LHBS says not under 1 pound?

Typical on the hops...you can either throw them away or use them as a bathroom fragrance like I do.

Not so typical on not measuring grain less than a pound though...haven't heard of that one before. Maybe if they have to measure stuff out for you and ship it or something they just round all grains up...? That would be my only guess, to make it easier for them when measuring stuff out.

 

I've encountered homebrew shops that won't go under a pound, or under half a pound, on grains. If they are pre-measured into bags, then I can understand the policy, but if they are not premeasured, I don't see why some shops are adamant against going lower than a pound. But the ones I deal with are against it. As a consequence, I often have a few ounces of extra specialty malts on hand after a brew day, and I will try to fold them into the next several recipes, if appropriate.

I've never encountered anyone who goes under an ounce on hops. Hops get pre-measured into oxygen barrier bags, and in my experience, 1 oz is the smallest size bag shops will sell.

 

Pretty typical. You need a scale. There are some pretty cheap ones out there.

something like this:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/weighmax-23-oz-pocket-scale.html

 

Digging your profile pic.

 

1 oz hop packages are typical. Unless they package bulk hops on site, I wouldn't expect to be sold fractions of an ounce, no matter how dank they smell.

My store sells and cracks bulk grains by the pound, and I am sure I have had recipes come out to odd amounts not an even pound. I have asked for 3oz. of peated malt on a grain bill and there was no fuss about it from them.

 

Hops are typically pre-packaged by the processor ... 1 oz and 1 lb are the only quantities my store carries, although I think I've seen 4 oz packages for sale somewhere.

As for grains, that really sucks. My store has grain in bins, you scoop out what you want and tell the guy running the register how much you took. You need 10 oz chocolate malt for that porter? No problem! I've never gone into fractional ounces, but really ... who does that?!?

 

My only answer is to brew more. Problem solved.

 

They do it for inventory control. Sucks. Ask them if they will mill grains as needed, i.e. only mill what you need from the pound, and bring back the remainder the next time you need some, as cracked grain tends to go stale fairly quickly.

I think supporting LHBS is an important part of any local homebrew community, but if you're not getting the service you need, then perhaps you should start looking toward purchasing online.

 

My LHBS... Grain is any amount down to an ounce. It makes for weird math at the register, but no biggie.

Hops are typically an ounce. I say typically because if they have nothing but the pre-packaged hop union stuff in ounces... you are stuck buying an ounce at a time. Sometimes if they have pound bags in the freezer... they'll give you a half ounce.

 

Ironically Northern Brewer my LHBS just started doing weights less than 1lb for grain and they're one of the big ones out there. Hops come in 1oz pre-packaged packages or I think 1 or 5lb I can't remember which. I used to just keep the extra half lb or whatever and sometimes sprinkle it into another batch down the road bit by bit, or wait until I had enough random malt/hops and do a mystery beer.

 

Hops in ounces and grains in pounds is pretty much what I'm used to. My LHBS has the grains premeasured in bags. Never bothered me much. I'll use most of it eventually.

 

I have only seen grain in pounds in most LHBS. However, this is not a big deal as it is always good to have extra grains on hand for future brews (as mentioned above.) Since grains are usually only about $2.00 or less per lb it is not a big cost. Not something I would change stores over.

Only seen hops in ounces, again can be resealed and re-used if you don't need the full ounce.

 

Ive always been able to buy by the ounce for grain.

They have the oz and lb price on the bins.

And, yeah, like everyone else has said, hops come in oz increments.

 

This is one of the times I do love my local shop (Home Beer Wine Cheesemaking Shop in Woodland Hills) - grains by the kernel (charged on total weight) and hops by the pellet. Only thing restricted to pre-determined weights are whole hops (2oz packages)

 

I go to the same shop, I just bought Nelson Sauvin pellet hops, first time I've seen those without having to order them online.

 

Lucky!

As to topic, my LHBS also does 1 lb. grain/1 oz. hop increments. It's really no worry though, just use that extra in another recipe - you can keep milled grain for a period of time (though no where near how long unmilled last). Or you could ask him just to mill half for now and saved the unmilled.

 

I usually order from Brewmaster's Warehouse. They do grain orders down to the ounce, and hops come in 1oz bags.