What are the best online places to buy ingredients?

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Hops

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I have made one online purchase of ingredients ( Thomas Fawcett amber malt & some hops the the LHBS was out of). Where are the best places to buy online?
 
Another shameless plug for my store, but I think it is best place to buy ingredients. With flat rate shipping, good prices, fast shipping, and an owner devoted to customer service I think it is hard to beat my store.
 
Brewmasters Warehouse (for anything) (flat rate shipping)
AHS (for anything) (flat rate shipping)
Nikkobrew (for hops) (flat rate shipping)
Midwest Supplies (for anything) (Fed Ex shipping, but low prices on thier products make up for it)


All of them communicate with thier customers and keep things in stock.
 
Hey, if like 30 people here had not warned me in advance... :D I am apparently still capable of learning (on my own). I just didnt listen to the wise... my bad ;)
 
I order almost exclusively from Midwest now. I like that they charge you exactly what they pay for shipping, and their low item prices make up for it.
 
Brewmasters Warehouse said:
Another shameless plug for my store, but I think it is best place to buy ingredients. With flat rate shipping, good prices, fast shipping, and an owner devoted to customer service I think it is hard to beat my store.
Click to expand...

Agree totally, i am now a new regular at brewmasterswarehouse. excellent website and selection and prices.

AHB is also outstanding. seems they have solved their shipping dept woes. no problems for the last 5 orders. Excellent job Forrest!!

give both of these a shot, you will be happy!
 
I've ordered a few bigger items from places like AHB, Northern Brewer etc and all have done well. I still like High Gravity in Tulsa, but mostly because i know them.

I will also highly recommend brewmasters warehouse. I placed my order at 6 pm wednesday, the thing was in fedex's system by 11 and on the truck at 6 am. It was on my doorstep this morning. If i had gotten my act together and ordered earlier in the day before last picked i probably would have had it next day. Great service and Ed is awesome to deal with.
 
Another Plug for Brewmasters. He's a homebrewer too. Started his store cause he was unhappy with the other online suppliers.

He does one bang up job with customer support too. Ed is on top of his game.

I've ordered from a lot of places, and price compare every chance I get. BMW got my first super bulk order.
 
Gotta love Brewmaster's Wharehouse. I went with them (him) after reading their (his) reviews on this site. As a novice AG'er sans mill, I appreciate the milled grain bill packaged in a sealed plastic bag. Love the site, love the interface, & love the prices. I placed my order on New Year's Eve, and I'm currently enjoying the dunkleweizen I brewed from those grains. Sorry if this seems like a subsidised ramble, but this guy's legit. Cheers!
 
sounds like Brewmasterswarehouse is the newest, hottest thing going now. Hopefully with all the great plugs for Ed, he can keep up with the future onslaught of orders headed his way. dont let success go to your head like so many other businesses these days. Make it work and congrats on you new found success. Dont forget that your customers are what make your sucess.
 
BullF-16 said:
sounds like Brewmasterswarehouse is the newest, hottest thing going now. Hopefully with all the great plugs for Ed, he can keep up with the future onslaught of orders headed his way. dont let success go to your head like so many other businesses these days. Make it work and congrats on you new found success. Dont forget that your customers are what make your sucess.
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I really appreciate all of the positive comments about the store and the service. There is no need to ever worry about customer service slipping at Brewmasters Warehouse, ever. We will always have a company culture that worships customers before anything else.
 
Brewmasters Warehouse said:
I really appreciate all of the positive comments about the store and the service. There is no need to ever worry about customer service slipping at Brewmasters Warehouse, ever. We will always have a company culture that worships customers before anything else.
Click to expand...

Your company is a rare find indeed... perhaps because you are a homebrewer first, and a businessman second. You place your emphasis on people and BREWERS, you have known first hand the frustration in dealing with vendors that either got too big for thier own good, or who just didn't whole heartedly care for thier customers.

Customers are paramount, they always pay the bills... thier happiness, is your happiness, and thier success is your success. In a world of electronic communication, where no man is an island unto himself, GOOD feedback is the best advertising, BAD feedback is the death call of any business.

Spending an extra $5-$10 to overnight something that was not shipped in an order, to make it right... will garner you much more in returns. #1. you will have a loyal return customer, #2. that customer will post here, or elsewhere, about his great customer service experience and you will add a few more loyal customers...

Do not serve that customer well... and you will lose his business, and the business of 5-10 other potential customers, through word of mouth.

It is simple business sense, but it is amazing at how many businesses dont have it. Thanks Ed for caring about those that rely on you, and thanks for your promise to to serve us well.
 
Ed, were gonna hold your feet to the fire on the customer service side of things! Don't get too big fer yer britches!

Ogh yeah, my grain stash is slowly dwindling. I have another massive brew day sechduled next weekend, that might be the death blow to the inventory.

Any updates on getting spices like orange peel, licorice, and maybe even some saffron?
 
The Pol said:
Some would debate that claim... :D
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Apparently you had a bad experience with them... I've had two issues, one a grain I ordered was missing, a simple call and they had it shipped out that day, no questions asked. On my first order with them, my hydrometer was broken, once again, a simpel phone call and no questions asked and it was taken care of. I doubt I'm one of the luck few that's had good luck with them, they seem to do a good volume of bussines.
 
I have a whole thread on it...

In stock item was actually out of stock
Held up whole order
No shipment
No call
No email
Nothing for 2 weeks
Never offered to substitute pellet for leaf hops
I then canceled

Shopped soely with them for two years... Wont take that gamble again. Going with a sure thing.
 
Morebeer does have your order status easily available online. They emailed me once when I had ordered something that was out of stock. Oddly the whole order shipped the next day anyway? Yeah they have some terrible stocking problems but they are honest people.
 
I am literally home 8 days this month... I dont have time to constantly check my order status. I expect, silly me, to have an email or call if my order is being held up because an item that was listed in stock, was actually not. The hilarious part was that it was leaf cascade, and they had plenty of pellet... they could have called and offered a sub... no such luck.

I trust Ed will not leave fellow homebrewers hanging... this delayed my video debut by a full 3-4weeks...

Bottom line, B3 has had more complaints, and similar complaints, on this board alone than NB, AHS, Midwest and Brewmasters Warehouse combined. That sayes something, to me anyhow. I used to be B3's largest proponent here, ask anyone, but the people that tried to steer me clear, in the end were right.
 
bull8042 said:
OK, you clowns wound him up..... now you gotta play with him.
Sorry Pol, thought I might have a bit of fun at your expense....
Click to expand...


You know me bull... I only speak the truth. It was a sad day indeed when I had to eat my words and admit that so many others were right about B3 letting ppl down.

I aint wound up bro... Midwest and Niko made it right, they had my whole order from B3 at my doorstep in 3 days. Ed would have gotten it, but he was still waiting for his orange peel and coriander to come in. Which by the way, he let me know was in basically the day that it arrived. Good man!
 
One other thing i'll say about Ed at brewmasters warehouse, and i think The Pol has probably gotten the same sense of this, Ed genuinely cares about the client's experience.

I ordered the ingredients for two kits, as i've said, but i also ordered two packets of notty to have on hand 'just in case'. Anyway, Ed packaged and shipped my order around 11 pm and forgot the notty. No big deal to me, i knew he'd make it right, but it really seemed to bother him. I hope he doesn't mind me saying this, but in our email exchange Ed was really worried that he had ruined my brew day because i didn't get the notty. Not only did he get it in the mail to me that day, but i suspect he would have sent it fedex rush if i had really needed it. (I didn't, so i asked it be sent snail mail).

He really cares and really seemed to feel awful at the thought of having caused me to change my brewing plans. Having had a store forgot my 3 lbs of LME in an order, and then delay me another 5 days (weekend etc.) from brewing, i really appreciate Ed's attitude.
 
Ed is the best... IMHO, hands down. Just look at his interaction with his customers here. He not only takes orders, he responds to customer suggestions and implements them in a timely manner.
 
Recently I have been getting tired of driving 2 hours there and back to my lhbs and have been looking to order online. I am going to place my order over at brewmasters after all the great reviews I am seeing. I am wondering though for future purchases, do they have bulk grain or is there another place I should check out.
 
I'm sure looking around wouldn't be bad, and finding a group buy from a wholesaler would be even better. This is what Ed said in another thread about bulk grains, though.
 
Donner said:
I'm sure looking around wouldn't be bad, and finding a group buy from a wholesaler would be even better. This is what Ed said in another thread about bulk grains, though.
Click to expand...

Thanks :) Trying to determine if I should buy a crusher or just order crushed grains.

And need to find a digital scale and digital thermometer
 
I have to give Northern a nod. I ordered a 5gallon brew kettle from them on a Thusday morning (9:30am) and it was on my doorstep by 3:30pm Friday. It is just 3-1/2 hours south down I-35 but that is way fast. Also like midwest's selection and price.
 
Heres the deal folks. I needed some chinook in a really bad way a few weeks ago. I knew about what time FedEx ran, so I contacted Ed to see how ssom he could get Chinooks to my front door. I trusted the man enough that I MASHED IN without having the hops on hand. Long story short, by the time the mash was done, I had hops in hand.

Is there anything more I need to say? Try getting that out of B3 or AHBS. He said hops would be here, I trusted him, and hops were here, PERIOD.

I've drank beer with Ed. Ed does not pay me comission or anything, nothing. I get no special treatment from him at all, I just feel this strongly that he has OUR intrests at heart. Nuff said?
 
Donner said:
One other thing i'll say about Ed at brewmasters warehouse, and i think The Pol has probably gotten the same sense of this, Ed genuinely cares about the client's experience.

I ordered the ingredients for two kits, as I've said, but i also ordered two packets of notty to have on hand 'just in case'. Anyway, Ed packaged and shipped my order around 11 pm and forgot the notty. No big deal to me, i knew he'd make it right, but it really seemed to bother him. I hope he doesn't mind me saying this, but in our email exchange Ed was really worried that he had ruined my brew day because i didn't get the notty. Not only did he get it in the mail to me that day, but i suspect he would have sent it FedEx rush if i had really needed it. (I didn't, so i asked it be sent snail mail).

He really cares and really seemed to feel awful at the thought of having caused me to change my brewing plans. Having had a store forgot my 3 lbs of LME in an order, and then delay me another 5 days (weekend etc.) from brewing, i really appreciate Ed's attitude.
Click to expand...

I do not mind you saying what happened in the least. I am not perfect and from time to time things do get missed when packaging orders. I try my best to make it right after the fact. You are absolutely correct that I would have overnighted with Saturday delivery your yeast if you needed it for brewing on Saturday. If it was a Wyeast pack I would have even smacked it, so it would have been ready to go when it got there.

As POL has pointed out I am homebrewer and member of HBT first, and a business owner second. I know the thought that goes into everyone brew day and I know that I compete against stores that are local for many people. If you are going to take the time to plan out your brew day and order from the internet your experience should be similar to what you would expect from a LHBS. I am always willing to help brewers with recipes, and answers questions. I email with customers about recipe suggestions and advice everyday. Do not hesitate to email me a question or ask me for some help with a recipe. I often go to the Brew Builder on the website and put together a recipe and send a PDF copy of the recipe to customers so they know exactly what to get.
 
zac said:
Is there anything more I need to say? Try getting that out of B3 or AHBS. He said hops would be here, I trusted him, and hops were here, PERIOD.
QUOTE]

When giving Ed props do you need to bash me? You never asked me to put Chinook in your hands. Had you asked I would. Just because Ed is good doesn't mean I am bad.

Forrest
Click to expand...
 
I've said it before, but here goes:

I've ordered from most of the bigger internet suppliers and they are all pretty good. I have had screwed up orders from all of them and they have all made it right. AHS sent me all my specialty grains for three different brews in one bag even though I asked for them separated. I sent an email and they fixed it. It seems like everyone has been bashing internet suppliers lately when none of them are perfect and most of them try hard to provide great service.
 
I am giving midwest a try for the first time. They are selling whole leafs hops super cheap right now. I got 1lb of willamette for $19.95 and 1lb of cascades for $21.25. I threw a few other things in that didn't bring the weight up much (adjunct grains, yeast etc...) and it was about $7 to ship it too

If this order goes fine, I think I found another supplier.
 
MW is a solid place, with solid prices. Thier crush, if you dont crush your own, is also superb.
 
Forrest,

Apologies. Sincere ones.

AHBS Chinook (pellet) Austin Homebrew Supply $4.99/oz

BMW Chinook plugs http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/products/Chinook-Plugs-1-oz-Mainly-Bittering-Hop-140-AA-0101960 $3.49/oz

For those keeping score at home, thats $1.50 cheaper an ounce. For the beer I was brewing, that was a savings of $9.00 (6 oz of chinooks).

I realized I was out of Chinooks on Thursday, and I was brewing on Saturday. Forrest, I love your shipping, I have ordered from you many, many times in the past, and will probably continue to do so in the future. I knew that with you're volume, there's no way the hops could have been to me in time to brew with Sat. Plus I'm not sure, but I've never recieved an order from UPS on Sat. I am like others on this board, and not at home very often, so quick shipping is important to me. (in fact, I'm leaving home for at least 2 weeks tommorow) No bash to you man, you just can't get stuff to me in 2 days without me paying extra for it. Its a geographic thing on one level. Smart readers will realize Ga is closer than Tx to Va.

For the record. I have never had a bad experience with AHBS. They even emailed me recipie sheets when they weren't in an order, and I didnt realize until I started to mash in a beer, I had the sheets within 2 hours.

Hope this clears it up Forrest.
 

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