Rebel Brewer

I've placed 8 separate orders with RebelBrewer this year and the service has been terrific.

The prices are very competitive, and they have terrific turnaround time. I placed my last two orders on Monday nights, received a FedEx shipping confirmation on Tuesday, and delivered Thursday (Going from TN to NY).

Haven't had any inaccuracies in the order. Grains/Hops packaged well. When I've gone for liquid yeasts, I haven't had any issues with the freshness of the yeast.

I like to mix up my orders between different Homebrew Suppliers (MoreBeer/Austin Homebrew/Northern Brewer), but if I need to get supplies for a weekend brew session, RebelBrewer will be my go to spot.

Glad you wrote this, since I am too lazy to initiate one of these. I fully agree, and Rebel has slowly been getting more and more of my online business

Those guy's are homebrewers to the core, super cool, and a great selection of stuff.

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I'm with you guys. Rebel Brewer is getting the bulk of my online purchasing anymore. Great selection (especially malts), very competitive prices, fast shipping, and very good service. One of the packing guys made a small error in an order I placed a couple of years ago, and not only did they correct it immediately after I let them know, but they credited me $10 on my next order. Not bad at all!

+1. I ordered a bunch of stuff from them about 3 weeks ago. It came fast, it was accurate, and it was less expensive than anywhere else i found. They are my go-to store now.

Rebel earned most of my business after I placed an order to have shipped to me and I got a phone call from one of the guys in the warehouse that recognized the street I live on and told me he would refund the shipping fee and bring my stuff home and I could pick it up at his place a block away from mine. Now that's grade A service.

Used to live in Nashville and been to Rebel Brewer many times. Tom and Tyler (I believe the other guys recently left for other professional brewing pursuits) are fantastic brewers and give excellent advice.

All except one order was spot on, and that was corrected on the spot. Since moving, all of my mail orders have been perfect, and I also echo having no problems with yeast, despite summer shipments.

I wish I still lived nearby, as I hate paying shipping, but gladly do so to keep giving them my business. Their malt selection is unrivaled.

I'd have to give them a "meh".

The order was shipped quickly, and I got every item I ordered. I ordered two pounds of hops- cascade and centennial. The centennial was like a brick. I opened it and had to "chisel" apart the pellets. They were brown, and smelled a little "off". I sent an email and got a very quick reply from Tom (I believe- it was a while ago).

His response was that they use a system to package them and that causes them to be like bricks, and that I was just inexperienced with recognizing that. All of their other customers love their hops like that. I responded that there were not ok, but the cascade hops were. I received no further answer.

OK. I buy about 10-12 POUNDS of hops a year. I must just be ignorant of what centennial hops should look like, taste like and smell like and well as the texture of pellet hops. I guess centennial hops should be brown, crumbly, and not smell good?

The cascade hops were fine, and I used them. The centennials were used, also, in a very small amount. They were not good. They weren't really "cheesy" but the aroma was definitely off- more vegetal and slightly sour.

I resented the tone of the email response I received as it was patronizing. I thought the prices were great, the shipping was fast, and the email response was quick. But I doubt I'll ever order from them again.

Their T-shirts are very cool.

If you order something small, like a T-shirt, they will mail it for cheap shipping.

I'm fairly happy with them. Their shipping speed is nothing short of amazing. My only complaint is that I asked for my grains crushed and they even wrote it on the bag, but they were not crushed. It was just shy of 2 pounds so it wasn't worth complaining about. Had I ordered my base grain there and had it not crushed it would have been a different story.

However, after hand crushing them, I will complain next time it happens. That was a huge pain in the ass.

Yooper said:

I'd have to give them a "meh".

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That sucks, they must have been having a bad day. I know Tom, and he is a down to earth homebrewer through and through. Never had anything but good experiences there.


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I've only used them once, and that was to purchase my beginner kegging setup. I was pleased with the service received.

I have not used them to purchase any ingredients so can't comment on the quality.

wildwest450 said:

That sucks, they must have been having a bad day. I know Tom, and he is a down to earth homebrewer through and through. Never had anything but good experiences there.


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Yes, that's why I was so disappointed! I bought two pounds of hops, and various other things. As I said, the cascade hops were ok but the centennial were not. When I sent the email, I was very nice but said that the centennial hops were in a rock-hard brick that I had to chisel apart to repackage, discolored, and "off" in the aroma.

He emailed back, telling me that it's perfectly normal for them to be rock hard and in a brick as they use a special vacuum sealer.

I emailed again, saying that I understand that, but they were brown and had an off aroma as well. He emailed me again, stating that they were fine and I was the only customer who had a problem with them, so I just must not know how centennial hops are.

I never wrote or emailed back, and threw away 14 ounces of hops. I used two ounces in a brew just to see how bad they were. They were bad enough that I threw away 14 ounces, if that tells you!

Yooper said:

Yes, that's why I was so disappointed! I bought two pounds of hops, and various other things. As I said, the cascade hops were ok but the centennial were not. When I sent the email, I was very nice but said that the centennial hops were in a rock-hard brick that I had to chisel apart to repackage, discolored, and "off" in the aroma.

He emailed back, telling me that it's perfectly normal for them to be rock hard and in a brick as they use a special vacuum sealer.

I emailed again, saying that I understand that, but they were brown and had an off aroma as well. He emailed me again, stating that they were fine and I was the only customer who had a problem with them, so I just must not know how centennial hops are.

I never wrote or emailed back, and threw away 14 ounces of hops. I used two ounces in a brew just to see how bad they were. They were bad enough that I threw away 14 ounces, if that tells you!

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I don't think anybody would question your assessment of hops. I was surprised to hear your negative experience like WW was. Guess it shows that no place is perfect

Rebel brewer is my new go-to shop when planning ahead my brews. They ship very quickly and are essentially overnight for me (in GA). Prices are very competitive with BMW and I can get my order much quicker from RB. Never had a problem with any of my orders.

Not sure if I've ordered hops from them as I got in on the last NB clearance sale and have resisted buying hops recently since I have over 3 lbs in my freezer!

Rebel is my go to shop.

Yooper said:

Yes, that's why I was so disappointed! I bought two pounds of hops, and various other things. As I said, the cascade hops were ok but the centennial were not. When I sent the email, I was very nice but said that the centennial hops were in a rock-hard brick that I had to chisel apart to repackage, discolored, and "off" in the aroma.

He emailed back, telling me that it's perfectly normal for them to be rock hard and in a brick as they use a special vacuum sealer.

I emailed again, saying that I understand that, but they were brown and had an off aroma as well. He emailed me again, stating that they were fine and I was the only customer who had a problem with them, so I just must not know how centennial hops are.

I never wrote or emailed back, and threw away 14 ounces of hops. I used two ounces in a brew just to see how bad they were. They were bad enough that I threw away 14 ounces, if that tells you!

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So RB has not replaced these yet?

lschiavo said:

So RB has not replaced these yet?

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No, no response to me at all. But I didn't ask for a response after the last email, where I was basically told I didn't know what I was talking about. "We use a vacuum sealer, that's why they are a solid brick, and YOU are the only person who has ever complained" as a response didn't make me feel like arguing with them. As I said, I even explained that the cascades were ok but the centennials were in a brick (and not frozen!), brownish, and with a poor aroma. No further response was forthcoming from them.

I spend about a hundred dollars a month on brewing supplies and there are plenty of other places to spend my money. I will NEVER purchase from RebelBrewer again.

I just bought 7 pounds of hops a few weeks ago (including a pound of centennials) so I'm good on hops for now.

My latest order from them included over 23lbs grain, 4oz hops, autosiphons, yeast, etc, etc. Package arrived approx 26hrs after I ordered it online.
Rebel is now my go-to online shop.

I've ordered from them a number of times. No problems and a great selection of malt.

Just ordered some hops from them. Prices were good and shipping was quick. Only problem was one of the vacuum packs wasn't vacuumed closed. Wasn't a big deal since I repackaged them into smaller amounts anyway for the freezer.

I used to live in Nashville and went to the RB warehouse to buy some supplies. Tom was super cool and very hospitable. I'm a customer for life.

I have been doing a keg conversion so I ordered the Blichmann Engineering Brewmometer weldless kit, which runs for I think like $35.99 from Rebel Brewer, which I have found to be more reliable than some of the other stuff, with awesome shipping rates. When I got it, it was in degrees Celsius. I kicked around the idea of just sucking it up and using this scale, but I decided to contact them and return it. I got an email from them today pretty much saying, "well, I don't know how you got that, we don't even carry those. We went ahead and shipped you another Brewmometer - why don't you just keep both, no charge?"

I mean, I've had good customer service before - giving shipping labels, etc... but literally GIVING me another product?! That's pretty cool. Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. I'm pretty excited!

Rebel Brewer is my favorite online store....its the only one that offers flat rate shipping to hawaii. Granted its only up to one pound of stuff but no other online store does that for hawaii. I love those guys and will continue to give them my business over all of the other sites.

I'm local to Rebel and I've bought there. It's truly a mom and pop operation. That is a good thing. I am a and will be a customer. I like the small mission oriented focus. But, I am a hunter-gatherer, so whaddya expect?

I've always had good results when ordering from Rebel. Like when they were having the hop blow-out and their inventory system couldn't keep up... They were out of the hops I wanted (whole hops) by the time I placed my order (even though the system said they had some)... So, I was able to get my hops when they got more in, at the sale price, without having to do more than mention it. I continue to buy my new 3 gallon (and sometimes 2.5 gallon) kegs from them. I even get a couple of specialty grains from them that no one else seems to have. I only wish they used heavier/thicker bags for the grains. Everything else is packed up to survive no matter what.

I'm sure it was Blichmans fault. I got a Brewmometer from Rebel a few months ago and it didnt have the O-ring and lock nut in it even though the box was correct. Tyler told me that I would have to wait till more came in cause all the weldless ones they had were missing the parts. Got the O-ring and lock nut a week or two later. Wish I would have gotten a free one like you. I'm sure they gave it up cause nobody hardly buys Celsius.

Yooper said:

No, no response to me at all. But I didn't ask for a response after the last email, where I was basically told I didn't know what I was talking about. "We use a vacuum sealer, that's why they are a solid brick, and YOU are the only person who has ever complained" as a response didn't make me feel like arguing with them. As I said, I even explained that the cascades were ok but the centennials were in a brick (and not frozen!), brownish, and with a poor aroma. No further response was forthcoming from them.

I spend about a hundred dollars a month on brewing supplies and there are plenty of other places to spend my money. I will NEVER purchase from RebelBrewer again.

I just bought 7 pounds of hops a few weeks ago (including a pound of centennials) so I'm good on hops for now.

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I just heard from Rebel_Brewer. Tom says that he has tried to email me, but my address bounced back. That's absolutely true, as I changed my email address due to my ISP getting hacked. So I know he's not blowing smoke, as they say.

Anyway, we're good. He's replacing the hops I threw away! I will definitely give them another chance, after "talking" with Tom about what happened and the miscommunication has been completely resolved. I think we're both satisfied with this resolution.

Yooper said:

I just heard from Rebel_Brewer. Tom says that he has tried to email me, but my address bounced back. That's absolutely true, as I changed my email address due to my ISP getting hacked. So I know he's not blowing smoke, as they say.

Anyway, we're good. He's replacing the hops I threw away! I will definitely give them another chance, after "talking" with Tom about what happened and the miscommunication has been completely resolved. I think we're both satisfied with this resolution.

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As a big fan of Tom and Rebel, I'm glad to see everything work out. Anytime I see a post from you, I take heed of the advice, so it was tough to see that you weren't a big fan... but it looks like all's well that ends well

Yooper said:

I just heard from Rebel_Brewer. Tom says that he has tried to email me, but my address bounced back. That's absolutely true, as I changed my email address due to my ISP getting hacked. So I know he's not blowing smoke, as they say.

Anyway, we're good. He's replacing the hops I threw away! I will definitely give them another chance, after "talking" with Tom about what happened and the miscommunication has been completely resolved. I think we're both satisfied with this resolution.

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Hell yeah, if Yopper of all people was Downing my business on here I'd do my Damdist to correct it too. I've ordered a bunch of hops from Rebel and always had quality although a few times the hop packs weren't air sucked real good. I've seen them working in the back. They pull the hops out as the orders come, out of zip lock bags and run them through their "special vaccuum sealer". So maybe the centennial you ordered just happen to be an older one and got overlooked. I've maybe heard 2-3 complaints about Rebel and many, many referrals. So compared to other company's the percentages are in Rebels favor. I had Tom's Green Chili Beer last week and it was great.

Stevo2569 said:

Hell yeah, if Yopper of all people was Downing my business on here I'd do my Damdist to correct it too. I've ordered a bunch of hops from Rebel and always had quality although a few times the hop packs weren't air sucked real good. I've seen them working in the back. They pull the hops out as the orders come, out of zip lock bags and run them through their "special vaccuum sealer". So maybe the centennial you ordered just happen to be an older one and got overlooked. I've maybe heard 2-3 complaints about Rebel and many, many referrals. So compared to other company's the percentages are in Rebels favor. I had Tom's Green Chili Beer last week and it was great.

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Tom tells me that he later found out that the centennial hops were all dumped after my complaint as he investigated and found out that they came that way from their supplier.

But the thing is, he didn't "know" me. Not that I'm more important than anybody else, but when when I order from a store it's not like they know my HBT ID. (Well, Brewmaster's Warehouse does but that's another story altogether!) I'm just any other Joe Smith that orders. That means I'm not anybody different at all. He had no way of knowing that I'm just a big blabbermouth on an internet forum. So I"m treated just like every other customer of course.

So my reviews and opinions are just that- honest reviews and honest opinions. I don't get any advantages by recommending one store over another. I'm just sharing my experiences.

Yooper said:

He had no way of knowing that I'm just a big blabbermouth on an internet forum.

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You're not just a big blabbermouth on the internet, you're an AHA Homebrewer of the Week who blabs on the internet! My Friend Lorena is Homebrewer of the Week! : Singing Boys Brewing Blog You're famous!

Glad to hear things worked out for you Yooper.

And you are absolutely correct that your reviews are just honest reviews/opinions, but your opinions do carry more weight around here, so for you to post a negative review, it means something went wrong. Glad they were able to sort it out with you though.

I order a few items from rebel last month and was very impressed at the speed of service and the quality of service. Thanks again RB

Z

I put together an order last night for some keg fittings I needed and some hops. I also wanted to add a few feet of silicone tubing to the order. I couldn't figure out why my shipping kept going from $5 without the tubing to a fed ex price with the tubing, but the change essentially doubled the cost of the tubing so I decided I'd just try to find some locally. I put a comment in asking if they could send me an email filling me in on how shipping was calculated for future orders. I get a call today saying the tubing put me over the weight limit for super saver, but they'd squish it in there no charge. I've ordered grains previously from these guys before, and will certainly place more orders with them in the future.

Rebel Brewer just made good on the hops! I got a nice new pound of centennials to replace the ones I threw away, along with a few ounces of new hops to try out.

I definitely feel that I will use them again in future purchases after this was resolved for me.

Yooper said:

Rebel Brewer just made good on the hops! I got a nice new pound of centennials to replace the ones I threw away, along with a few ounces of new hops to try out.

I definitely feel that I will use them again in future purchases after this was resolved for me.

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Is this from the bad batch you got 3 months ago? Or a different order?

Specialty grains from the RB website and a couple of sacks from their 50 Pound site are on there way. Ordered today and can count on them being here to brew for the weekend. I'm hooked!

Stevo2569 said:

Is this from the bad batch you got 3 months ago? Or a different order?

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Same one- he sent me an email in December telling me he'd send me new ones when available, and it took a little while.

Ordered 2nd pump for ag system and new 20g mashtun. So far service has been great, getting ready to upgrade to their rebel mill, has anybody used it? Would like some feedback.