Anyone notice LHBS prices steadily rising?

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dallasdb

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Has anyone else noticed that your LHBS has steadily increased their pricing over the last year?

I understand prices to produce products have gone up, operating expenses, yadda yadda but I was shocked to purchase a simple Kolsch recipe:

6 lbs Pale LME - $15
1 lb Light DME- $7
2 oz Hallertau- $8
Wyeast 001 - $8

The LME and DME haven't changed in price but the price of hops kills me.

They are charging $4 for 1 oz!!!
They also quit carrying an assortment of dry yeast packets.

I am all for supporting local business but not when it doesn't make sense $$$

Unfortunately I think I will be buying my dry yeast packets and hops online instead of supporting my LHBS.

Side note, I know they aren't hurting for business because they just doubled in size!!!
 
With the steady increases to hops and extracts, I've gradually had to transition to online purchasing in bulk as well. Particularly with hops, as I gravitate towards IPAs, and robust ones at that. I've made it clear to my shop that I'm fine spending a few extra dollars here and there on my specialty grains, but if buying a pound of Chinook online costs me the same amount as 2oz of it in the shop, I simply can't do it.

I don't mind buying yeast from them since I can wash and reuse it a few times after the purchase. However, I still have to go outside the shop for specialty yeasts and such.
 
if buying a pound of Chinook online costs me the same amount as 2oz of it in the shop, I simply can't do it.

I don't mind buying yeast from them since I can wash and reuse it a few times after the purchase.

I totally agree with you, I could've purchased 8 oz of Hallertau from Morebeer for the price I paid for 2oz.

As far as yeast goes, I've never washed and reused it but after I build my All Grain rig I am going to learn how.

I can't believe that at my LHBS a complete pre-boxed recipe with yeast and grain bags was cheaper than my Kolsch recipe without grains!!!
 
Hey dallasdb, not trying to be rude or anything, but have you noticed prices everywhere in America recently? Its called inflation and I don't want to get all political, but it is because of QE1 and QE2 which our government has trumped up to be "helping" the economy.

Libya has nothing to do with our gas prices...and when gas is this high it is expensive to ship all that grain and stuff to homebrew shops.
 
Libya has nothing to do with our gas prices...and when gas is this high it is expensive to ship all that grain and stuff to homebrew shops.

Unless other shops just have huge backlogs of hops, I'm getting overcharged. Hops have ALWAYS been really expensive at my LHBS, even a year ago they were more expensive than anywhere else. It has just gotten out of hand.

I've also noticed they've phased out all of the lower end items and now only carry high end gear. It is like a boutique now!
 
Has anyone else noticed that your LHBS has steadily increased their pricing over the last year?


2 oz Hallertau- $8

They are charging $4 for 1 oz!!!

wow...just got back from mine, $2/oz pellets, $4.25/2 oz leaf
 
The cost of gold is equal to bread, this has always been the case. Traditionally 1000 loaves of bread are equal to 1 oz of gold. (Feel free to check it, I bet it is pretty close...) This is VERY important because guess who also uses grains???

People were overjoyed when they learned that all the gold jewelry they owned had increased by about 25ish% in the last few years. The cost of food is now catching up with that lag.

This hobby is a food based one, so it would stand to reason that the cost of the supplies will increase as well. I understand that the hop prices seem stupid high but demand is as well. More and more people, as a result, are growing their own hops. I know I have 4 plants in the ground and this will be the 1st year there will be a harvest!

Also, the specialty vendors for hops pretty much specialize in only that so it is unfair to compare a LHBS with a specialty online vendor. It has been said 1000 times around here, LHBS are for emergencies/grains and maybe yeast 99% of the time. (I do realize there are those beyond fantastic LHBS out there...but not for us mere mortals...)

What I think, is that we need to mitigate our waste. I for one am very anxious for better weather because I will be drying my spent grain and reusing it for foods. I also believe that I will reuse some of the yeast as yeast nutrient (Dry some and then add it to the next boil ;) .) and start my yeast bank. I even have plans for re-purposing the spent hops. If we can mitigate, even a small percentage of the waste, we will reduce the overall cost of living. So, not only does awesome home brewed beer cost me $2.00 a 6er, I get mostly free bread/baked goods and many other products/goods just waiting for the collective minds to come forth with!

/step off soapbox

I need a beer...
 
If you are planning to go all grain soon, you might want to get in on the bulk buy for Colorado Malting Company that is ending soon.

Denver CMC group grain buy

You can buy base malt for less than the LHBS can now buy it for.

I purchase the majority of the hops I use from Hops Direct.

These are mostly fresh from the grower. These do offer a good selection of imported hops. You could get a POUND of German Hallertauer for under $11.00 plus shipping. I usually end up getting about 6-8 lbs of different varieties at a time to spread out the shipping costs.

Farmhouse Brewing Supplies offers smaller quantities of hops at a reasonable price.

Brewmaster's Warehouse offers better pricing on specialty grains (including the shipping costs) than I can get at my LHBS.

Like you, I am all for supporting local business. I still will go the the LHBS for certain strains of liquid yeast but I refuse to be taken advantage of.
 
Buy bulk man! It's a real chivalrous thing to support your LHBS, but that doesn't go in reverse. Try asking them to pay your electric bill one day. :)

I get my yeast and some odds and ends from them, but everything else is purchased in pounds through bulk buys or websites with much better prices. Next week I'm picking up 14 bags of grain for the price of 4 bags at my LHBS. NO BRAINER!
 
Well, LHBS prices have been creeping up because several hop varieties are in very short supply and very hard to get, and barley prices are rising because of the crappy harvest last year. Several of the dry yeast companies have sharply increased their prices. It seems like every week the wholesale prices from C&B are increasing.
 
Not to get on a soap box but here we go
>> If the US$ is worth less then a year ago (which it is) then the assumption is that other folks will buy our stuff (including hops). if hops in the US can be used anywhere then buy where they are cheap right??
>>If our beloved hops are being used by our craft brew brothers (SN or others) because they love our unique outlook brews and thereby the price goes up:: who is to blame?? The philosphy major in me says US for makimg beer that no one else could think of and therefore we are to blame
>>Or drunken ramblings;; You decide.
 
I have very few complaints with morebeer's prices. If anything a few prices have gone down since I got into the hobby this past fall.
 
hbhudy, your reasoning has a good point, BUT, Acoma hit the nail on the head. Gas prices are the problem right now. They are pushing everything up.

AND, hops used by the breweries are bought on long-term contracts....

It's not like Ken Grossman is walking into a store today and saying "Gimme 150lbs of Magmum, 150 lbs of Perle, and 900 lbs of Cascade. I think I'm gonna brew up some SNPA this weekend."
 
my LHBS sells hops like crack, parceled out into ounces and fractions of an ounce. like a crackhead, i showed up and bought my oz for $8 until discovered i could get a pound of some hop varieties from hops direct for $9 a POUND. hello. i put a couple of rhizomes in the ground this yr and they are already peeking out of the ground. having said that i don't do this to save money and i don't really pay too much attention to prices unless they are way out of line, i just really enjoy the brewing process.
 
Has anyone else noticed that your LHBS has steadily increased their pricing over the last year?

I understand prices to produce products have gone up, operating expenses, yadda yadda but I was shocked to purchase a simple Kolsch recipe:

6 lbs Pale LME - $15
1 lb Light DME- $7
2 oz Hallertau- $8
Wyeast 001 - $8

The LME and DME haven't changed in price but the price of hops kills me.

They are charging $4 for 1 oz!!!
They also quit carrying an assortment of dry yeast packets.

I am all for supporting local business but not when it doesn't make sense $$$

Unfortunately I think I will be buying my dry yeast packets and hops online instead of supporting my LHBS.

Side note, I know they aren't hurting for business because they just doubled in size!!!

Not sure which shop you're going to, but DoYourBrew in Westminster is really expensive. HopToIt in Boulder is better (but not open on Mondays). Both sell enough volume that their LME will be fresh (and hop to it costs way less). If you can get anything in bulk (the common stuff - 2-row or your favorite hops) then online is the way to go. Yeast is a killer, though. I'm all about washing and reusing yeast, now.
 
You really have to pick your battles. I love going to my LHBS (I imagine we frequent the same place dallasdb) and I understand when they tell me they gotta keep their lights on. That being said I gotta keep my lights on too, so if I can save a couple hundred dollars per year by buying my base malt and hops in bulk, that will pay for a whole BUNCH of lighting. My LHBS isn't hurting much. They have a brewery and "Tasting Room" attached (same group of owners) that just DOUBLED their seating. Now I love being able to have a pint of their brew in hand while I shop for my brewing supplies, but I am also happy with my own brew in hand while I shop the internet.

My wife just found out she will be losing her job later this year which means I gotta tighten the purse strings even further, so unless my LHBS guys put their prices more in line with what I can find on the interwebs they won't be seeing me as much, brew pub be dam^^ed.

My rant is over now, back to your regularly scheduled programming. Maybe I should go fill my glass again.

Slainte!!!
 
Interesting reading. I have noticed that the price that my LHBS charges for pellet hops increased about $1 per ounce higher than it was roughly 6 months ago but everything else has remained the same (55 lb sacks of Belgian pils $55, Montana 2 row $35, Wyeast packs $6). No sales tax seals the deal. I buy most of my ingredients and equipment from the LHBS because they offer competitive pricing and I can get what I want / need immediately.
 
Can Any give me a decent website to buy some ingredients instead of my LHBS? Don't get me wrong, we have to support our LHBS....BUT some things at a better deal its a no brainer.
 
I try to buy as much as I can from morebeer (local LHBS), but the hops cost for my last Janet Browns was almost as much as what I went the farmhouse for and bought enough hops to brew for a year for, so I had to go with that.

So, hops online, but everything else I still get at an lhbs.

When I was in Albuquerque, I bought more online, but in Mountain View, morebeer is good enough to just get what you need that day.
 
Last time I was there in 1996 it was called Fermentation Frenzy. Brewed some stout and bottled in Mickeys 40s. IT was gross then, but maybe I would have liked it now. My LHBS is a little steep (75 import and 50 domestic sacks), but I still get specialty grains and yeast from em. Maybe should go to concord to morebeer.
 
The only thing I buy from my local store now days is dry yeast, and that is becomming more and more infrequent. Their prices are just too high.

For all my normal brewing needs, Brewmasters Warehouse has everything I need with great prices and great service. ;)
 
If you are planning to go all grain soon, you might want to get in on the bulk buy for Colorado Malting Company that is ending soon. You can buy base malt for less than the LHBS can now buy it for.

I've seen this group buy and am seriously considering it. I think I am only going to get a 50 lb sack of 2-row for my base. I like IPA's and 2 row seems to be the base for most.

Thanks for the links for the hops. Those are great deals.
I bought some odds and ends and 4 different hops from Morebeer last night. I got 8 oz bags from Morebeer for what your link is selling 1 lb bags but I was still happy. Morebeer is still a great deal compared to the LHBS.

Next time I will definitely buy hops from your source.


Buy bulk man! It's a real chivalrous thing to support your LHBS, but that doesn't go in reverse. Try asking them to pay your electric bill one day. :)

I am going to have to start buying bulk. I like supporting local business but sometimes it just doesn't make sense. My family opened a retail business a few years ago in California and it failed. It was bad timing and managed poorly but it still hit home the importance of supporting local shops. We had blowout prices and still had a hard time getting support.

Anyways, I appreciate the responses and I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that is buying bulk.
 
I love going to my LHBS (I imagine we frequent the same place dallasdb) and I understand when they tell me they gotta keep their lights on. My LHBS isn't hurting much. They have a brewery and "Tasting Room" attached (same group of owners) that just DOUBLED their seating.

We definitely have the same LHBS and their beer is AMAZING!

It is a great place to hang out and talk shop but I don't want to leave broke.

Side note: The LHBS we go to sells 2-row for $44 a sack and the group buy has them for $37.50 plus a small amount of shipping. Does that sound right?
 
I've noticed that more and more places have a very limited variety of dry yeast packets. Are these going away?
Has anyone else noticed this?
 
Also, consider that hop prices were depressed the last two years because Inbev canceled millions of pounds of contracts after buying Anheuser-Busch. Do a little reading of old threads about the Great Hop Crisis of 2006-7. That was caused by a fire in Yakima and a bad crop in Europe.
 
Some of these prices people are quoting seem very high even for what's going on right now. Hallertau at $4 an ounce? My LHBS is in Brooklyn, where rent and the cost of doing business are both VERY high, and they are selling Hallertau for $1.85 right now. For $4 an ounce, the buyer is being gouged, bad.
 
We definitely have the same LHBS and their beer is AMAZING!

It is a great place to hang out and talk shop but I don't want to leave broke.

Side note: The LHBS we go to sells 2-row for $44 a sack and the group buy has them for $37.50 plus a small amount of shipping. Does that sound right?

Our group buy is definitely at $37.50 plus shipping per sack. The last time I checked the Colorado Base Pale from CMC at our LHBS was at $60 per sack. The guy from CMC actually said that we got our quote right before he was forced to raise prices again (second time since January) so we got lucky.
 
My LHBS sells all grains for $2 a pound. Base and specialty grains both; they do not distinguish between them. This means I can pick up specialty grains quite cheaply there. I also buy all my yeast from the LHBS as I'm a bit uncertain of what sort of state yeast will be in when it goes through the mail to me.

But for base grains I got in on a group buy, and for hops I'll just buy them online. Not worth the cost to go through the LHBS for those things.
 
Some of these prices people are quoting seem very high even for what's going on right now. Hallertau at $4 an ounce? For $4 an ounce, the buyer is being gouged, bad.

I can take a picture of the receipt if you'd like?
Or the price tag on the hops, I haven't brewed yet.

$4/oz unfortunately is NOT an exaggeration.
 
Oh I believe you, I wasn't questioning you. I'm saying that's sad. Your LHBS is charging way more than the gas prices and supposed new hop shortage warrant. I'd complain and tell them you're probably not going to shop there anymore.

Check out bulk buying. If you can store them, hops by the pound are much cheaper. I just picked up hallertau and fuggles, 1lb each, for less than $25 total.
 
I have noticed prices going up at my LHBS also, but I still think they have decent prices for getting it today and paying no shipping:

$11.90 for 3lbs Muntons DME (any style)

$1.90 flat rate grains per lb crushed (or not), base and specialty

$1.80-2.50 hops per oz (out of a few flavors now though)

$7.95 smack packs (a bit on the high side )

I will be purchasing hops in bulk this coming fall however, because I think I have nailed down the hops I most like to brew with.

I agree that gas prices have a lot to do with the increases. Some hops are also in short supply right now for various US crop related issues and demand increases.

Its all still better than paying $7-$15 for a six pack of quality beer at the packy!
 
I only go to my Local store when I need that quick 3 feet of tubing or a lb of specialty grain. I drive 28 miles each way to go to another store that is that much cheaper, even with gassing up my Tahoe. The thing is, this guy is the supplier to the other stores (and some breweries) in the area. I'll stock up when I go and I'm also lucky enough to have friends that will pick up stuff for me while at work too. I refuse to pay a 2x markup on grain. They try to fool you by charging by the ounce but it adds up.

I also by 6 months of hops at a time from Hops Direct. Split it up among a few others brewers for more variety too.
 
That's why I am growing 4 varieties of Hops! (cascade, willamette, magnum, nugget)
Wish I had enough land to grow my own Barley...

I also wash my yeast and try to get at least 8 batches out of each smack pack or vial.
 
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