What happened to austinhomebrew?

I haven't brewed in a while... I moved... and all my stuff was scattered and after a few batches went bad I haven't brewed since January 2008.

When I was brewing 5 gallons a week I always got my stuff from austinhomebrew. I live in MS and would usually get my stuff in two days with their cheapest shipping option.

Well I placed a order Tuesday night and my order has been in the same status - not shipped - for two business days. I suppose when they say it will take 2-4 business days to process it really does.

Where else is good to order from now? Preferably close to southeast b/c more beer would take a long time from CA.

AHB is crazy busy because of the 50 state sale they are having. its taking a couple more days than normal. i wouldnt bail on them, the sale has to be over soon if its not already. every thing i've ordered from them has shipped within a day or 2, but my most recent one during the sale took a couple extra days. but i was ok with it for the sale prices.

Thanks for the heads up.

Stuff has really gone up since I started brewing in 2005. I suppose I brewed my most batches in 2006 and started slacking in 2007 until now.

I'm glad to know AHB is still regarded as one of the best. I wish I had a store around where I live.

joutlaw said:

Well I placed a order Tuesday night and my order has been in the same status - not shipped - for two business days. I suppose when they say it will take 2-4 business days to process it really does.

Click to expand...

I think you answered your own question.

As for good HBS in the southeast, Brewer's Warehouse in GA has been getting good reviews, I think.

Beerthoven said:

I think you answered your own question.

As for good HBS in the southeast, Brewer's Warehouse in GA has been getting good reviews, I think.

Click to expand...

I figured someone would post a reply with that quoted. Like I said before I always used their cheapest option and it has never taken this long.

i am pretty sure its just because of the sale and i assume it will go back to normal, just checked, theres about a week left in the sale, so in a couple weeks, i am sure it will be back to normal. but if it doesnt and they have another sale i'll be all over that one too.

joutlaw said:

I figured someone would post a reply with that quoted. Like I said before I always used their cheapest option and it has never taken this long.

Click to expand...

If there is one thing I'm good at, it's pointing out the obvious.

I usually get my stuff in 3 days from AHB but with the sale it will be 6 days, saison is supposed to be here tomorrow.

Homebrew USA is like 30 minutes from me in Norfolk, VA don't know how their shipping is but I have one of their pale ales in the primary right now so that might be an option for you as well.

Thanks for the replies.

Beers I'm planning to brew once my stuff gets here:

Dogfish 60 minute IPA clone
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone
Terrapin Rye Ale clone
Some kind wit beer - for the wife

Eventually the Dogfish head 90 minute IPA clone...

Here's the latest from Forrest:

"Thanks for the props. I agree the shipping times got a little long. We usually have a one day sale and that brings in around 700 orders in one day (2 weeks worth of orders in one day). So I stretched out the sale so we could keep up with the volume. This sale brought in over 1,000 sale orders (not including the regular orders on top of that.

The shipping manager has been working 70 hours a week since the sale started and I have doubled the staff in the shipping for the sale. I have even started a second shift so we are putting together orders almost 24 hours a day. During the sale we got behind by a couple of days but that shouldn't be a problem now that we are now able to ship 50% more orders a day due to the second shift. I have also worked a couple 20 hour days to get us caught up. We are completely caught up now.

I have come to the conclusion that we can no longer have store wide sales. While it is an excellent deal, it causes delays and then there are page after page on this forum about our service. The customers have spoken and the delays are not worth the savings to them.

I plan on having more specific sale promotions that won't cause delays.

Let me explain the shipping policy. The flat rate $6.99 shipping leaves the store in 2-4 business days. Choose this option if you can wait.
If you want your order to ship the same day simply choose the expedited shipping. There are no extra charges, you just have to pay the regular UPS charges (what we pay for the shipping).

The $6.99 flat rate shipping is on average only 40% of the shipping charges we pay. If I were to hire enough people to get every order out the same day I could afford to offer the $6.99 shipping. You save a lot of money if you can wait. If you can't wait then choose the regular shipping mode. Please don't choose the $6.99 and expect it to go out quickly. Northern Brewer's site says its flat rate shipping takes up to 4 days to ship as well. And Midwest charges full shipping on every order. Neither of them do storewide sales. If they did, they would have the same delays.

I will do everything we can to avoid delays in your orders. We have a top-notch buyer I hired at the beginning of the year that has been able to keep up with the 38% increase in sales so far this year. You should not see any outages of supplies like other stores that seem to have that problem (or so you tell me).

We can't have the best price on everything but if you add up your total delivered price we should have the best price, best selection, and everything in stock. Now that the delays have been resolved and will stay resolved, you should have the best homebrew experience.

Let me know if there is something you need me to carry. Let me know if you find a better delivered deal on an item. You can either PM me or email me at:
[email protected]
I am here for you.

Forrest
Austin Homebrew Supply"

I don't use AHS. I use Brewmaster's warehouse. My orders, even with the flat rate shipping, ships within 24 hours FWIW.

Well that was exactly what I was looking for. I suppose I missed what was on sale. Ha

It's not a big deal, but I was hoping I'd have my stuff by this weekend. Seems like Forrest is straight-up... and I like that.

I'll second Brewmasters warehouse out of GA. Simple geography means that shipping is much faster and Ed is awesome at getting orders out. I'm not saying Forrest isn't, he is just super busy.

I ordered from Ed on a tuesday night. I got my tracking number at 11 pm that night and got it thursday (with standard shipping). He is a good man.

I had issues with AHS before the sale and have written them off personally. Northern Brewer is pretty consistent and quick regardless of if they say the order "could" take 2-4 days. It's usually out by the next day at the latest. I've done most of my orering from them. I used Brewmasters recently and was very pleased with them and will definitely buy from them in the future. I think AHS has the best website hands down. But not knowing when my order is going to ship + I get taxed for being in state it just isn't a good choice for me. If I lived out of state I might use them but them. The fact that the fixed rate shipping is so bad makes it seem like a gimmick to me. My closest LHBS isn't exactly right around the corner and he's out of stuff ever time I go there. Great guy but never has his stuff. The next one is just such a bad drive that I'm better off ordering online.

I get the same delays when I order from B3 and go with the cheap shipping option. If you want it faster either pay for the shipping or use Brewmaster's Warehouse. He supports this site, so I would happily order from him if I didn't live 20 minutes from Austin Homebrew.