Equipment Vendor Reviews

Vendor reviews (alphabetically):

BargainFittings.com - Stainless fittings, camlocks, tubing, weldless, etc. nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar: (1 review)
BrewHardware.com - Sight Glasses, refractometers, fittings, test equipment, etc. nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar::hs: (1 review)
MoreBeer - Huge selection of ingredients, yeast, brewing equipment, and hardware. nestar:nestar:nestar::hs::es: (1 review)
Norcal Brewing Solutions - False bottoms, hop stoppers, brew supplies nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar::hs: (1 review)
Northern Brewer - Ingredients, brewing kits, kegging and brewing equipment nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar::hs: (1 review)

Recently I worked with TxBrew and he put my smilies in to the system. You can now leave star reviews by simply typing or clicking the smilies for "onestar", "halfstar", or "empty star".

My goal for the smilies was to be able to start leaving comprehensive vendor reviews while also leaving a simple star rating. This is different than the already implemented review system in that you can review vendors.

If you have an experience you'd like to share, whether really bad or really good, please post your thoughts and feel free to post star ratings. I will update the first post with new vendors and collective star ratings as I get time. Please keep in mind because of the limitations of HBT forums (25 images per post), you should only leave ONE vendor review per post. Thank you.

You will the new star smilies in the smilie menu, or you can ust type the code for the smilies anytime:

I'll start with my first Vendor review:

BargainFittings.com was the first place I ever ordered anything for my brew system. Since then I've ordered dozens of valves, camlocks, pickup tubes, hoses, compression fittings, and much more. Wayne was the most helpful guy I had communicated with in years. He had no problem making order corrections or additions after I had placed my order. I can't comment on returns because I've never ordered anything from his that needed to be returned. My overall experience with BargainFittings has been excellent!

Overall Experience : nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:
Product Quality : nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar: (Haven't had a defective item. Good selection.)
Price : nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar: (Fair priced.)
Shipping : nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar: (Fast flat rate shipping!)
Customer Service : nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar: (Very sincere and customer oriented.)

Norcal Brewing Solutions - My first false bottom I ordered was some cheap thing on Amazon. When I decided I needed a beefier better false bottom I knew there was only one place to go. I went to Jaybirds site and started browsing false bottoms. My only complaint was that, as a new brewer, I had no idea which of the dozens of different styles to get. There are so many options, and after a little research I went with the 15" folding with a handle. Easily one of the best investments I've made in my system to date. Quality construction and plenty of customizable options. The fact that he does a quick custom swirl on each one made it feel a little more special too.
Overall Experience : nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar::hs:
Product Quality : (Sturdy construction)
Price : (Fair priced.)
Shipping : nestar: (Shipping was fast and $10 for the FB)
Customer Service : nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar::es: (would like to see a little more help for new brewers)

BrewHardware.com - Everyone who reads anything about sight glasses knows who has the best. I originally bought mine elsewhere and after seeing one of Bobby's in action I got online and ordered 3. There is also a selection of test equipment, fittings, and much more. I ordered the new CLEAR silicone hose from him and couldn't be more satisfied.
Overall Experience : nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar::hs:
Product Quality : (No defective items)
Price : (Fair)
Shipping : nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar::es: (Shipping calculator, no flat rate)
Customer Service : nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar: (His passion for brewing is evident in his videos and research)

MoreBeer - This place is hit and miss. They have a great selection of kits, equipment, and accessories. I've ordered several ingredient kits and had random results. Same with yeast. Still one of my best options for ingredients though, especially being only a couple hours away from me.
Overall Experience : nestar:nestar:nestar::hs::es:
Product Quality : nestar:nestar:nestar::es::es: (Ordered 2 identical kits, received different ingredients, yeast has been close to expiration)
Price : nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar::es: (A little higher than most, but shipping can compensate)
Shipping : nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar::es: (Option for Free Shipping but poorly packaged)
Customer Service : nestar:nestar:nestar::hs::es: (Have only called once and felt like I was rushed off the phone while trying to place a custom order)

OK, this isn't just for me to leave reviews, if you got a minute, leave a review for the benefit of others.

Ok. I'll bite.

Northern Brewer
Overall, a great vendor. I've had a few issues with orders from them (crush not great, forgot to include a stopper I ordered, siphon sprayer broken on arrival, not able to do custom lengths on their beer line with faucet and gas line assemblies), but they are also very responsive to fixing any issues they can (replacing products, etc). Reasonable prices and flat rate shipping. Their kits are some of the best (extract and all grain). They also sponsor Brewing TV, which is AWESOME!

Overall experience: nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar::hs:
Product Quality: nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar::hs:
Price: nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:
Shipping: nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:
Customer Service: nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar::hs:

All for brew..................Brew for all!

I seriously expanded my brewing equipment with several vendors lately:

Brewhardware: nestar: nestar: nestar: nestar: :es:
Bobby is extremely courteous, great customer service, solid communications. Fast shipping, well packaged and good tracking with the provided tracking numbers

Brewershardware: nestar: nestar: nestar: nestar: :es:
Ditto. Stuff came in quick and well packaged.

NorCal Brewing Solutions: nestar: nestar: nestar: :hs: :es:
Needed their RIMS tube (since I like the tri-clover) but wanted to make a change to the in and outlets. It comes with a barb but I wanted 1/2" NPT so I could put on a camlock QD. They communicated quickly and clearly. Was no issue to replace it at all. Shipping seems to be a little slower, hence the 3.5 stars.

Adventures in Homebrewing: nestar: nestar: nestar: nestar: :es:
Love these guys for most of my brewing ingredients. Whenever I order something and it happens to go out of stock or they don't have sufficient quantities, they quickly respond and provide me with options. For instance, I ordered 1/2 dozen vials of my house yeast and they only had four. They gave me the option to send four or wait until the next WLP delivery and send six. They even gave me the expected WLP delivery date. Shipping is always fast and well packaged.

Hope this helps some others out there.

brewhardware: had very good experiences with him in the past, fast shipping, great at responding to email quickly. however, recent order left me a bit dissatisfied.

i ordered "T36b - 3in face, 6in probe, 1/2 NPT.." thermometer expecting a brewhardware one (and especally expecting it to be from 60F-220F). What I received was a winters thermometer that goes from 20F to 240F. i do notice that his website said the T325 thermometers were going to be winters brand during March...but I specifically ordered T36 because I wanted the limited temperature range.

Note that I placed this order April 5 (it was not placed during March!). And because I was pregnant I had haitus in brewing from the last weekend of march until July 4th weekend (so I didn't notice the thermometer until then). And of course I didnt notice it until I was already brewing so there is no way to exchange it (being used).


edit: After seeing this posting, Bobby_M sent me the correct brewhardware thermometer I ordered with super fast shipping (and he threw in a free t-shirt!). I realize I should have emailed him first about this rather than posting this here - that was something I did not do, and for that I am sorry. He has always had fast shipping and very quick, courteous responses to any emails I have had for him. I should have given him the benefit of the doubt and not just assumed it as intentional. He is a great vendor to work with and there is a reason I have ordered from him multiple times, and plan to continue to order from him. He stands behind his merchandise and is quite a pleasure to do business with. Two thumbs way up!

stainless brewing (http://stainlessbrewing.3dcartstores.com/) - have placed orders with them twice now. December 30, 2013 and April 5, 2014. both orders were for falsebottoms for a keggle (item FS15-H: 15" SS Hinged False Bottom with hole drilled for 1/2" diptube).

We were very pleased with the first false bottom we received. High quality, shipped quickly with a tracking number. The false bottom was high quality and worked great.

However, the second false bottom we received was much lower quality. The hole that was in it was very off centered , which made it impossible to use with the diptube - we had to expand the hole in order to use it. The hinges were not evenly distributed either (the seemed shifted on the false bottom). Again, this was a mere 4 months difference in time but quality seemed like it had dropped DRASTICALLY.

once we expanded the hole and jury-rigged it to work in our tun, it works well. these are very nice false bottoms. I was disappointed the second one we received was a poor example of their workmenship.

BrewingChemist said:

brewhardware: had very good experiences with him in the past, fast shipping, great at responding to email quickly. however, recent order left me a bit dissatisfied.

i ordered "T36b - 3in face, 6in probe, 1/2 NPT.." thermometer expecting a brewhardware one (and especally expecting it to be from 60F-220F). What I received was a winters thermometer that goes from 20F to 240F. i do notice that his website said the T325 thermometers were going to be winters brand during March...but I specifically ordered T36 because I wanted the limited temperature range.

Note that I placed this order April 5 (it was not placed during March!). And because I was pregnant I had haitus in brewing from the last weekend of march until July 4th weekend (so I didn't notice the thermometer until then). And of course I didnt notice it until I was already brewing so there is no way to exchange it (being used).

I am fairly dissatisfied as I could have gotten a similar thermometer to what i received for 8 dollars cheaper elsewhere, but I spent the extra money to have the limited temperature range. The thermometer I received is far less accurate than the brewhardware one I had received from him previously. Again, unhappy. Thought I would post so others could see that not all transactions with him are great.

also, i left a review for this thermometer that he has neglected to put on his website. screening negative reviews seems very shady.

Click to expand...

I absolutely do screen reviews before they hit the site but it's not to reject negative reviews. We've had a lot of problems with auto spammers going crazy on our comments system and the guy who wrote that code hasn't been able to figure out how to stop it. What it means is that we have to screen every post to the comment system so sometimes we mistakenly reject a real human post by mistake.

Other than the post to the comment/review system, did you email me about this originally? The T36 should have always been the brewhardware branded ones and there is no valid reason I could imagine you were shipped the wrong one other than shipping mistake. We don't sweep mistakes under the rug and walk away. PM me your real name or send me an email and I'll get you the correct item.