I want to open a home brew shop...

I've got a lot of questions and would love to get some opinions. The city I'm in has nowhere to buy equipment and only one brewery selling grains. There's a booming beer scene and three breweries have opened in the past 3 years. I think it could be a success but I'm trying to do some research first.

To the customers:

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc?
-How much do you spend on equipment annually?
-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online?
-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop?
-What would you like to see in a home brew shop?
-Anything else to advise?

To the brewery and shop owners:

Please PM me your email address (or email me directly at [email protected]) and I'd love to send you some questions pertaining to the business side of things.




I just found HBT and this seems like a great forum. I can't wait to get more into it!

where are you?

1) Most of my ingredients are bought locally (except for hops)
2) If you average it out, I've probably spent $750 a year on equipment, but most of that has been in the last year
3) I try to support local business when I can, but the bottom line is the bottom line. In this economy, the greenbacks are the deciders.
4) No and by extension, no
5) Sell grain by the pound like normal, but for customers who want to buy in bulk, do a group buy instead of selling sacks to individuals. This will reduce your costs and the customer's
6) Be personable and knowledgable, not just about your product, but about brewing in general. There's nothing I hate worse than walking into a shop where the guy at the counter (typically the owner, but not always) is an ******* and has no idea what he's talking about.

Best of luck to you, I hope everything works out. Cheers!

Service. If people have a good experience in the store, they'll want to keep coming back. Engage customers and ask what they're brewing. Not many people want to listen to a store-owner's brewing prowess, they want the store owner to think what they're doing sounds good.

Obviously prices have to be competitive. Not the lowest, just competitive.

Oh, and cash flow. Have cash to run the business, lots of it. Like oil in your engine.

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc?
LHBS

-How much do you spend on equipment annually?
$100 (approx)

-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online?
I love my LHBS for the employees. They are friendly and knowledgeable without being condescending.

-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop?
Our local club is affiliated.

-What would you like to see in a home brew shop?
I'd love to see more activities. Maybe a "teach a friend to brew" day. Sometimes they have an informal "contest" where some of us homebrewers bring in beer for tasting.

I've been trying to convince my wife to let me open a homebrew shop for her to run. NYC only has 2 LHBSs. As crazy as that sounds, it's true. I can't justify it because of the job I have and where I'm at in my career, but she's not working right now and I think it's a good idea for us.

Best of luck to you whatever you decide. As far as your research, I'm not so sure that my input would matter. I would shop exclusively at my LHBS if I didn't have to pay a toll to get to it. As it stands, I can wait until I have a decent sized order, place it online, and with shipping it will cost me less than the trip to Brooklyn.

my #1 advice: if you have a local homebrew club, get in it and get known as a good guy. when you start 1, they'll follow you. i saw a new startup put an old favorite out of business by being affiliated with a club

To the customers:

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc?

I buy all my grains and about 85% of my dry goods at the LHBS. I almost never buy hops there as they don't have a single variety below $2/oz. Last I looked Simcoe and Citra were almost $3/oz.

-How much do you spend on equipment annually?

Equipment? See above. I probably spend $300-500 annually, but probably 75% of that is consumables (grain, hops, yeast etc)

-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online?

Staff knowledge and friendliness. I've gotten recipe and process feedback, been given samples to try and never felt rushed even when they were busy.

-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop?

There is a local brew club, that gets 10% off all dry goods at the LHBS for $35/yr dues. I'm not currently a member due to lack of free time.

-What would you like to see in a home brew shop?

Willingness to special order. My LHBS will special order yeast for me, though it took them well over a month to get Pacman in after I ordered and paid for it. When Vinnie bottles were starting to hit the market I tried to get them to order me a case or two and they refused to even look into it as they felt no one else would want them.

-Anything else to advise?

Never forget your customers have choices, and generally aren't stupid about competitive pricing. If you're the only LHBS in the area you can like have terrible service and cheap prices or stellar service and expensive prices and survive, but not both. If you have competition nearish find something that sets you apart. If you have the expertise and staff, offer cheap or free classes of varying skill levels.

If you have a local club, make friends with them. Offer discounts to their members, offer them group buys on grain, etc.

I appreciate all of the advice here fellas. I'm also looking into the BOP side of things as well in combination to the home brew shop. We'd sell all the supplies for making beer and wine, as well as offer classes and try to get a good club going/reinvigorate the club that seems to have gone underground.

Anyone else want to chime in?

For me it is service. I will happily pay more money and shop local if the business has good people who are knowledgeable and actually care about helping their customers make good beer. I'm not going to gripe over a few bucks extra per batch of beer, I want to make good beer and having a local shop that actually teaches the processes would be nice.

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc?

Base malt - group buy
Hops - bulk online
Specialty Grain/Oak/Yeast - LHBS
Equipment - I buy mostly from the LHBS, but I'm not passing up on a better deal online.

-How much do you spend on equipment annually?
Averaged over the last five years, probably about $250 a year, but that goes in spurts

-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online?
Competitive pricing (I don't mind paying a bit more for things, but a 100% markup over the online retailer will not win my business), well informed staff, good hours.

-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop?
Yes, and Yes, one club I'm in meets in a homebrew shop.

-What would you like to see in a home brew shop?
Good customer service
Good selection of malts/hops/yeast
vacuum sealed hops in light blocking bags (don't ask why I need to specify this)
some sort of customer appreciation discount might be nice (buy 15 yeasts get one free or something like that, people love that sort of thing)

-Anything else to advise?
Nope

1- I buy 95% online
2 I spend $50-$100 on equipment each year, and approximately $300 on consumables (grain, yeast, hops)
3- Location is key for me. I live in DC, a very car unfriendly area. I do most of my shopping in places I can walk to or else I go online. I don't get to the homebrew shop often, it's a 30 min drive each way IF there's no traffic.
4- Not in a homebrew club yet
5- I really think the idea of offering classes is a good idea. When I first began brewing, my brother-in-law sent me to a class as a gift. It's a great way to get new folks into the hobby. Also, I want to reiterate what a lot of other people are saying about having knowledgable staff on hand; any bad info will lose you a lot of credability!

Best of luck! Let us know how it goes!

dryboroughbrewing said:

good hours.

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This one is huge. My LHBS is open Tues-Sat most of the year, during the August - Dec Harvest - Xmas they also open on Monday. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to buy something or wanted to start a spur of the moment batch on a Sunday or Monday. Their hours are also kind of restrictive, 10-5:30 Tue - Fri and 10-5 on Saturday. Even my bank has better hours these days.

Rapchizzle said:

To the customers:

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc?
-How much do you spend on equipment annually?
-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online?
-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop?
-What would you like to see in a home brew shop?
-Anything else to advise?

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Buy grain, yeast and incidentals locally; hops and equipment online.

A lot more than SWMBO thinks is reasonable.

Price competitiveness.

Our LHBS lets us have meetings at his store four or five times a year. No discount that I am aware of for members.

Good selection of reasonably priced ingredients and equipment.

Handle beer kits as well as ingredients (both your own and from manufacturers). Also may as well do wine kits and simple winemaking equipment. Maybe cheese making as well. Carry some brewing books.

Jukas said:

This one is huge. My LHBS is open Tues-Sat most of the year, during the August - Dec Harvest - Xmas they also open on Monday. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to buy something or wanted to start a spur of the moment batch on a Sunday or Monday. Their hours are also kind of restrictive, 10-5:30 Tue - Fri and 10-5 on Saturday. Even my bank has better hours these days.

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Exactly! one of the LHBS I like to go to is open Tues-Fri 12-6 and sat 10-4. It kills me when I need to buy something outside of those hours. 6 is pushing it, and the limited time in Saturday is a bit counterintuitive given its probably the busiest day and they are closed Sunday

mistercameron said:

Exactly! one of the LHBS I like to go to is open Tues-Fri 12-6 and sat 10-4. It kills me when I need to buy something outside of those hours. 6 is pushing it, and the limited time in Saturday is a bit counterintuitive given its probably the busiest day and they are closed Sunday

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When a new whole foods opened here the guy who manages their beer and tap room is a brewer also. Apparently he was tired of the lhbs hours as he put in a small homebrewing section. It's nothing like a lhbs but I can find the staples, all common grains, yeast, and hops if needed

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc?
LHBS

-How much do you spend on equipment annually?
I haven't been doing it that long, less than a year. but I spent about $600 at my LHBS when I bought everything to get started

-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online?
Competetive pricing. You don't have to be chepaer, you can account for convenience of getting it now and not having to pay shipping charges. Also, a friendly knowlegable staff. Obviously everyone is in business to make money, but I feel if you work to save a customer a few bucks here and there, you've gained their loyalty, therefore the money they do spend will be at your shop.

-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop?
Not in a brew club. I've noticed they give 10% off to members of a brew club. I'd love to join one, but honestly, I just do not have the time right now.

-What would you like to see in a home brew shop?
Classes on homebrewing. I know my LHBS brews in their shop, put a sign up. "Brewing on Saturday at 10:00 am." Doesn't have to be much even in the way of a class as much as just a chance for beginners to stop in and see what the process is all about. It can be very intimidating for a new brewer (I know, I just started) Sometimes it's not about asking the right questions, but not even knowing what questions to ask.

-Anything else to advise?
Be friendly and know your brewing. Most people are going to look to you to be the expert. You have to know what you are talking about and recommend products based on experience, not just making a buck. The main reason I go back to my LHBS is because when I first was getting into it, I stopped in and talked to them. They walked me through what I would need and also asked what my plans were for bottling/kegging, all grain, extract, future plans.

And at the end of the day have plenty of inventory. Never having everything the customer needs is an easy way for them to decide to just buy everything from someone else.

I buy off the internet.
I don't brew enought to justify bulk buys.

Give me a LHBS with a large variety of ingredients, and I'd pay a small premium to buy locally. Think convenience store, because you'd be selling convenience.
Hours should be based on hobbyists, later and weekends.

i seem to spend about $50-$75 a month at the LHBS. I have never ordered anything online.

my expectations:
- if i buy everything, including yeast, an average gravity mostly-liquid extract beer costs about $30 in ingredients. an average gravity mostly-grain beer costs about $25.
- if i buy everything except for yeast, an average gravity beer with mostly extract costs $20-$25. all grain $15-$20.
- bottles are about $10 a case
- extract is fresh

Rapchizzle said:

I've got a lot of questions and would love to get some opinions. The city I'm in has nowhere to buy equipment and only one brewery selling grains. There's a booming beer scene and three breweries have opened in the past 3 years. I think it could be a success but I'm trying to do some research first.

To the customers:

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc?
-How much do you spend on equipment annually?
-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online?
-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop?
-What would you like to see in a home brew shop?
-Anything else to advise?

To the brewery and shop owners:

Please PM me your email address (or email me directly at [email protected]) and I'd love to send you some questions pertaining to the business side of things.

I just found HBT and this seems like a great forum. I can't wait to get more into it!

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1) locally at either Midwest supplies or northern Brewer.

2)on equipment? Not much. Maybe 100 bucks. I have all I need for the most part.

3)selection. I have northern Brewer and Midwest within 15 minutes of my house. But if I lived in a smaller area I would like it if my local shop could special order items that the big guys always have. I realise you can't have all of the selection NB or MW has.

4)yes I am in a club and we have 10% discounts at both NB and Midwest.

5) Establish yourself with the community. Home brewing classes, events, tastings, public sponsorship. Give back to your city and they should give back to you.

6) don't let any products sit too long. There is a really small shop by me that has a real problem with its kits. He couldn't even give one to me. Make sure your turn over is high.

If you are looking for a supplier you can search probrewer. You could also see if you could buy through the local brewery. The shops here are so big that they have accounts with a local malt wholesaler. I am not sure how much product you need to purchase but I would look into it. Brewers supply group is the big one here.

I BUY LOCAL! The only thing I have ordered online is brewtroller and jet burners.
My LHBS is great. The staff is great, friendly, helpful. The owners are there working all the time and always takes time to help will even help convert kettles and give advise on stuff to help you brew cheep. I am in the store all the time and really enjoy it.
Last sat I was in and the store was packed out, there where people waiting. I said screw this and started helping, helped two different people and sold about 260 in product, from beer kits to delux brew starter kits.
I spend to much on brewing,last weeks grain, hops, yeast, and what not ended at 260. Granted there is grain left but still.
The week befor that I spent 340 on burners.

Local brew store all the way!!

I really do appreciate all the input! I do believe that friendly faces and knowledgable customer service will be key aspects to making this thing a success. It also seems that good hours is a common response as well. With the research i've been doing, it appears the most common set of hours for homebrew shops is 10-6 Tuesday- Friday and 10-5 on Saturday. I think Sunday would be a big day as well so that may be something we'll look at too. What kind of products would ya'll like to see in a local shop?

Charleston, SC?

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc? LHBS

-How much do you spend on equipment annually? ~$100-$200

-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online? Price and convenience. Both of the local stores have prices same or better than online plus no shipping. The cheaper one gives a 10% military discount on top of that!

-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop? Not in a club

-What would you like to see in a home brew shop? Good selection at same price as online or online plus shipping. I need to be able to get all my ingredients for the batch at one location. Understandable if a hard to find anywhere ingredient is not in stock.

-Anything else to advise? Be knowledgeable, well-organized, friendly, accessable to newbies, convenient hours (open weekends)

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc?
Online. No LHBS here

-How much do you spend on equipment annually?
I'd say somewhere in the neighborhood of $150-200. Depends on how much of it I can do myself for less.

-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online?
Convenience, competitive pricing, knowledgeable service, and a place to meet other brewers

-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop?
Nope.

-What would you like to see in a home brew shop?
Diverse selection of ingredients, knowledgeable and friendly staff, group buys, willingness to special order, a place to learn the craft. It would be outstanding to have a weekly brewing session where everyone could come learn about the processes in making beer. Also have the equipment you use to brew the beer easily at hand for purchase or have it available to order.

-Anything else to advise?
Don't underestimate the wealth of knowledge that your customers have. Make the shop comfortable and always try to make time to talk to anyone who walks in. Not everyone is as outgoing as you think. But if you can get to know the people who come in, you'll get regulars. Those regulars will endorse your shop and business will grow. Word of mouth is the best advertising you can get.

To the customers:

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc?

I purchase the bulk of my supplies, equipment, and ingredients for an online vendor - generally Northern Brewer or Brewmaster's Warehouse. The biggest reason for this is convenience. I can order a recipe from my couch and have it delivered to my front door in a week or so.

I don't necessarily like going to my LHBS because I feel as if they can be very judgmental towards new brewers or brewing processes that they don't agree with, and frankly I don't feel like I need to deal with that.

-How much do you spend on equipment annually?

Probably $100 - $200 a year on equipment (that includes expendables like sanitizers, cleaners, etc.)

-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online?

1) First and foremost, some type of remote ordering where I can place an order through your website and either have it delivered by ground to my home or I pick up at the store.

2) Friendly and knowledgeable staff that are helpful but not judgmental or condescending towards their customers.

3) A clean, well-lit, well organized store. Seriously, I do not want to wade through a dark, dusty, drab store and I know my wife certainly will not do that.

4) Some sort of rewards program. I need to have a reason to keep coming back to your store besides good price, selection, and friendly staff. A rewards points program or a grain/hop purchase program would be great.

-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop?

I am not active but I've been to a few meetings. They do have some connection to a local brew shop but it isn't anything special as far as I know. If you did offer benefits to the club such as a discount or even letting them host a meeting in the back from time to time that would be awesome.

I would really recommend working with the club to sponsor a homebrew competition - that shows you are involved with the local brewers and you are passionate about good beer.

-What would you like to see in a home brew shop?

I would like to see a well lit, well organized, and store front that offers a good selection of ingredients and equipment. When it comes to equipment, I would like to be able to hold it, touch it, and examine it before I buy it - that's something you can't do through the internet.

If your state would allow you to also sell either commercial beers or homebrewed beers to customers that would be awesome.

-Anything else to advise?

Just be friendly and offer good advice to your customers but don't try to force them to brew the way you do.

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc?

Equipment is probably 50/50 between LHBS and online. Supplies (e.g. sanitizer, cleaner, etc) are 98% or more from online sources because I can buy in bulk and save a little money. Ingredients are almost 100% from my LHBS.

-How much do you spend on equipment annually?

It varies for equipment, but between zero and several hundred dollars on average per year. Ingredients, however, average around $30 a batch and I do somewhere around 20-30 batches a year.

-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online?

Selection and service. My LHBS has a great selection of grain (also in bulk), liquid yeast and hops. I very rarely have a reason to shop online for ingredients because my LHBS is very well stocked most times. Service wise, I enjoy being able to discuss recipes, processes and equipment with other local brewers. They also put on events, like brew days, where it's enjoyable to go down, have a beer and chat about all things brewing.

Equipment wise, if they have what I need, I prefer to buy local to keep them in business because I see them as vital to the craft for all of us. Sometimes, though, selection suffers because I'm not in a big city. Therefore, I've had to source a lot of equipment from online sources.

-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop?

Our LHBS is active in our local group, owned by a member of our local group and participates in many of our activities.

-What would you like to see in a home brew shop?

Ingredient selection is the most important to me. I stopped shopping at our "other" LHBS, which wasn't as well stocked in favor of one that was more stocked. I want to be able to get my grain, hops, yeast and adjunct ingredients (e.g. oak, nibs, spices, etc) in one place. Bulk grain access is also important for me to drive down the cost of brewing. Common equipment is also important, like carboys, tubing and other consumables that I'll eventually have to replace.

Hope that helps!

To the customers:

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc?
I started buying online, however I have a few LHBS near me and now I'd much rather go there to buy my supplies.

-How much do you spend on equipment annually?

I would say between $100-$300

-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online?

Service and a more personable experience. As others have mentioned, I'd rather spend a few more dollars to help local business as well as get the help I need from a local person. The employees at my LHBS are knowledgeable and don't have any problems answering any questions I may have, as well as giving alternate advise. They also occasionally let you sample some of their own brews.

-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop?

I currently am not in a club but have been entertaining the idea of joining. All the local clubs are affiliated with the Local breweries/brewpubs. My LHBS's just happen to be an extension of local breweries.

-What would you like to see in a home brew shop?

Plenty of selection and selling of Grain by the pound like normal.

-Anything else to advise?

Make sure you have enough money for start up. When you think that you have accounted for your overhead cost, double it.

Rapchizzle said:

I really do appreciate all the input! I do believe that friendly faces and knowledgable customer service will be key aspects to making this thing a success. It also seems that good hours is a common response as well. With the research i've been doing, it appears the most common set of hours for homebrew shops is 10-6 Tuesday- Friday and 10-5 on Saturday. I think Sunday would be a big day as well so that may be something we'll look at too. What kind of products would ya'll like to see in a local shop?

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This may be just me, but I really wanted to start brewing probably 10 years ago, but I didn't, because I was intimidated. I know I mentioned it in my post, but I think you could draw in a lot of new customers by promoting brew days. I think as much as advertising sales or special offers, if you advertised, "Learn How to Brew" I think that would go a long way to attracting new people to the hobby. And at the end of the day, that's how you are going to make money, by attracting more customers. If my LHBS had put a sign out front, "We brew on Saturdays, come learn how to do it." I probably would have been a customer of theirs from the start, when they opened 7 years ago.

Yeah, videos, youtube can get you pretty far. But I've had a couple of friends, once seeing me brew, decide it wasn't as daunting as they thought and have actually brewed their own now. There is something about being there and participating that makes you realize it really is just like making soup.

One of my 2 LHBS sells commercial beer by the bottle and also by the keg with 5 on tap to sample or get growler fills.

The other does not have a license to sell beer, but they always have 3 homebrews on tap to sample while you are there. At a minimum it is pretty easy to have a mini-fridge kegerator and 2 homebrews on tap for free samples. A really nice touch.

Rapchizzle said:

it appears the most common set of hours for homebrew shops is 10-6 Tuesday- Friday and 10-5 on Saturday. I think Sunday would be a big day as well so that may be something we'll look at too.

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Just my $0.02, so take it for what it's worth, but as a homebrewer, I would prefer my LHBS be open earlier in the day on weekends, even if only for a shorter period. For example, I would prefer 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM instead of more "normal" hours. Personally, when I brew on the weekend, I want to start early, in case it takes longer than I predicted, and also so I still have the rest of the day to do other stuff. If I'm setting up my gear at 7:00 AM and realize I'm out of Irish Moss, I can wait until the LHBS opens at 8:00 and salvage the brew day. But if they don't open until 10:00, then I need to get creative.

If I haven't started brewing by 2:00 PM, then I'm not brewing that day, so I don't really have any need for the LHBS to be open later than that.

Of course, that's from the perspective of a homebrewer. Wine makers, or people shopping for gifts or whatever might prefer more "normal" hours. I'm just saying that for me, 8-2 on Saturday and Sunday would be my ideal hours for an LHBS. Maybe open on Friday too, but honestly, I have no need for it at all from Monday - Thursday.

-Where do you buy most of your supplies, equipment, ingredients, etc?

--> My LHBS, they are awesome, and also sell a ton of craft beer

-How much do you spend on equipment annually?

--> First year brewing, so this year I'd say... $400

-What would convince you to buy from a local shop over ordering online?

--> Service, ease of use, better prices (seriously), physical stores are always fun

-Are you in a brewing club and does your club have any connection to a local brew shop?

--> No.

-What would you like to see in a home brew shop?

--> Everything. But minimally, all malt types that can be purchased by the oz and a free-to-use mill with free or cheap paper bags for grain. Hops, yeast, equipment, obviously.

-Anything else to advise?

--> Check your local competition. It seems you've already done it, but there are 2 homebrew shops within 10 miles of my house. 1 is at least 20% more expensive on EVERYTHING. Guaranteed way to lose business. And have bins with scales and sell by the oz. Immensely helpful.

The ability to take your brew in and let others try it is great. Even if it is feed back on what you can change about it next time. Also my LHBS dose a anaversery gathering for costumers and whoever wants to come each year. Great for the home brewing community.

It seems that classes would be a hit. Not only would they draw in people lookign to see how it's done, it would establish a loyal customer base. I think the idea of having an extract class, partial mash class, and all grain class might be the way to go. That way we could go in depth in each of the classes and discuss the details of each technique.

Here's another idea I want opinions on. What about a beer swap fridge in the store?

Say, you bring in 6 bottles of your home brew labled with your name, contact info and the recipe and take 6 different bottles from other homebrewers with their contact info (to ask questions, give feedback, etc) and recipe. Would you participate in something like this?


Keep 'em coming guys. This is very helpful.

I think the free samples thing is a great idea. You could have a keg for each of the recipe kits that you sell.

Also become a beer judge and give people advice on beer they bring in for you to sample.

Swapping might be neat. Classes would definitely be neat if you had the space. Might as well start a brew club if you have that kind of space.

Both of the homebrew shops in Brooklyn run classes that are pretty popular. One shop is BOP and does great with the corporate crowd.

Personally, if I ever decided to do something beer related it would be a LHBS or a bar. I'm not really interested in brewing or even having a brewpub. I really think LHBS is a great option and from what I can tell, the initial investment would be relatively small.

Rapchizzle said:

It seems that classes would be a hit. Not only would they draw in people lookign to see how it's done, it would establish a loyal customer base. I think the idea of having an extract class, partial mash class, and all grain class might be the way to go. That way we could go in depth in each of the classes and discuss the details of each technique.

Here's another idea I want opinions on. What about a beer swap fridge in the store?

Say, you bring in 6 bottles of your home brew labled with your name, contact info and the recipe and take 6 different bottles from other homebrewers with their contact info (to ask questions, give feedback, etc) and recipe. Would you participate in something like this?


Keep 'em coming guys. This is very helpful.

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I think the bottle swap would be a great idea, but you'd have to be careful and check with your local laws. It's not a big deal for individuals to do it, but since you are a retail location, there may be some issues with that.

no way can you legally do the beer swap. it would be fun though.

progmac said:

no way can you legally do the beer swap. it would be fun though.

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In Oregon you could, under our new homebrew laws.

my two cents...Be an expert....understand hop and malt profiles. Always have things available....I'm more likely to add more items if you have that one item I'm looking for....I typically just buy yeast and specialty grains since buying bulk hops and malt.

Agree about getting out there with the local clubs goes a long way.....