Looking for a good LHBS in/around Lansing/E Lansing MI

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jmiracle

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Lansing, MI
It looks very likely that this fall I'll be moving in or around East Lansing, MI (to attend MSU Law School BOOYA! Sorry I'm still a little excited). I'm not very familiar with the area and I was wondering if anybody could recommend a good LHBS. When I google I get Red Salamander in Grand Ledge and Capital Draft Services in Lansing. Red Salamander sounds good, does anybody have any experience with it? While I'm at it any good brewpubs or breweries would be kickin rad as well. Thanks a lot in advance. I'm excited that I might be near enough to a quality LHBS, the only one around here sports such exciting items as 1 pound bags of uncrushed 2 row for $3.50 (and they've been there for years), only selling HOPPED DME, some dusty cans of LME and some Brewer's Best kits and no-boil kits, and about the only thing I buy from them now is tubing, bottle caps, corn sugar and yeast if there's an emergency.
 
Look no further than "Things Beer" which is part of Michigan Brewing Company in Webberville (I-96, exit 122, a few miles east of Okemos).

http://www.michiganbrewing.com/mbc.htm

Nice selection of brewing supplies, and fantastic prices on grains. Plus they have a killer brewpub with probably a dozen of their beers on tap.

Around Christmas, I bought 50# of Breiss 2-row for $33. Specialty grains are in the 1.50 to 2.00 range in pre-packaged 1# lots.

There are others in the area, but this one is a winner for me.
 
My thoughts exactly. Michigan brewery will fill a Cornie for $37. Pints are just over $3 and they seem to have a decent homebrew supply shop.

Linc
 
Nice, thanks guys! I'll most likely be moving to cornies after the move so that'll time perfectly.
 
I've bought stuff at both places, and I don't think you can go wrong with either. The Red Salamander is pretty comparable to Things Beer I think, and Karl, the owner, is a nice guy and is really helpful with all kinds of things brewing related.

Also, there's a brewpub in town call Harper's that is close to campus and has pretty good beer. Plus they fill cornies for $25 (maybe $30 now), which is pretty sick.
 
Well that's good to know Dustin thanks a lot. I'm sure I'll check out both places eventually but it sounds like I definitely need to get at least one corny. The good part about moving near a major university is I bet I can score a good kegerator for cheap/free if I get to it at the right time.
 
missing link said:
My thoughts exactly. Michigan brewery will fill a Cornie for $37. Pints are just over $3 and they seem to have a decent homebrew supply shop.

Linc

Cornys filled for $40, pints are $4.

BrianP is dead-on.

Oh, it's sixteen taps...

RICLARK can tell you about the Red Salamander. I've heard OK, just no brewery or pub....
 
jmiracle said:
It looks very likely that this fall I'll be moving in or around East Lansing, MI (to attend MSU Law School BOOYA! Sorry I'm still a little excited). I'm not very familiar with the area and I was wondering if anybody could recommend a good LHBS. When I google I get Red Salamander in Grand Ledge and Capital Draft Services in Lansing. Red Salamander sounds good, does anybody have any experience with it? While I'm at it any good brewpubs or breweries would be kickin rad as well. Thanks a lot in advance. I'm excited that I might be near enough to a quality LHBS, the only one around here sports such exciting items as 1 pound bags of uncrushed 2 row for $3.50 (and they've been there for years), only selling HOPPED DME, some dusty cans of LME and some Brewer's Best kits and no-boil kits, and about the only thing I buy from them now is tubing, bottle caps, corn sugar and yeast if there's an emergency.

I didn't even know this thread existed, Did you make in to The Red Salamander yet? There great knowledgable guys that go out of there way to help you with anything you need, If you can't find what you need in there, then well you wont find it except of course for certain hops.
 
I live in Williamston, and have to say that with MBC being 15 minutes from me, not only is the location a prime for me, but the shop is perfect!!

Also, as far as Harpers, they are still running strong (at least the bar portion is). I never knew them to be a brew supply shop though (I've lived in the Lansing area my whole life, and have frequented Harper's many of evenings in college, especially on Wednesday's when EVERYTHING is 50% off. When a Spartan Wheat Beer costs $1.25 and an order of wings will run you $4, you can't go wrong!).

Sorry to gravedig... I searched for other Lansing area brew suppliers, as I work in Lansing and it makes it easy for me to stop over and buy supplies on my break, and this thread popped up.
 
MBC and Things Beer is a great place. It's not my favorite Brewery in the state, but they make a few solid beers. I especially like the Celis White Witbier.

It's not my go-to shop since they are so far away, but I have had the pleasure of having a 5 gallon keg filled with IPA for about $40.

They do a lot of contract brewing and they have an extension with MSU in biology. Last time I was there they were doing research in the brewery and MBC was using a by product to heat some of their systems.

I gotta get back down there and brew with my buddy and maybe go check them out again.
 
Yes, they do work with MSU. They teach classes there in the brewery, and they are now doing their own spirits as well! :)
 
That's How We Brew right by Frandor across from Jet's pizza just opened a little over a month ago. 3000 Vine St.

www.thatshowwebrew.com

"We offer Brewcraft products and we have great hops and yeast from many other sources. Some of our supplies include West Coast IPA, London Porter, Mangroove Jacks, Coopers, Bread Dobbelbock, Lawnmower Lager and many more recipes kits. We have loose domestic hops including Cascade, Chinook, Columbus, Mt. Hood and more. In pellet form we stock Ahtanum, Amarillo, Centennial and more. We have both fresh yeast and dry malts and extracts. Carboys, stockpots, bottles, corkers, cleaners, cappers and of course Irish Moss. Anything we don’t carry we will special order for you."

They are really excited and trying to get the community involved. Come in and check it out! :mug:
 
That's How We Brew right by Frandor across from Jet's pizza just opened a little over a month ago. 3000 Vine St.

www.thatshowwebrew.com

"We offer Brewcraft products and we have great hops and yeast from many other sources. Some of our supplies include West Coast IPA, London Porter, Mangroove Jacks, Coopers, Bread Dobbelbock, Lawnmower Lager and many more recipes kits. We have loose domestic hops including Cascade, Chinook, Columbus, Mt. Hood and more. In pellet form we stock Ahtanum, Amarillo, Centennial and more. We have both fresh yeast and dry malts and extracts. Carboys, stockpots, bottles, corkers, cleaners, cappers and of course Irish Moss. Anything we don’t carry we will special order for you."

They are really excited and trying to get the community involved. Come in and check it out! :mug:

I'm aware of three beer supply stores in the area. All three opened up within the past 6 months.

The other two are Capitol City Homebrew Supply,

website: http://www.capitalcityhomebrewsupply.com/
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapitalCityHomebrewSupply

and Home Brew Depot in Williamston:

https://www.facebook.com/HomeBrewDepot
 
Red Salamander in Grand Ledge is a great LHBS around Lansing as well, especially for someone like me who lives on the west side.
 
My only problem with the LHBS in the Lansing area is it seems as if they never have everything I need. I've been ordering from AIH over the last year or so because rarely do I spend less than $50, and once you hit that $50 mark, it's $5 shipping to a Michigan address.
 
I've always found all my ingredients at Red Salamander in Grand Ledge. There was 1 time they didnt have galaxy hops but they were supposed to arrive a few days later on a shipment. I ended up going to That's How We Brew in Frandor because I needed the hops sooner than that.

I also found myself in need of new bottles, as I didnt drink enough beer in between batches :D . Red Salamander does not have beer bottles for sale.

Other than that, I've always found all my ingredients there.

They have a knowledgeable and friendly staff and if you're lucky they may let you try one of their brews. :drunk:
 
It's not just ingredients that I look for when I shop at a LHBS. Red Salamander does have a good selection of grains, hops, etc. but anything past that is lacking.

I stepped on my auto-siphon a while back ago and broke it. I went there and they didn't have any in stock. Two days later I got one from AIH.
 
I found myself in Lansing this past weekend and had to make a stop at Capitol City Homebrew. What an awesome store! The guy running the store was very helpful and gave me some great advice on brewing an ESB. My oldest daughter tried to help by carrying my 10# of Maris otter to the car and of course dropped the bag and spilled a couple of pounds of grain, but he replaced it with some extra against my protests. I left with about $50 in extra gear after that, but I'd like to throw out to anyone in the area that these guys rock! I'll definitely stop in there whenever I'm in the area.
 

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