LHBS prices vs buying online

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I am thinking of getting a credit card that offers cash back on grocery buys. Are there any online stores that label their items as "groceries."

Here in CA grains and the like aren't taxed because they are unprepared food items just like rice and bread, that sounds like groceries to me. I don't have an answer though other than they should qualify.
 
I probably wouldn't drive 5 hours round trip to a LHBS even if they gave me a FREE ingredient kit when I got there, and my car gets over 30 MPG. That's enough time and money on gas to buy ingredients and brew a batch.

First off, where I live I have to travel for lots of my shopping needs and that's as close as anything.

Second, It's where my sister and her family live and where my folks moved to so I take my daughter over there one or two times a month to visit Grandma and Granddad.

Third, Portland is a destination from time to time for me and a buddy to go to hooters for lunch, then maybe go to a place where we can support single moms ( $1 at a time) so we drive through the place with the brew store on the way.

My truck only gets about 10 mpg so I have to combine purposes on my trips.
 
Anybody local that used to go to Vangaurd in San Dimas. Sean seems to be missing. We heard from the guy in Upland that Sean "closed his doors". This dude is 2x the cost of Sean, so we are being cautious about humors.

Sean also gave us a flyer that he was opening a Brew House in Monrovia.

Anyway, the question is inline with local vs online. Where do you go now if you used to go to Vanguard? Anyone out there used to go to Vangaurd?
 
Third, Portland is a destination from time to time for me and a buddy to go to hooters for lunch, then maybe go to a place where we can support single moms ( $1 at a time) so we drive through the place with the brew store on the way.

LMAO, now there's a local job that I gladly support. Can't get real boobies in your face online!
 
Shamefully I have bought my last 10 batches online and have 2 local stores within 25 minutes from me. My next batch will be bought from a LHBS and something I can compare to online sales to see what the difference is.

I'm all for supporting local stores even if it does cost a little more and will find out very soon.

Shame on me for not using them more up to this point but if they are bending me over on pricing then shame on them.
 
For the most part I buy locally. The LHBS is fairly reasonable with their prices and have a pretty good selection of base malts and specialty grains. I have done enough business there I get 10% off and they have a grain card program where you pay in advance but can get your specialty grains for close to base malt prices. They are nice people and I like them and are happy to support their business.

Having said that, I did buy hops on Black Friday and got a good deal so i am not adverse to shopping online. That was from Farmhouse Brewing Supplies, so I still figure they are kind of local, at least in the same state...
And if we take a day trip into the cities or go to Milwaukee to visit my daughters I always stop at NB and stock up. So between those two I am pretty well covered.
 
My LHBS is terrible! I stop there at least once a month to pick up forgotten ingredients or caps, etc. Their selection of grains is decent and fairly priced but forget about hops, extracts and equipment. $2.75/oz for any kind of hop is ridiculous... Not to mention that they are pellets repackaged in clear ziploc bags... Yup.
Out of date ingredients... Yup.
They also keep very small quantities of hops and yeast on hand so they are usually out of things the day they come in.
The proprietors are nice people but not very knowledgeable at all. I would love to support them if their standards were raised and their prices were brought back into reality. :mad:
 
My LHBS is more competitive than I thought, especially if you take advantage of the American Homebrewer Discount and bulk grain purchases. I will definitely use him more to support his business. This was valuable exercise for me.

LHBSpricecomparisonJPG_zpsf5b513f2.jpg
 
God im glad i live where i do lol, we have way cheaper prices than those listed, and no sales tax.

Brew Brothers is a beer nerd paradise, and super cheap. I do buy some things online that i can find much cheaper, like kettles etc, but all my grain/yeast/etc gets bought there....

Nothing like going down the street 10 minutes and being able to buy fresh Citra and Simcoe pellet or whole hops for $1.75 an ounce.

They are far cheaper than buying grain online, even if Morebeer/NB gave me free shipping.

I was interested in just how much cheaper they really were, i knew they were quite a bit but never have done the math...
I just made a google doc with their prices, assuming the most expensive grain manufacturer(which is usually Briess) and buying everything by the #
Buying your entire list at Brew Brothers would cost me $39.95. Cheaper if you went for US malts like Great Western, or something like Rahr.
They didnt have Fuggles/East Kent, but had some variants, so i picked those, all of their hop prices are the same for the non 'hip' hops like Citra/Simcoe at $1/oz usually, so if they did have them they would be between $2-3.

BeerPrices.png
 
My LHBS is more competitive than I thought, especially if you take advantage of the American Homebrewer Discount and bulk grain purchases. I will definitely use him more to support his business. This was valuable exercise for me.

LHBSpricecomparisonJPG_zpsf5b513f2.jpg

Nice work. Great to compare my local store to yours. In doing so, I discovered that:

My total @ LHBS = $75.30 (before tax)
Your total at LHBS = $57.38 (before 10% discount and before tax)

Comparing apples to apples, there is a 31% difference.

Now, the question is, is my LHBS way out of line or is yours cheaper than most?

Anyone else want to chime in from a different part of the US? Lets see your list. We have Raleigh NC covered and Sacramento, CA
 
God im glad i live where i do lol, we have way cheaper prices than those listed, and no sales tax.

Brew Brothers is a beer nerd paradise, and super cheap. I do buy some things online that i can find much cheaper, like kettles etc, but all my grain/yeast/etc gets bought there....

Nothing like going down the street 10 minutes and being able to buy fresh Citra and Simcoe pellet or whole hops for $1.75 an ounce.

They are far cheaper than buying grain online, even if Morebeer/NB gave me free shipping.

It's probably a market share thing.
They probably sell cheaper because they sell more.
Sort of a catch 22 if too many people in an area buy online, the local stores cost more.
If they switch to buying local, the local store is able to sell cheaper. They are able to buy cheaper and the overhead per item goes down.
 
I'm lucky that my LHBS has prices comparable to Northern Brewer. Maybe a little more but not noticeable. And I get a 5% discount that makes everything then right around the same price.
 
God im glad i live where i do lol, we have way cheaper prices than those listed, and no sales tax.

Brew Brothers is a beer nerd paradise, and super cheap. I do buy some things online that i can find much cheaper, like kettles etc, but all my grain/yeast/etc gets bought there....

Nothing like going down the street 10 minutes and being able to buy fresh Citra and Simcoe pellet or whole hops for $1.75 an ounce.

They are far cheaper than buying grain online, even if Morebeer/NB gave me free shipping.

I just made a google doc with their prices, assuming the most expensive grain manufacturer(which is usually Briess)
Buying your entire list at Brew Brothers would cost me $39.95. Cheaper if you went for US malts like Great Western, or something like Rahr.

I just check out Brew Brothers and they seem very reasonable.

They offer free shipping for orders over $200.

Orders between $100 and $200 are $10 to ship.

Assuming that your math is correct, this would be cheaper than brewmiesters, My LHBS and Morebeer. Very nice.
 
It's probably a market share thing.
They probably sell cheaper because they sell more.
Sort of a catch 22 if too many people in an area buy online, the local stores cost more.
If they switch to buying local, the local store is able to sell cheaper. They are able to buy cheaper and the overhead per item goes down.

Not necessarily true, there is another brew shop no more than 10 minutes away i wont mention(locals likely know) that charges from what i have seen to be 20-40% more on grain and upwards of 100% more for things like hops and other brewing things like Starsan than Brew Brothers...and from what ive heard thats the reason they(Brew Brothers) opened their shop in the first place because they realized what a markup the only brew shop at the time in the area was taking.

But i do agree its probably a volume thing, but not all the local shops are as...fair with their pricing.
 
Possible not quite what you were looking for, but for kicks and grins... here's a price comparison when I was shopping for my kegging supplies. Interesting none-the-less.


So what did you end up doing? Buy from multiple retailers?
 
Possible not quite what you were looking for, but for kicks and grins... here's a price comparison when I was shopping for my kegging supplies. Interesting none-the-less.


How old is this? Im going to be setting up my Coffin keezer in the next month or two...so a lot of this could save me some $$ if its fairly up to date.
 
I do most of my shopping online. My HBS is 100-150mi round trip depending on which town I go to. So by the time I factor in 4-6 gal of premium, and tax, it is usually much cheaper to pay the shipping. That being said, If I am in one of those towns, I always swing in, and usually buy something. A week or so ago, my neighbor had to run over to see his sister, so I rode along with him, dropped him off at his sisters, and I ran to the LHBS for a $23.87 better bottle, and I picked up 2 cases of used cleaned wine and beer bottles from the recycle pile for free. So it was a sweet deal for me, and I flipped him a few bucks for gas.
 
I just check out Brew Brothers and they seem very reasonable.

They offer free shipping for orders over $200.

Orders between $100 and $200 are $10 to ship.

Assuming that your math is correct, this would be cheaper than brewmiesters, My LHBS and Morebeer. Very nice.

Used Ball Lock = $50
4x50 = 4 Ball Lock Kegs delivered for $200..as much as i hate people stealing my local used keg supply that is a damn good deal if they will honor it for shipping kegs.

Thrown in an air lock or something to get you over 200 lol.
 
Not necessarily true, there is another brew shop no more than 10 minutes away i wont mention(locals likely know) that charges from what i have seen to be 20-40% more on grain and upwards of 100% more for things like hops and other brewing things like Starsan than Brew Brothers...and from what ive heard thats the reason they(Brew Brothers) opened their shop in the first place because they realized what a markup the only brew shop at the time in the area was taking.

But i do agree its probably a volume thing, but not all the local shops are as...fair with their pricing.

Well true.
The stores are run by people. Some people do good business by being fair, some are not people you want to deal with.





As for the question that someone else posted about local prices, I just check.

When I was at the brew store I took pictures of the grain inventory with the vain hope that I would be able to read all the labels on the bins, input the grains into Beersmith as my inventory with like 1 oz of inventory just so that I would know what was available.
I got a picture of their prices.

Base malts 89 cents a pound.
All others $1.25 per pond

Not bad, especially since they aren't exactly busy when I go in there.
I would assume that I could cut that down a bit if I ordered some bulk.
 
I would have to buy a LOT of brew supplies to make online shopping worthwile for 99% of stuff. certain things like sugar and giant bulk hop orders are cheaper online ($2 an oz for all their hops or $24 a lb for hops) but most everything else is just as cheap as Northern brewer and other such online stores
 
What scares me is that you might be right about this.

When it happens, the economy will begin to crumble.
Retail is a huge part of the economy and when you get rid of the jobs associated with it, the tax the stores pay ( beyond sales tax ), the tax the jobs create, the development and realestate sales loss, the garbage collection, the electrical use and on and on, you lost a ton of money in the community.
When those jobs and fees are eliminated, there are less people with money in their pocket so everything else, right down to McDonalds has lost customers and so some of those begin to go away.
A chain reaction is started and there are few jobs left.

Even someone like me pays.
I'm a surveyor so you can't outsource my job, can't mail order it either.
If people in my community aren't working, they aren't calling me.

Completely disagree with this.

Moving your shopping online doesn't kill jobs any more than cell phones killed telecommunication, and it's a pretty good analogy. Landlines (B&M stores) are becoming rare and often redundant, cell phone sales (online stores) have boomed, and we spend a lot more time on them (more money with them).

The stocker job becomes a warehouse inventory job. The cashier job becomes a packer/shipper job with the machine doing the invoice for them. The display job becomes the website item listing job. Customer service is still customer service, just through a different medium. Etc etc.

It doesn't kill jobs. It just shifts them. If you end up spending more money than before because it's easier to shop in your pajamas from your iPad, then that generates jobs.

Don't forget that you're creating additional jobs at the shipping company as demand rises. We're getting to the point where Amazon is tooling up distribution centers for same-day delivery in some areas.
 
Looking at brewbrothers prices, they may have some new business, next time i order.

Good i hope they get some new business, they are an awesome shop. Always giving away free samples of their brew from their 2 tap tower kegerator in the corner.
 
Well true.
The stores are run by people. Some people do good business by being fair, some are not people you want to deal with.





As for the question that someone else posted about local prices, I just check.

When I was at the brew store I took pictures of the grain inventory with the vain hope that I would be able to read all the labels on the bins, input the grains into Beersmith as my inventory with like 1 oz of inventory just so that I would know what was available.
I got a picture of their prices.

Base malts 89 cents a pound.
All others $1.25 per pond

Not bad, especially since they aren't exactly busy when I go in there.
I would assume that I could cut that down a bit if I ordered some bulk.

Great price on base malts compared to my LHBS. They are asking $1.35 lb for american 2 row. I purchased a 50 # bag for $52, or $1.04 per pound. No where close to your price.

Most other grains are $1.95 compared to your $1.25.

I now understand why we stand so far apart on this issue.

To sum it up, I got screwed:)
 
Completely disagree with this.

Moving your shopping online doesn't kill jobs any more than cell phones killed telecommunication, and it's a pretty good analogy. Landlines (B&M stores) are becoming rare and often redundant, cell phone sales (online stores) have boomed, and we spend a lot more time on them (more money with them).

The stocker job becomes a warehouse inventory job. The cashier job becomes a packer/shipper job with the machine doing the invoice for them. The display job becomes the website item listing job. Customer service is still customer service, just through a different medium. Etc etc.

It doesn't kill jobs. It just shifts them. If you end up spending more money than before because it's easier to shop in your pajamas from your iPad, then that generates jobs.

Don't forget that you're creating additional jobs at the shipping company as demand rises. We're getting to the point where Amazon is tooling up distribution centers for same-day delivery in some areas.

:off: I wont go off topic too much except i think your right and what scares a lot of people more than anything is the new jobs that its shifting to require much more tech savvy requiring skills they might not possess. A stocker job going to warehouse inventory means they have to know how to use things like excel and databases just for an entry level job...which to me is fine, its the advancement of our civilization...no different than the big shift that came with the industrial revolution... i think a lot of people just expected to ride out their entire lives pushing a button on a metal press making car parts and didnt plan on what happens when they make a robot that can push the button too.
 
My LHBS is roughly DOUBLE the cost than I pay for my specialty grains from Farmhousebrewingsupply and I don't have to drive 45 min each way to get them. As much as I'd love to support local businesses it just doesn't make sense in my case.
 
My LHBS is $1.40/lb for 2-row and Northwest Pale, $1.90/lb for specialty.

mines $1.19 for 2-row and most other grains are $1.69-$1.79.... I would kill for $0.89 a lb for base grains.... might need to do a group buy for bulk grains in tucson
 
Completely disagree with this.

Moving your shopping online doesn't kill jobs any more than cell phones killed telecommunication, and it's a pretty good analogy. Landlines (B&M stores) are becoming rare and often redundant, cell phone sales (online stores) have boomed, and we spend a lot more time on them (more money with them).

The stocker job becomes a warehouse inventory job. The cashier job becomes a packer/shipper job with the machine doing the invoice for them. The display job becomes the website item listing job. Customer service is still customer service, just through a different medium. Etc etc.

It doesn't kill jobs. It just shifts them. If you end up spending more money than before because it's easier to shop in your pajamas from your iPad, then that generates jobs.

Don't forget that you're creating additional jobs at the shipping company as demand rises. We're getting to the point where Amazon is tooling up distribution centers for same-day delivery in some areas.

So... When I order the latest do dad on line, in what way does that help my local economy?

If I order from Amazon.com and they drop ship from the factory, how many people are cut out of the loop?

If five stores close down in my little county, we have lost tax revenue and paying jobs while at the same time not even having an impact on the volume of big online retailers so no jobs are added.

One warehouse worker at a big online retailer replaces a lot of local jobs.
They are more or less a very efficient production line that ships out orders.
Regardless, if the warehouse isn't in your hometown, you have lost in the local economy.
If those people are out of work they are not spending at places like where I work.
 
Don't forget that you're creating additional jobs at the shipping company as demand rises. We're getting to the point where Amazon is tooling up distribution centers for same-day delivery in some areas.

Yep, the new Amazon warehouse will be going up close by in Tracy/Patterson. Good for the local economy and same day delivery? Double sweet.

Let's also not forget that the internet age helps a lot of small businesses become successful that would not otherwise thrive in a small local economy. Most of the sponsors on this site probably fit that description.
 
I could literally walk to my LHBS. :D And it's a family business and they host events and such.

I've cut a lot of costs by going AG and I'm on the brink of starters. But as far as grain goes I'll stick with them as their prices are on par with per pound online (bulk makes a difference). Plus I'm getting good efficiencies with their milling and they're even open seven days a week until 7.

I am shopping around for hops though. I'd like to get it closer to $1/oz compared to $2.30 right now.
 
I do a mix of LHBS and online. I bought my original equipment, almost all my yeast, and some kits from the LHBS. I like to order kits from online shops since there is more variety. If I'm buying for a recipe I'll get the hops online since the LHBS sometimes doesn't have them. And get the grain from the LHBS.

If you get helpful tips and can bounce ideas off the guys in the shop, its worth paying a little extra.
 
So... When I order the latest do dad on line, in what way does that help my local economy?

I didn't say it does. Other than sales tax revenues, which many places still have archaic, broken laws for, there is no local benefit. That's not the point.

If I order from Amazon.com and they drop ship from the factory, how many people are cut out of the loop?

Pretty thin argument here, since clearly nobody can answer this one specifically. Why don't we flip it on it's head, then...

How many people are added to the loop? Other than those I mentioned as a straight trade, we have the shipper, the team that developed the website, the marketing team that lead you to the website, the engineers who designed the automation systems, the construction workers that build the factory, the heavy machine operators that assembled the place, the mechanic that maintains the new machinery, etc.

If five stores close down in my little county, we have lost tax revenue and paying jobs while at the same time not even having an impact on the volume of big online retailers so no jobs are added.

One warehouse worker at a big online retailer replaces a lot of local jobs.

Then the people in your county would be forced to do their shopping online, which... wait for it... creates the jobs elsewhere. Why isn't your little county incentivizing online retailers to move there and pump your local economy?

Sure does. Replacing several inefficient processes with more efficient ones is the only way economies grow without increasing exports or popping out more babies.

It used to be every gas station had a service station in it. Now they don't. The mechanics didn't just disappear. They moved down the street to the auto shop.

They are more or less a very efficient production line that ships out orders.
Regardless, if the warehouse isn't in your hometown, you have lost in the local economy.
If those people are out of work they are not spending at places like where I work.

You've already identified the problem: your business, whatever it does, is less efficient and can't operate at the same price point. So then why is your business allowing stagnation and not innovating?

This trend toward an online economy is quite parallel to how the industrial revolution killed the cottage industry, don't you think?
 
mines $1.19 for 2-row and most other grains are $1.69-$1.79.... I would kill for $0.89 a lb for base grains.... might need to do a group buy for bulk grains in tucson

Yup my last group buy I got 2-row and Pilsen for $.75/lb shipped and it could have been $.65/lb if we had shipped to a business address.
 
One thing this thread has shown me is how lucky I am.
The brew store I go to might not be close, but when I'm in town their grain prices are pretty darn good.
Better than the posted online prices since they are 89 cents a pound for base malts and $1.25 for anything else.

They aren't even that busy in there. I'm not sure how they do it unless it's because everyone is like me.
I stop in for say... $30 worth of stuff.
I walk out with $100 worth of stuff that I decided I needed when I was waiting for them to put my order together.
 
Why does anyone buy Coriander at any kind of homebrew supply store? At my local bulk food store I pay 28 cents for an ounce from what I remember.

You folks are lucky to have somewhere local to buy supplies, closest LHBS for me is over an hour away.
 
I find supporting my local homebrew store is easy. I know I'm paying a bit more for grains, hops, yeast, and supplies, but as they get to know me there are benefits to going there. Sometimes its as simple as a free sample of this, a leftover that, getting grain freshly milled (I haven't yet put down on my own mill, I have only a burr grinder), but they also have beer samples from local brewers or beers they brew there, brewing vendors send reps for info sessions and handouts, breweries send brewers over to talk about different yeast strains and grains, and there are even hands-on brewing sessions for people just starting. It's like a live-action forum. If you're willing to be a premium supporter on this forum, why not pay the few extra bucks to be a premium supporter of your LHBS? All this in addition to any extra money floating around your community.

Besides, when the anarchists take over the world and knock out the satelites, you're gonna have to take your horse and buggy to the LHBS anway, so you might as well get on good terms with them now. You know, since you'll be bartering for the supplies in the future.
 
Then the people in your county would be forced to do their shopping online, which... wait for it... creates the jobs elsewhere. Why isn't your little county incentivizing online retailers to move there and pump your local economy?

You missed the entire point.
If you displace local jobs, then not only is the tax from that company gone but the jobs are also.
You have people without the income to spend and your job is soon to follow.

It's the same thing as when people want to save a buck and buy a product made in China instead of American made.
If you cause your neighbors to be unemployed to save a couple bucks, then you will certainly follow when the people around you can't afford to spend money on whatever pays your check.

If you understand economics, by spending a dollar local you are actually getting a return that doesn't exist when you send your money away.

As for incentive for online retailers to move here or any other particular area, there isn't infrastructure for online companies to ship and I do not care to live near freeways, rail ways or major airports.
 
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