost per 100g doesn't seem worth it for the hundreds of dollars outright outlay. Also the website on my phone gives me the shits, I Just went to check on whether the price for cascade was 450/500g and it just wouldn't load so that shits me.

Maybe my LCHBS actually does good prices and I'm looking for savings that I can't physically make within my budget constraints.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

Yes Ellerslie still exists, they're part of the Progressive group.

 

[mofox1]

I'd say if your local does 100g for under $10, you're doing pretty well. My closest HBS about double that.

Re HDA, even just 1kg of EKG delivered to my door will end up being less than $7.50 per 100g. Seems shiny to me.

(Worth disclaiming I'm hopelessly besotted with HDA, so shiny may not be an objective opinion)

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Try Alibaba, if you want 1 kilo bags there is a company in the Philippines sells Australian, American and European hops, have never tried them but I will be looking for hops very soon.

 

[Stouter]

I get mine mostly from eBay in 100g lots. No idea how fresh they are but in this quantity it's the best deal I can find. If I go bigger I can't get the range and variety I want and don't use enough to justify it.

 

[malt junkie]

My closest HB store (a decent one) is more than 100km away, the small stores locally are extract, and store their hops on the shelf(in an non airconditioned shop, probably for months), not ideal considering their turn over.
I probably have 3 or 4 kg of hops in the freezer, mostly bought in 500g lots. If I were to buy hop per recipe as needed in small lots the postage would blow out my total brew cost to the point I'd be better off buying commercial beer.
Note when I get fresh hops in I usually knock out a few high aroma batches.
I know the hops I get from HDA and Clever Brewing are well treated and as fresh as possible.
If I had a LHBS that looked after their stock and had high turn over, I'd be on it.

 

[MartinOC]

Unless you're planning on brewing a LOT with one specific type of hops, have the ability to split-down a large quantity, vacuum-seal them & keep them in a freezer, you're between a rock & a hard-place.

If you want freshness & variety, then you can't go past buying from your LHBS that has a high turnover (not to mention keeping a local business running & not folding), or online from one of the site sponsors.

These guys will buy in bulk, but then there's the labour/time costs in having to break-down, label, package & cold-store what they buy & that obviously has to be factored-in to the retail cost to the end user.

Edit: I won't mention who I work for, but most folks already know. We buy in 5Kg minimum lots & they go straight into the freezer. AS SOON as the bag is opened from the freezer, it gets split-down into 1Kg lots, double-bag vacuum-sealed & straight back into the freezer. Then we'll break a 1Kg bag into 100g lots as required. Straight back into the freezer/fridge.

From initially opening the 5Kg bag to 100g pouches, the pellets would be exposed to oxygen for no more than 20 mins in total. That's the kind of attention to detail, care & attention to freshness that you pay-for when buying from one of the bigger players. It all costs...

 

[Mardoo]

Try Alibaba, if you want 1 kilo bags there is a company in the Philippines sells Australian, American and European hops, have never tried them but I will be looking for hops very soon.

I met this guy on a bus in Croatia who offered to sell me kilos for a good price.

 

[MartinOC]

I met this guy on a bus in Croatia who offered to sell me kilos for a good price.

Are you SURE it was hops he was offering??

 

[DU99]

wasn't chinese was he

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Everything is cheap in Croatia, an Omega watch is only $25.00, battery included.

 

[MartinOC]

Like the TAG Heuer watch that (when you read the small print on the watch face) actually says "T4G Heuek"?

 

[shacked]

Hop Dealz. Good prices but more importantly fresh hops from reputable suppliers that have been treated well.

 

[Mardoo]

Like the TAG Heuer watch that (when you read the small print on the watch face) actually says "T4G Heuek"?

My God, did 1337 start in Croatia???