Nasty Brew Store Houston, TX Area

If you live in Houston, Do not go to B&S Brewers Guild on Nasa rd 1, in Seabrook.

I have tried several times to buy grains there...and several times, weevils. Usually, I won't buy. This time, I didn't notice anything immediately...so I purchased some grain.

Sadly, I purchased some grain there on Saturday, but didn't have time to brew, so I let it sit on my table in a plastic bag. I tossed it into a pot today ready to brew...and what do I see. Dozens of weevils.

Not cool. This has been going on at least a year.

Expired yeast, always out of stock with regular grains, hops usually not in stock (or mistreated), owner doesn't care.

I gave them one last chance this weekend, never again.

Not an advertisement, just sharing a few experience with some brewing friends in the area.

DeFalcos has never been an issue for me. I have not tried the one in Spring. Too bad Keg Cowboy left, they were cool too..

Oh boy, you posted a bad experience with a homebrew shop. Get ready to get destroyed by everyone out there in internet land. Ask me how I know...

MachineShopBrewing said:

Oh boy, you posted a bad experience with a homebrew shop. Get ready to get destroyed by everyone out there in internet land. Ask me how I know...

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This. Have you addressed the issue w/ the owner of the shop to alert them of the issue?

I don't known the shop you refer to so can't comment, I must say DeFalcos are great, I went there a few weeks ago and asked about an ale recipe, guy in the back was great, he threw in some hops, priming sugar, yeast food in for free, very helpfully.
Taxas Home Brewers are closeset to me, also great place to shop.

I fear no attacks. I don't much care what someone thinks. I do care to ensure all know what they may be buying.

I have talked to the owner before, as stated. He does not care. Maybe he posts here, who knows. He was rude and not helpful.

I am not the only one with the same experiences. I'm just the one who opens my mouth more.



Never heard of Texas Home Brewers- may drive out there one day. It is sad B&S is so pitiful a store, It is only 2 miles from my house. DeFalcos and others are a 35-45 min+ drive. I do go to DeFalcos occasionally. Usually mail order.

I agree with posting this info. If someone has that much lack of responsibility for their store, then they deserve to get blasted online. A specialty shop should have a little more care and concern over what they are selling, without having to bring it to their attention. They have to know that there are weevils in their grain and that their yeast is old. They just don't care as the OP said. It is the owners/manager's responsibility to make sure that a level of quality is being maintained, not the consumers.

I posted a public service announcement about a particular homebrew shop a while ago and got 3 pages of people calling me a ********* for posting it. I was just warning you that people are fiercely loyal to LHBS regardless of quality or level of care. I am like you, I don't care what they think either.

SaltyTX said:

I have talked to the owner before, as stated. He does not care. Maybe he posts here, who knows. He was rude and not helpful.

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In that case fire away. He should have more pride in his shop, at least I know I would. You should bottle a brew and toss some weevils in at bottling and give it to him.

B&S Brewers Guild is 5 minutes from my house.
Guess where I buy my home brewing ingredients and equipment?

...

That's right, online retailers and bulk buys!
You are not alone with your experience with this store, I think we had a discussion about it on one of the Houston bulk buy threads.
B&S is my absolute last resort since the prices, ingredients, and advice are unfavorable.
I am thinking about joining the club that meets there but I don't think that I can support the store...

B&S Brewers Guild shop on NASA 1 is an empty building

Guess the weevils ate them up!

I also approve of telling everyone about a bad store. I don't necessarily agree about telling everyone about 1 bad experience. For example, "I went to my LHBS, and they really didn't care, and gave me bad advice, even though they've always been great before" just isn't right. We've all had bad days. As far as telling about something like B&S, YES, definitely spread that around. I take pride in the beer I make. Shouldn't the store owners take at least as much pride in their stores? After all, I can dump a bad batch of beer; it's a little worse to have to dump a major investment and even your livelihood. Sounds like B&S decided to do just that. I call that justice and an end they earned.

I think they had good intentions but they offered very little outside of a beginner's kits and beginner's advice.
LHBS is a business that strives on return customers; they must hook customers into this hobby so they keep coming back.
Selling stale grains and 2 year old yeast at high prices with poor instructions isn't going to produce stellar brews and keep people coming back.
I don't know how many times I walked in with intention to spend hundreds and walked out with nothing.
It wouldn't have taken much effort to fix their problems but they didn't seem to have the passion to do it.

However the New Clear Lake Defalco store is set up well and their prices are very competitive to online retailers.
I have spent over $500 in wine kits alone. Staff is helpful and ingredients are fresh (for now). They have a little of everything; but you are out of luck if you want a lot of anything.
They also have the odds and ends for kegging equipment that I am always needing due to my carelessness; like o-rings, poppets, springs, ect.

Defalco's is a good home-brew shop for sure.
I get almost everything consumable related from them.

They do charge a bit more than I think they should on things like hose barbs and the like. But overall pretty fair pricing. I've never encountered issues with the grain itself.

There are some genuinely crappy businesses out there and I'm all in favor of calling them out but I'd like to see the mods reach out to a company to give them a chance to respond.

Too many people have one experience where they weren't made to feel special and they then weave that into a whole basket full of grievances. Not saying that's what happened here but it's too easy to criticize without showing that you actually gave them the chance to correct the problem if there was one.

I also get a bit suspiscious when a thread like this is started and someone with eight posts chimes in immediately to corroborate the charges. Once again, I'm not suggesting anything inappropriate is going on.

B&S folks were nice people that were in business for a long time.
They shut their doors months after a new smaller store opened up 6 miles away.
There is a reason why they had no customer loyalty.