Opinion on St Louis LHBS's

Anyone from St Louis have a preference on where to go? I know about Worms Way and the St Louis Beer And Wine in Chesterfield, but I haven't been to either of them. Which is better, and is there anyplace else?

BierMuncher and HarvINStl will chime in shortly.

I like Dave's place St. Louis wine and beermaking but.... you should think about the group grain buy that a lot of use. Missouri malt supply. I can email the guy that heads the whole thing up your info. It is by far the best you'll ever do on grain. He also does yeast, kegs, misc items.

Do you brew all grain, partial mash or extract? I found that worms way might have some cheaper grains than St. Louis wine and beer, but they really dont have much beer knowledge. STL Wine and Beer are fine for hops at around $3/ounce and carry a decent selection of pellets and whole leaf but their grains , yeast, and equipment are high. They will do in a pinch though.

What you need to do is get into all grain asap because we have one of the best guys around who sells bulk grain. I picked up 50lbs of 2 row, 27.5lbs of Munich, 5lbs each of crystal 20, crystal 60, carapils, victory malt, and some keg lube.. all for the whopping price of $75. Oh, and I got to drink lots of good home brew during the pick up.

STL wine and beer is more expensive, but has more knowledge, and Worms is cheaper. I jump between the two, it depends on what I need. Stl brews discount works at both and helps offset any differences.

John

Never been to Worms Way, but STL wine and beer is great. Dave is a very nice guy and knows his stuff. The selection of ingredients is very good and the price is okay. You can definitely find cheaper prices online and whatnot, but I prefer to spend the extra couple bucks to keep him in business. However, I buy almost everything in bulk (picking up a couple of hundred pounds of grain this afternoon) so I pretty much just use him for miscellaneous stuff...but if I wasn't buying bulk, I would buy all my stuff there. That is my two cents.

On a side note...I had no idea STL had such a presence on HBT

cubbies said:

Never been to Worms Way, but STL wine and beer is great. Dave is a very nice guy and knows his stuff. The selection of ingredients is very good and the price is okay. You can definitely find cheaper prices online and whatnot, but I prefer to spend the extra couple bucks to keep him in business. However, I buy almost everything in bulk (picking up a couple of hundred pounds of grain this afternoon) so I pretty much just use him for miscellaneous stuff...but if I wasn't buying bulk, I would buy all my stuff there. That is my two cents.

On a side note...I had no idea STL had such a presence on HBT

Click to expand...

He needs to move out of the high rent district though. I can think of 50 other places in town that would be cheaper than his current location. But yes, Dave is a nice guy and does have a decent selection of stuff.

stever said:

He needs to move out of the high rent district though. I can think of 50 other places in town that would be cheaper than his current location. But yes, Dave is a nice guy and does have a decent selection of stuff.

Click to expand...

Well, I will assume he knows his clientele better than I do. Depending on traffic, he can be 20 minutes away from me; so I would not complain if he was closer. His wallet would certainly thank him if he moved out of town and country. But if that is where the clientele is, then that is where he should be. However, I agree with you, I think he could move out of that location and people would follow him.

considering he is about the only game in town I would think he could move just about anywhere. If you are going to see Kent tonight I hope for your sake he has his hefeweizen on hand, that was some really great beer.

Yeah. I'll be heading down there right after work. I feel bad because I didn't have any beer to bring as the only thing I have in bottles isn't ready yet and I didn't have any time this week to fill anything off the kegs. Oh well, there's always next time.

Thanks for all the info. I am an extract brewer and a newbie. I've just made 2 batches so far. I'm still sticking with the kits for the time being. I live about 2 hrs from STL, and don't make enough (or have enough storage) to buy bulk grain and such.

Worms Way is good for random bits and bobs, but if you want to put together a kit you will want to head out to STL beer and wine, the staff there will be able to help you get the kit you want or will even help set one up for you. Mo malt supply is an awesome source and I highly recommend hooking up with kent. He does carry mostly malts, but he also has bit and bobs and carries yeast as well.