Interesting experience at LHBS

I stopped in to pick up a couple things. There were a couple customers there. New brewers buying starter kits to start together this weekend. They asked the proprietor how long to ferment. I said I do 3 weeks generally. The proprietor looked at me like I had sprouted a third eye and said "you hear a new one everyday. He turned to them and very firmly said "1 week in fermenter 1 week in bottle and enjoy."

I was sad. I consider this guy somewhat of a friend except for his price gouging but I think was just bad advice. Oh, before you ask, it was a stout, not a hefeweizen. I've never even had a hefe that I considered done in less than 5 weeks. This guy is saying two weeks grain (actually extract) to bottle like it is the final and only word on the subject.

I would have told the customers to also buy a bomb shelter for their bottles


Or tell them to by a hydrometer for readings

Tell a new brewer that he/she has to wait several weeks before he can crack a beer open and you'll see that purchase go back on the shelf.

Price gouging and bad advice? We have enough good shops in the area that I'd move on. Try out Keystone in Montgomeryville if you can't find one you like.

Unfortunately, some LHBS owners would rather sell more beginners kits than be honest. I suppose he wanted to make it sound as easy as possible so that he didn't scare those potential customers away. But, IMHO he should have qualified his answer with something like: "In one week fermentation will most likely be complete, but the longer you wait the better tasting your beer will be. If you care about the taste, 3-4 weeks is a good guideline."

Personally, I would have called that guy out...I do this all the time in stores where some customer service rep is giving lame advice, or trying to upsell a customer who doesn't know any better. I understand the temptation to just go for the quick sale, but good ingredients and great advice is what will keep customers coming back for years. If a customer can't trust their LHBS owner, they'll eventually figure out they're full of it and take their biz elsewhere.

I really appreciate and value my LHBS for this reason... they are pretty stand up folks. Aside from the fact that I cannot afford to buy thier ingredients, they are awesome! I will however buy my Barley Crusher there and bulk grains! Those they are very reasonable on.

You can only hope that they are lucky enough to find a place like this where they can get some good advice.

I noticed the same thing with wine kits. The time table they suggest is much faster than the optimum for fermenting/racking/bottling.

I only made one trip to my LHBS so far, and they were really honest and helpful. If somebody talked to me like the story you just described, I'm pretty sure I'd never go back there again.

I've been in a similiar situation. I announced that I leave my beer 3-4 weeks in the primary and great results. I got some spill about autolysis.

Give me a break.

Those guys are professional brewers. They own their own store and everything! They don't need to keep up on current information, because they are experts!

It's sad to think that they would rush new people through the brewing process like that. They should know that one more week or two is not going to kill the brewer, but will likely make their beer taste so much better.

Everyone here should print up some business cards for this site. That way when they come across someone new to the hobby, they can whip out a card and refer them here. In no time they will eager to brew and will have a good solid base of understanding of the processes.

I am a noob, and started homebrewing just recently. I have a LHBS and the guys there are freaking awesome, however I have been given conflicting advice on several topics from the guys there. I am starting to realize that while we all are in the same race, everyone has a better way to get to the finish line.

Cheers

I can't think of a single beer that would turn out good with that timeline, but especially not a stout. What awful advice. And the worst part is how he made you sound like you were clueless, just for the sake of making a sale. That's a real shame.

HOOTER said:

I can't think of a single beer that would turn out good with that timeline, but especially not a stout. What awful advice. And the worst part is how he made you sound like you were clueless, just for the sake of making a sale. That's a real shame.

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A couple things. I don't think he was just giving "quick sale" advice. He believes it I think. I don't know.

I do know that the customers believed me over him and started asking me the questions instead after that exchange. I have to admit that I found that a little gratifying.

The owner benefited too. I talked them into buying an extra carboy so they could get a second batch going asap rather than waiting.

My LHBS made a few slips with me, when i told him what my wife preferred to drink he said why would you drink that ****e.
Another time i said i was going to rack and he said all racking was bull**** and created a chance for infection.
Now i still buy from him as there are not too many to choose from around here BUT i think he is opinionated and i take my advice from other sources and just go there to get what i want. If i can get it cheaper elsewhere i do so.
It's all about the pitch after all, he could have pointed my wife to another brand and he could have suggested other things to do rather than rack...
He still sold me the extra fermenter even though he didn't agree with racking.
For the record he is probably correct and i rarely rack now.

I just go in and get what I need for the most part. However, I asked him if he HB, he said yes and came back with and IPA and Hard Cider sample.

Pretty cool.