Newbie question - keeping things cold when ordering online

Well my LHBS is about an hour away and their hours don't match up with my schedule too well. I'd prefer to buy locally, but the difficulty getting there combined with their semi high prices leaves me looking for other options.

I know a lot of you order online and I have a few questions.

How are the hop pellets kept cold while being shipped? Do they use dry ice? Do they require overnight/faster shipping so they can be kept cold? If so, I'm guessing this drives the price up.

I've used Wyeast smack packs in the batches I've done so far and they worked great. I liked the convenience and I'd like to continue using them, but is it possible to ship these or does keeping them cold cause problems?

Hop pellets don't need to stay cold. If you want to store them at home for a while, put them in the freezer, but shipping isn't an issue. Liquid yeast is what may require cooling. During warm weather months, you can pay for them to be shipped with a cold pack, and even then you need to figure out timing so as not to have them stuck at UPS over the weekend. Or you can just order dry until the weather cools down.

Liquid yeast can be chilled, just warm it to room temp before using.

McGarnigle said:

Hop pellets don't need to stay cold. If you want to store them at home for a while, put them in the freezer, but shipping isn't an issue. Liquid yeast is what may require cooling. During warm weather months, you can pay for them to be shipped with a cold pack, and even then you need to figure out timing so as not to have them stuck at UPS over the weekend. Or you can just order dry until the weather cools down.

Liquid yeast can be chilled, just warm it to room temp before using.

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Really? My LHBS keeps the hops in the fridge and always reminds me to make sure they are kept cold on the drive home.

I guess I should just try out dry yeast to not have to worry about the temps.

I live in the middle of nowhere and the nearest store is an hour and a half away.

The only thing to be concerned about is liquid yeast and if I order online, I order with an icepack. It takes about a week for a package to get to me if I order from Austin Homebrew and the icepack has already melted by the time it gets to me, but I haven't had a problem [I always make starters tho].

I agree with McGarnigle regarding hops.

Whenever I'm in the City, I always stop by the HBS just so I can stock up on provisions and buy yeast.