Brew shops in Indiana

Hey there everybody, I am new to brewing and just started my first kit brew. I was wondering if anybody knew of a decent homebrew shop in south-central Indiana. I am in Bloomington and haven't found anything in the area. Was wondering if anybody knew of any that were worth driving to or if I'm gonna be all online.

Tuxedo park brewers is by far the best shop around. Adam works during the week and brent and jason on the weekends. These guys are the best, not stuck up beer snobs like other shops. You show up, feed you their 4 beers on tap, and give you any advice you want. They always have customers brewing saturday so thats the best time to go as there is alot to see and alot of people to talk to.

Hope that helps!

i went to Tuxedo Park Brewers for the first time last month and got some good advice. Great Fermentations is the best if you get the right person. some of those guys are dicks but you can't beat their selection. there's also a small wine/homebrew shop in Knightstown which is East of Greenfield. Dennis runs the place. he doesn't have a ton of beer stuff but will bend over backwards getting whatever it is you need

Tuxedo opened a year ago, so they are doing excellent for how small they are. The may not have all the fancy shelves with more inventory like great fermentations so i agree with you there but have majority of the things you need. Their customer service and environment supersede anyone else They are looking to expand also so thats a food thing

Awesome, thanks for the advice. Tuxedo sounds a bit better since I am brand new so I would probably get lost in Great Fermentations. I'll definitely have to check them out next time I'm up in Indy.

I'm new to brewing also. I drive to Tuxedo Park from plainfield and its worth it. They are very helpful. Have all of what you would need and I'm sure they will get you anything you want that they don't have onsite.I went and spent 5 hours there on a Saturday when they hold FREE brewing class. Great way to learn and get good advise. They don't recommend stuff just to sell it ethier. They will tell you there opinion on the pros and cons and let you decide on what you want. Never been jerks. Always freindly. I highly recommend them and hope to see a small local buisness grow.

I have had good experiences at both, but use Tuxedo more due to closer location. The guys at TPB have always been helpful with advaice and getting some parts that I needed.

I'll put my hat in for Great Ferms. Their website is a lot better and their supply is greater. Both are probably important to you since you will be commuting. They are also very active in the local beer scene and have a lot of classes and a monthly homebrewers meeting which is a lot of fun.

But FWIW, I have heard Tuxedo Park is fine, too.

I"ve gone to both places and like them both. I mainly use Great Fermentation because it is closer to my house. The owners of both shops are cool. I'm still surprised Bloomington doesn't have a homebrew shop hahaha

danorocks17 said:

I"ve gone to both places and like them both. I mainly use Great Fermentation because it is closer to my house. The owners of both shops are cool. I'm still surprised Bloomington doesn't have a homebrew shop hahaha

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I know right? It sure seems like a place that would have at least a small homebrew shop.

The Saturday morning classes at GF is what got me started.

Uh, there's a very nice brew supply shop in Bloomington:

http://www.butlerwinery.com/homebrew.html

They have beer and winemaking supplies, and also do wine tastings and sales out of the downtown location. It's on College between 14th and 15th, close to the CVS.

fosburges said:

Guys tell me, do you know about Lucky Clover Bar, ok let me tell you some thing about it. Its bar which provides drinks like wine, beer, whiskey, vodka and also provides some food to eat. I must say its the best bar where people came to have drink and for fun and entertainment.

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??? Bloomington is a long way from Gujarat my friend.

I gotta throw my hat in the Great Fermentations. I've never met a snobbish/dickish person there. They've always been extremely helpful. Also, it's two doors down from Bier Brewery, on of the better breweries in the state (2nd best in the city IMHO).

zeg said:

Uh, there's a very nice brew supply shop in Bloomington:

http://www.butlerwinery.com/homebrew.html

They have beer and winemaking supplies, and also do wine tastings and sales out of the downtown location. It's on College between 14th and 15th, close to the CVS.

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Never would have thought about going to the winery for beer advice, didn't think they sold anything there. Has anybody used them?

Looking at there site there ingredient kits seem expensive. Everything else seems normal. No better bottles though.

Always gone to Great Fermentations myself but I have been wanting to check out Tuxedo if only to pick up their Ghost Chili Beer kit. Like someone already mentioned having Bier Brewery next door to Great Fermentations makes it hard to pass up though.

Tuxedo Park always has 4 beers they made on tap.. And its free.....

optaka said:

Never would have thought about going to the winery for beer advice, didn't think they sold anything there. Has anybody used them?

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I've been in there several times. They aren't physically large, but seem solid to me. I'd say their ingredients (malts, extracts, yeasts, hops) are better than their equipment, but they have at least one of everything.

BrutalBrew said:

Looking at there site there ingredient kits seem expensive. Everything else seems normal. No better bottles though.

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I haven't noticed their kits, but ingredients seem on par with everywhere else. I believe they normally stock Better Bottles, but don't have them on their website. I'm not certain of this---the first time I was in there I asked about them and was told that they normally stock them. However, this was during the end-of-year inventory reduction sale and a lot of their equipment was sold out.

I don't think they update their website super-often, so it's a good idea to call them or stop in to see what they've got. The help there has been very friendly and helpful to a noob.

zeg said:

I've been in there several times. They aren't physically large, but seem solid to me. I'd say their ingredients (malts, extracts, yeasts, hops) are better than their equipment, but they have at least one of everything.




I haven't noticed their kits, but ingredients seem on par with everywhere else. I believe they normally stock Better Bottles, but don't have them on their website. I'm not certain of this---the first time I was in there I asked about them and was told that they normally stock them. However, this was during the end-of-year inventory reduction sale and a lot of their equipment was sold out.

I don't think they update their website super-often, so it's a good idea to call them or stop in to see what they've got. The help there has been very friendly and helpful to a noob.

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They do have better bottles, I went in today to grab some StarSan and more yeast. So their equipment isn't that good?

GF is awesome! Go to Friday night club sometime it's tons of fun.

This month they had brewers from Flat 12 there, and Gordon Strong on Saturday (although he was there Fri too).

optaka said:

They do have better bottles, I went in today to grab some StarSan and more yeast. So their equipment isn't that good?

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No, sorry, I didn't mean to give the impression that there was anything wrong with their equipment. Just that it may not be as wide a selection as at some of the places I've seen online. Everything I've seen there looked to be fine quality, and is mostly the same makers that you get from any other brew shop.

Also, it may be that their selection is fine, it's just that (as you may have noticed) they have a lot of stuff crammed into a small shop. Looks may be deceving, so don't give too much credence to my comment.

Finally, one last thought regarding pricing---some of their stuff is a couple bucks more than I've seen at Midwest and the other online places. However, some is cheaper too, and I think that overall they're about the same. I get down to Bloomington once a month or so, and I try to do my shopping there when my needs align with my trips.

Butler is great, very nice and helpful staff. Go check them out and sample some wine while you are there. The homebrew supplies are at the College ave tasting room, not out at the winery. Support yout LHBS, they have decent pricing with good service and local convenience.

From talking to the homebrew guys at Butler it seems like they are the red headed stepchildren of the company. I told them they really needed a better online presence and the guy said they didn't even have a sign advertising the homebrew supplies. It does seem a little small and cramped, but I will definitely go back. I certainly want to support the local place and not have to run all the way up to indy when I need supplies. Thanks for pointing it out Zeg.

optaka said:

I certainly want to support the local place and not have to run all the way up to indy when I need supplies. Thanks for pointing it out Zeg.

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Happy to help, and glad you're supporting the local business. Unfortunately, here in West Lafayette we're not so lucky to even have a red-headed stepchild LHBS...

I've been buying brewing supplies from Butler for 20 years now. Their main gig is wine, but they make a point to know brew and to hire staff who know brew, and I've found that their ingredient prices are pretty comparable with what you can get at other homebrew shops (on average, of course). Major equipment buys are worth doing some cost comparisons on.

I've always found them to be super friendly as well, and willing to go the extra mile if you need something special.

.

DoubleAught said:

GF is awesome! Go to Friday night club sometime it's tons of fun.

This month they had brewers from Flat 12 there, and Gordon Strong on Saturday (although he was there Fri too).

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I've always wanted to but my work schedule usually keeps me from going. This friday i get off at 2:30 though so i might actually attend this week. And then i have the week of May 20-27 the off so i may go then too.

I go to GFI cause its a few minutes from work. I would agree that its hit or miss on who you work with. Anita and Bill (owner and GM) are kind of hit or miss depending on what they have going on that day. Had times where I've spent an hour talking business and beer with Anita and others where it seems like she can't wait to shuffle me out the door. Haven't been to Tuxedo yet, but need to. Price is a big thing for me. Tuxedo is a little more, but when you're buying bulk grains a little gets multiplied.

A good LHBS seems to be where you find it. I'll put in a third large university community that doesn't really have a decent or at least dedicated LHBS. I live near Champaign-Urbana, IL, which can be added to Bloomington IN and West Lafayette. The closest we have is the corner of a mega bottle shop, which has brewing and winemaking supplies. Speaking to the brewing end, what they have tends to be limited, and there's no one who is really in charge of that end of things, so there's no way to find out what they might have, and how long anything's been sitting around. Unless I'm up against it and need bottle caps or priming sugar, not going there. Thankfully, we have the big online suppliers that we're all familiar with here on HBT. It's either that, or move someplace that's got a good store. We visited relatives in Boulder, CO last Summer and went into Hop to It! Homebrew....its was sort of like being in your fantasies of what a LHBS should be.....brewing only, no wine stuff, and everything you can imagine you'd need.

PhelanKA7 said:

I've always wanted to but my work schedule usually keeps me from going. This friday i get off at 2:30 though so i might actually attend this week. And then i have the week of May 20-27 the off so i may go then too.

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They posted this on Facebook today, thinking I may go.


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