Home Distiller

What do you pay for Flaked Maize? I thought early this year when I looked it was like $1.40ish, now I am seeing it at around $1.85/lb(at local homebrew store). Is that normal or are they seriously marking it up?

I see that Northern Brewer will ship it to me for $1.78/lb.

Does anyone know of any other website that is cheaper?

The only way you will find it much cheaper is if you buy in 50# bulk. 50 pound sack .com might be cheaper? Or you can just go to cracked feed corn and cook it. At $10 a 50# bag its a hell of a lot cheaper.

I was using that but found it very time consuming and messy. I've been told by numerous old timers on HD.org to switch to Flaked Maize if I want to avoid those 2 things.

I do want to minimize cost, and I recognize there is only a certain amount of minimizing I will be able to do.

That site looks good, no flaked maize though. Their Rye/Wheat is cheaper(THANK YOU!), but still more expensive on barley.

I can get it for $45 a 50# bag. But its like a group buy. I have to drive 3 hours to pick it up. And I have to pick it up within 2 days of it being delivered. So unless I buy a bunch. Its not any cheaper.

I think I found a site.

morebeer.com

has Flaked maize for $1.45/lb shipped(free shipping).

Call the father in law then grab some from the grain bin

berg1520 wrote:Call the father in law then grab some from the grain bin

HAHA!! Just did.....he didn't answer. Probably eating dinner.

Here's a chart
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Malted Rye price+ship to CA size

Homebrew.com(local for me) 97.50+24.67 50lb
morebeer.com 61.13+??(no stock) 50lb
50poundsack.com 78+FREE 55lb
northernbrewer.com 70.99+27.60 55lb
midwestsupplies.com 62.99+35.96 55lb
austinhomebrew.com 100+4.99 50lb<----over $100 shipping totals only 4.99 unsure if this is per order or per item
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Malted red wheat

Homebrew.com(local for me) dont have
Morebeer.com dont have
50poundsack.com 69+FREE 50lb
northernbrewer.com 37.99+26.81 50lb
midwestsupplies.com 50.99+35.19 50lb
austinhomebrew.com 87.50+6.99 50lb
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Malted White Wheat

Homebrew.com(local for me) 97.50+24.67 50lb
Morebeer.com 49.13+? no stock 50lb
50poundsack.com 79+FREE 50lb
northernbrewer.com 37.99+26.81 50lb
midwestsupplies.com 40.99+35.19 50lb
austinhomebrew.com 72.50+6.99 50lb
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Golden Promise barley

Homebrew.com(local for me) dont have
Morebeer.com 62.70+20.67 55lb
50poundsack.com 84+FREE 55lb
northernbrewer.com 63.99+27.60 55lb
midwestsupplies.com 66.99+36.75 55lb
austinhomebrew.com 132+4.99 60lb
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Flaked maize

Homebrew.com(local for me) 79.50+23.26 50lb
Morebeer.com 72.50+FREE 50lb
50poundsack.com dont have
northernbrewer.com 55.99+26.52 50lb
midwestsupplies.com 53.14+35.19 50lb
austinhomebrew.com 90+6.99 50lb
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

These looked like the mainsites when I googled it.

I pick up clean #2 Dent corn for $18 a 50lb bag. I get this from a micro distillery though. My supply will dry up come February when my project ends.

If you want to send me a couple bags let me know.

Hey Marley,

Tonight I did a cracked corn AG mash. I wrote out the recipe in a post, check it out, maybe it will change your mind on cracked corn? For $11 a bag, its hard to beat. I didnt have any issue, the process was super smooth.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 9#p7026119

Cheers,

jd

50poundsack.com also offer $10 off orders over $100, $25 off orders over $200

Grain prices to tend to go up/down a lot. My local feed store sells 50lb bag of feed corn for 16 dollars now. (that's up from 13). If you have a local brewsupply store...often times they can order a 50lb back of flaked corn for you. That will save you shipping. But, if your local brewsupply place is a rip-off...it probably won't save you any money. Most places that have free or reduced shipping...doesn't apply to 50lb bags.

Secondly, I've never been able to achieve higher OG/SG using cracked feed corn. You need "starchy" corn for that. Distilleries commonly spec the corn they buy for it's content/make up. But feed corn, is mainly meant to provide protein to animals. The bags Iv'e gotten have a "protein" and "fiber" rating on them. What we want is "starch".

Flaked corn you buy at homebrew shops for use in brewing is not "feed corn". It's cleaner and it's starch content seems to be higher. I can easily get 1.060s out of flaked corn I've purchased from brew stores....never got out of the 1.040s with cracked feed regardless of method. I have used food/grade bulk corn from honeyville.com before. They sell clean number 2 dent yellow and white corn in 50lb bags but it ain't cheap either—about 46-48 dollars. Their shipping is under 7 bucks for your entire order though. This corn will malt (sprout) if you are interested in that. But, it's a bear to grind unless you have a good mill to use.

Lastly...there is "nothing" wrong with a 1.040-1.050 mash. If the yield is a bit low...at 11 dollars a bag...you can always make more. It's just more work.

At our local feed and seed 10 pound bags of cracked corn sells for $4.00.

My LHBS guy ordered me a bag at his cost, I assume, it cost me $1/lbs and a 250ml of white dawg from the finished product. We were talking about it over a few homebrewed beers and I just brought it up like, "hey, do you have 10 lbs flaked corn on hand?" So he asked what kind of beer I was making that I need that much flaked corn...after I told him what I was up to he wanted to see what I could make so he ordered it up for me.

It cheap around these parts at $10.95 for 50 lbs (cracked corn), I guess because we're surrounded on all sides by it (and soybeans). Its all they grow around around here. The bag I bought was marked 8-10% Protein content. Not sure how that measures up to others?

The brewhouse efficiency came out to 60% using the calculator on the site below (link) where I create all all my beer recipes. Pretty poor efficiency, but like you said, for the price its not a big deal, just throw an extra pound or 2 in, the extra $0.40 cents isint gonna break the bank. The process was pretty smooth, easier than a kettle full of rolled barley glorp. http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... iskey-corn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow (EDIT: Shit, I used flaked corn in the link because cracked corn isint a choice, so much for answers on our cracked corn questions.....)

I need a thumper, or to double distill this stuff (the barley AG, and probably the Corn too) It doenst seem as clean as the brandy on a single run, or maybe the apple just covers up that white dog heaviness.

I've done a few runs with cracked corn, I just found it to be a huge mess, and rather time consuming. When I spoke up about it on here a number of people said if the cost doesn't bother me flaked corn is the way to go. Thanks for all the different site reccomendations, I figured out my cheapest and went ahead and bought 50lb bags of Golden Promise, Red Wheat, and Flaked Corn(for wAAAAAYYYYYYY cheaper the the LHBS).

I really wanted to support them, but 25% higher prices after shipping......just couldnt do it.

I was pleasantly surprised when I realized how cheaply I could get grain locally once I started looking.

Today I was offered soft red winter wheat at $5/bushel. Rye this year was ~$7/bushel. Corn today is $3 on the cob, $8 off, or $10 cracked. Barley was a bit more, but still far cheaper than any HBS...

You don't even want to know the price if you offer to buy it by the ton.

Soak it, sprout it, grind it, ferment it and away we go... Or just buy a bottle of enzymes.

The trick is to stop thinking like a home brewer, and start thinking like a farmer.

onemarleyfan wrote:I've done a few runs with cracked corn, I just found it to be a huge mess, and rather time consuming. When I spoke up about it on here a number of people said if the cost doesn't bother me flaked corn is the way to go. Thanks for all the different site reccomendations, I figured out my cheapest and went ahead and bought 50lb bags of Golden Promise, Red Wheat, and Flaked Corn(for wAAAAAYYYYYYY cheaper the the LHBS).

I really wanted to support them, but 25% higher prices after shipping......just couldnt do it.

Make sure you pick up somekind of grain bag or strainer bag for that flaked corn. (I line my brewpot with one). It tends to "hold" liquid, wont' drain or sparge off easy, and you'll have to squeeze it to get the goodies out of it. You can of course do this in your fermenter as well (ie. ferment on the grain and just pick up the bag when done and strain it).

11.00 60 lb bag cracked corn,if I go to uncles farm 7.50 for 60 lbs,but it is high protein instead of high starch, so I have to use more!

I've looked around at farms in the area, but no one really grows grains in SoCal(not that I know of). I have a pretty big backyard(2/3acre) and thought about growing corn myself.......trying to keep it simple, more or less.

(2/3acre) that mite git you 50lb..

Dnderhead wrote:(2/3acre) that mite git you 50lb..

nah c'mon So Cal should average at least 300Bu/Ac...lol

Marley....I actually really wanna devote a few rows to sweet corn for a mash....maybe one day!

berg1520 wrote:

Dnderhead wrote:(2/3acre) that mite git you 50lb..

nah c'mon So Cal should average at least 300Bu/Ac...lol

Marley....I actually really wanna devote a few rows to sweet corn for a mash....maybe one day!

Do it Berg! You won't be sorry,makes Ujssm that much better!
I have about 100lbs ready to try mashing with barly and barley malt,NcHooch style.

Too many fuckin projects not enough time

onemarleyfan wrote:Too many fuckin projects not enough time

bahahaha tell me about it. At the moment Ive got 4 5gal buckets, 1 5gal carboy, 1 20gal barrel and 1 5gal plastic jug bubblin away. Its amazing I can even breath in that room with all the damn carbon dioxide comin off.

Living in the middle of a huge expanse of cement makes it a little harder to think like a farmer (I can think it I just can't quite do it). Even the nearly hour drive to get to the "local" feed store near the equine center is hellish at any time of the day or night (during regular business hours). Then the feed is not priced quite like feed but closer to food prices for most grain. Ok, that may be an exaggeration of the prices but it's not like we are in the middle of the heartland here. I've looked it up, I would have to drive half a day to get to the closest tractor supply store, no kidding! But there is a Starbucks on ever corner and more fast food joints then you can even count.

Sorry to hear that Durace,maybe pretty crazy living in the masses,I use to live in Detroit,and brother you could never put me back! True blue woods in my soul anymore.

I live in the country outside SD, far enough away that the attractions of city life are close enough if I really get a hankering for a museum.