Midwest Supply v. Northern Brewer

Of these two mail order supply houses, which do you prefer, and why?

Northern Brewer. Michael Dawson.

I live by both and have bought at both. Midwest has a better, wider selection of products. Midwest also seems to have a higher turnover or ingredients, which would lead me to believe they have fresher ingredients.

Interesting question from a Canadian perspective. I order occasionally from NB because it's tough to get some stuff in Canada (keg parts, for example), but they won't ship here. I like ordering from More Beer because they will ship to Canada and are helpful with customs & duty, but their selection is not as good. I understand Midwest will ship to Canada now so if they have an even wider product line than NB I will have to give them a try soon.

Northern Brewer. Reason - BrewingTV

I started with Northern Brewer's Deluxe brewing kit as it seemed the most complete. I also like that they list the ingredients of their kits online.

I have never bought from Midwest.

I like them both. I tend to get more wine things from Midwest, and when I was in Minneapolis I bought big pails of frozen grapes and frozen juice. I tend to get more grain and yeast from Northern Brewer. The service at both places was excellent, and the prices were about the same.

I have used both. There are some differences, but I don't think anyone would go wrong shopping at either one. Midwest's old web site was kinda funky, but the new one is a big improvement. Impeccable service from both. I agree that if the widest possible choice of products is desired, Midwest probably has the edge over NB.

I know you didn't ask, but I tend to shop Austin homebrew. I've used all three and had positive experiences with all. You should also look at rebel homebrew.

I use northern brewer, love those guys!

I've used both, and each one has its own strengths and weaknesses. They are both exceptional with customer service and quick shipping.

glenn514

kh54s10 said:

Northern Brewer. Reason - BrewingTV

I started with Northern Brewer's Deluxe brewing kit as it seemed the most complete. I also like that they list the ingredients of their kits online.

I have never bought from Midwest.

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+1, love me some BrewingTV

Luckily I live within 10 miles of both (I actually ride my bike 1.5 mi to the new NB loc).

Honestly I don't think you can go wrong either way, as service at both has always been great.
Two things stand out to me:
Midwest tends to be cheaper for equipment and some ingredients
NB has more "pro-series" kits, and more Surly kits (Surly is my fav brewery)

I've only used Midwest Supplies, and they seem to be solid. I had one problem on my 3rd order---an adhesive strip thermometer was left off---and it just took a few minutes with their online chat customer service thing to get it resolved. They were polite, made sure I knew that it was a plastic strip just to be sure I wasn't expecting a more standard thermometer, and then sent a new one a few days later.

Obviously the mistake being made in the first place is a bummer, but it's inevitable at any supply house. Their response was reasonable and easy, though, so I'm content.

Northernbrewer they have cheaper shipping but I have purchased from both

I purchase from Midwest. After shipping the price is slightly cheaper for me. They did forget some hops once but they shipped them immediately when I contacted them. I wouldn't be afraid of Northern Brewer at all, I've always heard good things. Actually, I think I ordered from Northern Brewer once a long time ago.

Bookem15 said:

Northernbrewer they have cheaper shipping but I have purchased from both

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+ to this.

Flat rate from NB always beats Midwest actual rate to Ohio. Other than that, I have had very good service from both.

You can't really go wrong with either. Like many have said though, BrewingTV is awesome and I love the fact that NB willingly gives you their recipes.

Midwest...because it was the site that I first ordered from and have never had an issue. Their crushed grains consistently give me 70% with my ghetto system.

I was a little sad when I researched going to 5 gallon and found nearly every other site was consistently lower for equipment, not by much but $10-20. I have $200 dollars in gift cards to there and am not sure what do with it.

Having a choice must be nice.

Northern Brewer slightly edges out Midwest for me.

Shipping to the west coast from Midwest can be painful at times, but I've occasionally ordered a kit from them. Most of my online business goes to Austin, though. I've never used NB. The couple times I've looked at them to compare they haven't had everything I'm looking for.

northern brewer seems to take their time in processing my orders so I can never count on them to get me my ingredients in a timely manner. With Rebel Brewing, I ALWAYS have my orders 2 days after ordering. They don't have flat rate shipping, but it's worth it to know when I get my stuff.

I live within driving distance of both, so shipping is no issue for me. I get most stuff from Midwest, and am most familiar with their store/warehouse. MW is a little closer for me.
NB is usually better for bulk grains and hops. The new Minneapolis NB store is a neat place just to visit, but they need more parking.

NB!! They have a great selection of kits and their shipping is great...I usually have my orders within 2 days of ordering. Oh, and Brewing TV is great too!

I'm glad to hear so many positive reviews of Midwest, though I seem to be having some trouble with them... I made an order five days ago, they charged my card right away and then my status never changed to shipped. When I emailed to ask today, they said they didn't know what happened, but it's packed up and ready to go. They gave me a Fedex tracking number. Which still hasn't made it Fedex yet. Sigh. Hopefully it's just a fluke - I really like their prices and selection, and the fact that they don't charge extra for crushing grain.

kitchensqueen said:

I'm glad to hear so many positive reviews of Midwest, though I seem to be having some trouble with them... I made an order five days ago, they charged my card right away and then my status never changed to shipped. When I emailed to ask today, they said they didn't know what happened, but it's packed up and ready to go. They gave me a Fedex tracking number. Which still hasn't made it Fedex yet. Sigh. Hopefully it's just a fluke - I really like their prices and selection, and the fact that they don't charge extra for crushing grain.

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Don't know what happened there. I usually get mine within 3 days but they usually don't get me the tracking number until the day of delivery.

I've ordered from both. Being in Arizona, the shipping from Midwest can be a bit much. I've ordered ingredient kits from NB and loved every one so far. I've ordered some gear from Midwest, because they had better prices (even considering the shipping costs) for the specific items I ordered (too big for the flat rate shipping from NB).

I'd probably have ordered more from Midwest if it wasn't for the shipping. And I'm going to be moving to Illinois over the summer, so that issue might be resolved by being closer.

But another reason I really like NB (aside from BrewingTV :rockin is their catalogs are awesome. I'm a pretty new brewer, with only 4 batches under my belt. So, I don't automatically know how things will turn out just based on the ingredients. And NB's catalogs give a lot of descriptions for their ingredient kits. All 3 of the kits I've gotten from them have turned out pretty much exactly as I expected, and my expectations were based almost completely on the descriptions in the catalogs. AND they put out new catalogs with great pictures and different extended descriptions on a very regular basis. It may just be marketing, and their products might not be any better than Midwest, but I definitely feel more informed as a customer of NB.

I mean seriously, just pick up your latest catalog from the 2 places and compare them. If you are just looking for a specific bit of information on a price or the availability of an item, you'll find that information in both catalogs. If you are trying to keep yourself busy so you don't drink all of your beer while it is still green, I bet you'll have more luck thumbing through a NB catalog. It just makes me more excited about what my next batch could be.

I have had nothing but positive experiences when I have ordered from NB. Have never ordered from Midwest because between NB, Farmhouse, Rebel, Austin & my local LHBS all of the bases have been covered and then some...

I just made my first purchase from Midwest, my wife wants to start making wine and they had the best prices on a equipment to start wine making--I'd rather we keep the wine and beer making equipment separate. They also seemed to have some of the best prices on wine ingredient kits.

I usually buy my beer ingredients from NB or Austin Home Brew. Both come in around the same price, both have high quality, fresh ingredients, and both seem to get their stuff shipped to me in about the same amount of time, though I tend to purchase more from Austin Home Brew, for really only one reason. I like their website better. Its not as 'pretty' as NB or Midwest, but its functionality is better, its laid out for me in a more logical way, and their internal search engine works better. I find that NB's search stinks for the most part, or maybe its just me and the person that coded AHB's search engine thinks like I do. Still, to answer the OP, I prefer NB over Midwest overall.

Its a good problem to have living in the TC and having to decide which one to buy from. I have ordered numerous times from each and they get all of my business unless its something my wife can pick up from Brew and Grown on her way home.

If I get a sale in a catalog, I'll order from that house. I usually place internet orders from NB because of the 7.99 shipping if I'm feeling lazy. If I want to go to the physical location, I usually head to Midwest off Hwy 100, especially if I'm buying grain in bulk. On my to do list is to visit the new bricks and mortar store from NB in Minneapolis. Maybe in a week or two.

rjwhite41 said:

Don't know what happened there. I usually get mine within 3 days but they usually don't get me the tracking number until the day of delivery.

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Finally yesterday the tracking number registered with Fedex and it's now on it's way; supposed to be delivered today. I'm pretty excited - I'll have everything to do my first brew over the holiday weekend!

signpost said:

But another reason I really like NB (aside from BrewingTV :rockin is their catalogs are awesome. I'm a pretty new brewer, with only 4 batches under my belt. So, I don't automatically know how things will turn out just based on the ingredients. And NB's catalogs give a lot of descriptions for their ingredient kits. All 3 of the kits I've gotten from them have turned out pretty much exactly as I expected, and my expectations were based almost completely on the descriptions in the catalogs. AND they put out new catalogs with great pictures and different extended descriptions on a very regular basis. It may just be marketing, and their products might not be any better than Midwest, but I definitely feel more informed as a customer of NB.

I mean seriously, just pick up your latest catalog from the 2 places and compare them. If you are just looking for a specific bit of information on a price or the availability of an item, you'll find that information in both catalogs. If you are trying to keep yourself busy so you don't drink all of your beer while it is still green, I bet you'll have more luck thumbing through a NB catalog. It just makes me more excited about what my next batch could be.

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Oh yeah, I'm a total catalog junky. I have way to many in this house, but it's great fun to browse through them and make grandiose plans while you're in between projects.

Northern Brewer.

Why? Going above and beyond for the customer. Every. Single. Time.

Has to be Northern Brewer for me. Great customer support and reasonable pricing. I also love BrewingTV.

kitchensqueen said:

I'm glad to hear so many positive reviews of Midwest, though I seem to be having some trouble with them... I made an order five days ago, they charged my card right away and then my status never changed to shipped. When I emailed to ask today, they said they didn't know what happened, but it's packed up and ready to go. They gave me a Fedex tracking number. Which still hasn't made it Fedex yet. Sigh. Hopefully it's just a fluke - I really like their prices and selection, and the fact that they don't charge extra for crushing grain.

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I had that problem with Brewmaster's Warehouse. Placed an order and it didn't ship until a week later and showed up a week after that. I'm a little leery of ordering from them in the future. I think I'll stick with AHS, I usually have my order from them within a week.

The last 2 orders NB shipped slower than I would have liked. Midwest has shipped quicker

Both great, with shipping to MO its usually a wash on price although I still shop around. Love NB's forum and Brewing TV.

My wife placed my last order on NB with her check card, it was a sunday, and her card expired on Monday. she didn't realize this and I received an email from NB on Monday morning letting me know there was a problem with the card. I called the customer service line to let them know what happened, they got my card number and I asked if this would delay my order...the guy on the phone was super nice and said "no way, its packed and ready to go! It'll ship today and be to you on Wednesday".

I got an email with a shipping code to track the order, but it never showed it even leaving NB...I got it on Wednesday so no harm. I'll blame UPS for the shipping thing.

Love their customer service though, those guys were all over my small problem and really nice

I got my Midwest order yesterday and it was perfect. Everything just as I ordered it, and in the right sized box with no extra space or packing materials (wasted packaging is a huge pet peeve of mine). Can't wait to try it out! But based off of everyone's feedback, I'll probably try Northern too for one of my next orders, since they also seem like a good place.

Ordered a starter kit from Midwest, every so often they have a great deal. I think this one was $62 + $12 shipping for the basic equipment kit and an Irish red ingredient kit, plus a $25 coupon for another kit. Can't beat that with a stick. Got here yesterday.

Ordered 9lb of hops from NB, they're having a hop sale right now. With shipping the price was around $10/lb.

I seem to do the most with Midwest Supplies. I ordered once from Northern Brewer with no issues, the flat rate shipping is nice but MW usually is pretty quick. And I'm in Wisconsin so not far from either. MW's shipping costs can get pricey, I do agree with that. But really no issue with either.