New to the brew Cincy!

So I received a Premium Edition Mr.Beer Home Brew kit for Christmas this past year. After relocating finally from my previous address in Amelia to my current in North College Hill, I'm finally breaking it open and starting down what I can already tell is going to be a long enjoyable obsession. I have found a few local shops, but haven't had a chance to check them out. Was just wandering which places were worth stopping in to?

Welcome Bravo! I'm in Monfort Heights, but used to live in Groesbeck. The 2 closest LHBS shops for you would be Listermanns near Xavier or Tabletop Brewing on Harrison Ave in Cheviot. Tabletop would be closer and the owner Tom is super nice and very patient with answering questions. Jungle Jims also has a limited supply of home brew supplies. I don't think any of them carry Mr. Beer supplies, but after getting your feet wet with Mr. Beer, if you like brewing you can move on to 5 gallon batches or whatever. Lots of folks here started with Mr. Beer. Good luck with the new hobby

Thanks for the welcome. I have pretty much decided after the initial brew with the Mr.Beer kit I am definitely going to step up to something that gives me a lot more control over the flavor of the brew. I saw there was a place on Beechmont that I was going to check out this weekend, but now I think I'll stop at Tabletop Brewing first.

Check out the Brew in a Bag threads on here. It's an easy way to get into all grain brewing with limited equipment.

Few months late to this thread... I live in Amelia and normally go to Paradise on Beechmont Ave. There is a place in Florence that has a nice amount of kits and ingredients also. Never been to Listermann, but my brother frequents there, he seems to like it.

Were you raised out this way in the Amelia area?

HAPPY BREWING!!!

Yeah I went to New Richmond High school and use to live over off of 222.

I live in Eastgate/Mt Carmel so obviously Paradise on Beechmont gets my business. Great guys/gal that are cool and easy to deal with. Easy place just to hang out and relax. They'll work with you on anything you have questions about. I know a guy who even emails them his recipes and they have them bagged up and ready for pickup when he gets off work and stops in.

I agree with Paradise, great guys and willing to help with any question!

Welcome to the forum...I go to listermann's personally. Not necessarily the closest of the LHBS's, but I cant complain, they have everything you need, including their own extract kits, which are very good. Jungle Jim's (which I live by) has the limited supply, but carries a good handfull of Brewer's Best kits. Happy brewing.

Paradise is great.

Also, if you have not yet done so, go on the Mt. Carmel Brewery tour on Saturday... pretty cool especially for those who really understand what they are talking about.

You moved from the east side to the west side?? YOU ARE DEAD TO ME!
Just kidding. Paradise is a great place. I was in there one Friday just waiting my turn and John was consulting a customer on what kit to buy and this gentelman said his wife is a big hop head. So John comes back with two sample glasses full of their Two Hearted Ale clone and said to me "beer?"
I think I said we should spoon later, but I cant remember.

Hey Westwood,
I too have been wating for the opening of Brew Monkees. Originally, their website said they would be opening the end of Sept, but that obviously didn't happen. Not sure what is going on there. Until then, it's Listermans. They do have good variety of grains, hops, etc, but I agree they aren't usually overly eager to help.

I realize it might be a little bit of a drive, but Brewtensils is worth the drive to Dayton. Actually ran by a great guy that has always been eager to help Mike Schwartz. It is also the LHBS for DRAFT the Dayton brew club. If you can't make to Dayton, just let me know what you need. I work at Kenwood Towne Centre and pass the brew shop every Tuesday on my day off. I could easily bring any supplies needed to work, all I'd ask is reimbursed and beer or two for the trouble.

Otherwise anyone is welcome to come talk beer and brewery building at my retail store, FranklinCovey. Granted I will do my best to sell you planning/office essentials as well (Gotta pay the bills).

The atmosphere/attitude of Listerman's and Paradise are 180* opposites.
I always get a bad vibe in Listerman's - just like Westwood said, almost like you are bothering them....Paradise is more like hanging out and talking beer/brewing with your buddies....and occasionally drinking some of their beer as well

Welcome bravo1156 to the forum and the lifestyle. As for the rest of you I wish I had the choices you do in Cincy. Greater Cbus has only two LHBS. The one solely dedicated to brewing will not get any of my business, the women running it is not helpful at all when it comes to beer questions. She makes the folks @ Listerman's appear jolly IMHO.

I'm sorry to hear about the situation in Cbus, bad67z. That could very easily stunt your brewing efforts. I have had conversations with friends(when I was in Denver) about how we could economically order in bulk, and share costs. While we decided it could have been done, we realized that it would only make sense if all of our LHBS disappeared overnight.

In reviewing my post on Listermans, I feel like it came off harsher than I intended, but at the same time, I dont feel the need to take down the post either. Perhaps I should have just kept my mouth shut, and let people make up their own minds....but these kinds of exchanges also seem to be what this site intends.

westwoodbrewer said:

I'm sorry to hear about the situation in Cbus, bad67z. That could very easily stunt your brewing efforts. I have had conversations with friends(when I was in Denver) about how we could economically order in bulk, and share costs. While we decided it could have been done, we realized that it would only make sense if all of our LHBS disappeared overnight.

In reviewing my post on Listermans, I feel like it came off harsher than I intended, but at the same time, I dont feel the need to take down the post either. Perhaps I should have just kept my mouth shut, and let people make up their own minds....but these kinds of exchanges also seem to be what this site intends.

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I understand, I have bought a lot of ingredients form Listerman's and it is a crap shoot as to the attentiveness and attitude of the staff on any given day. Fortunately my job has me in 6 different states so I have plenty of HBS to choose from.

Yeah, the guys there aren't "bad people" or anything, it's just not what I expected/would want from a LHBS

Hey Westwood,
My Hubby and I have been brewing here in Cincy since fall of '08 and have always gone to Listermanns. Not sure I've ever experienced what you are talking about here - Usually when I am there Chris is the one working the register and he is really knowledgeable and helpful (even over the phone!). They've shared many of their homebrews with us and we with them. We do go there as often as 2-3 times a month . If I am looking for something very specifc, like a yeast or what not, I'll often call or let them know ahead of time and they will order it in for me. They really are great guys! Hope you have better experiences with them if you go there again!

Also, as far as BrewMonkey's is concerned - i think I saw on their facebook recently that they are finally open. I haven't visited it since then though. When they were opened their stock was fairly limited as the turnover rate just isn't high enough yet.

I am new to the area too. I live up in Mason. First time I went to listermanns was great. Once of the guys from the back came out and answered a lot of my questions since it was going to be my first brew. Since then it has been with the same person that seems a little abrasive and I just didn't feel like asking him any questions. I wont mention his name but I will assume it is the same person everyone else tends to talk about. I have not been to any of the other ones but I may drive the extra 10 min to check out paradise. I have gone from extract with spice grains to building my all grain setup in 3 batches.

Unfortunately I have had the same experiences at listermanns. my buddy at work and I have a running joke about the one guy and what mood he will be in. My buddy ordered a tshirt about 3 months ago and has yet to.receive it. Great products, glad to see yet another local brewer start up but people skills need some work

Cincy brewer here too. I live in Hyde Park so Listermann's has been my go-to since I started a little over a year ago. I, too, have noticed a significant decline in customer service. I had a pretty bad experience last time that made me swear off of them for a while and get my stuff elsewhere. I'm sure I'll be back for convenience, but wish it was a better/more consistent experience.

To their defense the last two times I have had to go there there was a different person at the register and he was very helpful. The prices really are not that bad compared to online. Now if I could just get a grain mill to improve my efficiency and to be able to buy bulk I would be happy. All the group buys I have seen have been too far away.

It really seems to depends on who you get - plus I think their brewing operation is more their priority right now....Luckily I live close to Paradise and Mt Carmel Brewing so I frequent thhose 2 instead Both always friendly, more of a "come hang out here" atmosphere

The folks at Brew Monkeys have been super nice to me every time I visit. On my second visit, three weeks after the first, the staff not only remembered my name, but what I bought. Wound up BSing with them for 20 minutes or so about my first batch, and they gave me tips for future batches. I was really impressed! I hear good things about Paradise but haven't gotten to visit them yet. As for Listermann's, I heard the same things you guys are saying- that the customer service sucks most of the time; that you are bothering them by stopping in.

The February Malt Infusers meeting is at Brew Monkeys on the 13th. Planning on stopping by and seeing what they're all about. Anyone else going?

Listermanns has been really good lately as I mentioned earlier. Their grain prices are really good if you buy a whole sack. I was looking at driving to Pitt to participate in their group buy but I talked to them at listermanns and they said if you order in advance they will do a 30% discount on the sack price. $42 for 50lb 2 row is pretty darn good. If anyone is interested in specialty grains and want to split a sack 3 ways LMK. I am interested in vienna, carapils, crystal 10l, and flaked corn.

orion7144 said:

. If anyone is interested in specialty grains and want to split a sack 3 ways LMK. I am interested in vienna, carapils, crystal 10l, and flaked corn.

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ill split a vienna with you if interested. never brewed with it but love the bulk pricing there

KaSaBiS said:

ill split a vienna with you if interested. never brewed with it but love the bulk pricing there

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Sent you a PM

I know this was from a while ago, but I was seeing if anyone's opinion of Listermann's has change, or the others for that matter. Since Listermann's is only 5 minutes from my house, that's where I go, although I've only gone a few times now. The guy behind the register answered my questions, although seemed a bit terse in his responses. He was nice though.

I then went and sampled a few of their beers in the tap room. The guy running the bar told me exactly what hops were in the beer and what it would taste like. He was insanely knowledgeable and nice.

I haven't been to Paradise or Brew Monkeys yet.

I live by and prefer Paradise but Listermann's isn't "evil" or anything....if they're that close to you, then it's hard to pass up. Especially now with the brewery and Triple Digit and everything going on there.

I agree...

I have been to Listermanns a few times. But prefer Paradise. Paradise is extremely friendly and always willing to help whether its choosing a kit, ingredients for a recipe you are working on, or for equipment.
Listermanns isnt "evil" in any way, just not who I prefer... if I lived closer, I would probably go there more often to be honest.

Yeah, Listermann's is obviously super convenient. I'm hoping to hit up Paradise for fun sometime soon and talk to workers there, based on what people are saying. But it is cool to hit up the tap room at Listermann's. They have some good beers there and I'm working on my beer palate, which isn't very good at the moment. It's hard for me to pick out things in beer, which is obviously something needed in homebrewing.

Welcome to home brewing.

I started out about a year ago with my son giving me a Mr. Beer as a present. I've moved up to 5 gallon batches and having a blast. I have a coffee stout in the fermenter right now. Someday I'll step up to all grain.

I live over on the east side near Paradise Brewing, so I go there quite a bit. Great guys there and they are helpful. I also go to Mt. Carmel Brewing, and buy their beer between batches. If you haven't been there, you should stop in.

I have brewers in my family tree, so that's always fun to know. Maybe I have the Knack.

Advice: save your Mr. Beer LBK. I use mine to make hard cider. Just sayin'.

I just hit up Paradise on Thursday. Not sure if he was the owner, but he really wasn't helpful. He kept saying "this is your beer, I'm just getting the supplies" The whole purpose of me going there was to get help for my English Bitter. I drove 35 minutes to get there as opposed to 5 to get to Listermann's. Not much help. When I got home I realized my White Labs yeast was way over it's Best By which was early May. I was very sad about the visit. Don't see a reason to go back there.

I'm bumping this old post back to the top. I started brewing about a month ago. I've made 2 batches both from brewers best kits. I live close to Jungle Jim's so it was convenient. I've visited Listermann's twice and had decent experiences both times. I was just there yesterday buying the ingredients for 2 beers I found on this forum. They are both extract but I had to mix the steeping grains. Allen and Chuck showed me where everything was and gave me a quick lesson on the grain mill. They had every grain on my list and all the hops and yeasts. From reading on the recipe forum a lot of people had to make substitutions so I take that as a good sign for Listermann's. I found them to be very helpful.

Next up for me to understand the whole water chemistry aspect of brewing then maybe next year look into all grain. I don't want to overwhelm myself. I jumped right into kegging so I want to get my process down before moving forward.

Any rate, hopefully some of you are still members of this forum (it's been over a year since the last post). I'm interested in joining a club or just hearing from your past experiences to learn more.

-Justin

Welcome! I just joined the Cincinnati Malt Infusers last month. We are meeting Friday for our Christmas party. I had a blast at my first meeting and signed up (only $15) I can tell I will learn a lot

I live close to listermanns so I always go there since they definitely will have what I need!

MrSpaz said:

Welcome! I just joined the Cincinnati Malt Infusers last month. We are meeting Friday for our Christmas party. I had a blast at my first meeting and signed up (only $15) I can tell I will learn a lot

I live close to listermanns so I always go there since they definitely will have what I need!

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Where are the Malt Infusers meetings? and are they always on Fridays?

In norwood. Typically they are the second Thursday of the month

How is the Malt Infusers group? I was thinking about joining some type of club. I'm up near Mason and I am digging Osborn in Monroe as my LHBS.

I have been twice and love it so far. Tomorrow we have a speaker about Belgian Specialty Ales I believe. They just asked for volunteers to brew and English brown ale for our march meeting. We all share our beers and talk about them. I love it