AHS versus Morebeer

I usually order from morebeer because of the cheap prices and free shipping that only takes two days from concord to here. I decided these last two batches (berlinner-weisse and thunderstruck) that I'd place an order with AHS. I like that they combine grains into one bag, ground together. I am noticing though that the crush on the AHS grains is much more aggressive than morebeer's mill. I am hoping the better milled AHS grains will find me at a higher than effiency than normal. thumbs up

For the Noobs, AHS means Austin Homebrew Supply.

I got the AHS 6 month membership, which gives you free shipping and free yeast - well worth it. I'm very happy with the ingredient kits and equipment I've ordered from AHS and was happy with the MLT I ordered from morebeer.

I've bought from both, but prefer Austin. Nothing against MoreBeer, or any of the other sites out there, but I feel like Austin has the largest selection.

I do have one gripe though: I either get stuff from Austin incredibly fast or exceedingly slow.

I placed an order on Sunday night Forrest...I'm timing you

CaptYesterday said:

I've bought from both, but prefer Austin. Nothing against MoreBeer, or any of the other sites out there, but I feel like Austin has the largest selection.

I do have one gripe though: I either get stuff from Austin incredibly fast or exceedingly slow.

I placed an order on Sunday night Forrest...I'm timing you

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The only grip - the ONLY gripe - I have agains AHS is the stupid peanuts they always pack in the box. Couldn't they use something less messy and more environmentally conscious? For goodness sake, it's usually just bags of grain anyway.

I remember when I bought from B3 a year or two ago, thier crush was really coarse. I couldnt get above 69% eff with it. I bought from another major online supplier and gained about 10% eff. with the crush alone.

jldc said:

The only grip - the ONLY gripe - I have agains AHS is the stupid peanuts they always pack in the box. Couldn't they use something less messy and more environmentally conscious? For goodness sake, it's usually just bags of grain anyway.

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I order from them specifically for the peanuts. Comes in great for regifting to ebay buyers. I think they are good for the environment -
they last forever and can be reused a million times. It's all in how you look at it.

-OCD

beerocd said:

I order from them specifically for the peanuts. Comes in great for regifting to ebay buyers. I think they are good for the environment -
they last forever and can be reused a million times. It's all in how you look at it.

-OCD

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LOL. Like my mom used to say: "To each his own as Sally kissed the cow."

I'm not really sure what it meant, but it seems appropriate.

The Pol said:

I remember when I bought from B3 a year or two ago, thier crush was really coarse. I couldnt get above 69% eff with it. I bought from another major online supplier and gained about 10% eff. with the crush alone.

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I got 75% efficiency from my order from AHS. I am normally parked around 70% when I order from morebeer. The crush was noticably better.

jldc said:

The only grip - the ONLY gripe - I have agains AHS is the stupid peanuts they always pack in the box

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Every time I receive a package from AHS and open it, I curse and swear that I'll never order from them again as the peanuts fly all around my house and statically stick to everything. As they fly around my yard as I try to dump them in a dumpster, I curse them once again. Then, a few days later, I usually put in another order with AHS...

Donate the peanuts to another local store you like to shop at. Ask them if the need shipping peanuts. They will love you for it. Shipping peanuts are expensive.

We are looking into the biodegradable kind, but the common ones flatten out with any weight applied to them. Might as well use sheets of paper. Also, we need to find ones that do not attract bugs and rodents because of the corn starch.

Forrest

You should pack stuff in base malt

Austin Homebrew Supply monitors this site and responds to questions quickly.
Morebeer?????

Two minutes later.

Forrest

To the original poster, have you tried any of the LHBS stores?
I assume you probably have, just curious why you're not now?

AHS is da bomb. Im thinking about getting the membership to expand my yeast bank.

the only one within reasonable driving is ballast point/homebrewmart. I just find their prices to be grossly inflated. and I had a less than stellar experience there a year or so ago when I was asking for an opinion about yeast selection. I just try to limit going there until i need some last minute item; dme, yeast nutrient, grain i forgot, etc.

bhatchable said:

the only one within reasonable driving is ballast point/homebrewmart. I just find their prices to be grossly inflated. and I had a less than stellar experience there a year or so ago when I was asking for an opinion about yeast selection. I just try to limit going there until i need some last minute item; dme, yeast nutrient, grain i forgot, etc.

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Have you ever been to American Homebrew? Prices are similar, but Vance is super knowledgeable.

I get a weird vibe most of the time at homebrewmart, except for one of the guys.

Just curious as I've never done any On-line shopping 'cause I don't want to pay the shipping, and I'm usually pretty impulse when it comes to buying ingredients. I want it now!

I hate Austin Homebrew Supply. Every time I go in there to buy one or two things, I come out with ten. Every time I go there to ask a question, I end up staying for an hour talking to the guys.

Eric

Great_Neck_Brewer said:

Austin Homebrew Supply monitors this site and responds to questions quickly.
Morebeer?????

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Yes? Sorry I have been in meetings and have been away from my desk.

Do you want us to stop?

Forrest

Jipper said:

Yes? Sorry I have been in meetings and have been away from my desk.

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So are you a direct representative of Morebeer?

If so, consider a vendor account.

To be fair to More Beer, No one should expect either of us to live on this forum. Relevant questions should be sent to More Beer or Austinhomebrew.

It has gotten to the point where I check this forum more than 20 times a day. It gets me in trouble with my wife.

You can send questions to [email protected] or to me directly at [email protected]

Forrest

Jipper: I didn't mean to speak for you but I don't think it is fair to compare us on our ability to live on an independent forum.

Austinhomebrew said:

Do you want us to stop?

Forrest

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Sorry, I forgot to turn off the sarcasm button.

Seriously, love you guys.

Eric

McKBrew said:

So are you a direct representative of Morebeer?

If so, consider a vendor account.

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Yes sir, I'm the MoreBeer brand manager. Been here for 11 years, can handle any and all problems.

I would, but I hardly have any time to be on forums, even our own. Too much going on to fully pay attention, you know? I'm trying to work my job into some sort of social media position so I CAN have the time away from e-mails and ads and MoreBeer planning to talk with you guys. Hopefully soon ...

Acutally, you should start seeing some of our banner ads here again.

Austinhomebrew said:

To be fair to More Beer, No one should expect either of us to live on this forum. Relevant questions should be sent to More Beer or Austinhomebrew.

It has gotten to the point where I check this forum more than 20 times a day. It gets me in trouble with my wife.

You can send questions to [email protected] or to me directly at [email protected]

Forrest

Jipper: I didn't mean to speak for you but I don't think it is fair to compare us on our ability to live on an independent forum.

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Oh no worries Forrest! I think these guys here know that in order for us to be able to keep supplying them with the cool stuff we both have to offer, we need to rip our eyeballs away from the screen and do something every so often

Lets not make this a thread summoning various vendors asking them to jump.

Austinhomebrew said:

Donate the peanuts to another local store you like to shop at.

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That doesn't get them off my kitchen floor. They cling to everything. I think the last time I bought something my exact words when the peanuts flew all over the place as I removed a wine kit (I think that was it) "this ain't worth f!ing $6.99 shipping."

Don't get me wrong, I keep ordering from AHS, but I hate, absolutely hate, the packing peanuts. I like the bubble wrap and air bladders others (not just homebrew places) use.

Did I mention I dislike the peanuts?

Austinhomebrew said:

Do you want us to stop?

Forrest

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Yes! You make me push my brew timetables up, because you get my orders to me in a day!

Let's take this away from the peanut debate and have Jason VS Forrest in a friendly game of "Yo mamma so ugly...." It'd be WAY more entertaining.

-OCD

Great_Neck_Brewer said:

Austin Homebrew Supply monitors this site and responds to questions quickly.
Morebeer?????

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Morebeer monitors other sites (their own, The Brewing Network) and responds quickly.

You have to ask yourself if you want to be the kind of person who knows where to ask questions or the kind of person who shops at the place that happens to answer questions where they are at. Either works.

Many orders from AHS - only 2 from More Beer..

Not sure why the first kit I got from them didn't have a grain bag. I called. Where is the bag ? We don't include in the kit ..it is $0.77 extra

How should I brew the beer, then? I ask ,,,after all, this is a KIT - right ?? Instead of apologizing and saying he wld be happy to send a sack, he told me I must have something around the house that I cld use .

I love MoreBeer's catalog though.

Are they on this forum ?

Never ordered from either. But I was looking at the 7.99 flat rate shipping at AHS ... does this really apply to everything ... even bulk grain?

A morebeer employee (at least one) is a member and posted in this thread.

Grain bags are reusable, so I understand not needing one in each kit, but they should make that abundantly clear in the description.

You can always use a paint strainer bag from Lowes though. Those things are handy for brewing, for life.

I guess you could fabricate a grain bag with cheesecloth, but it is a stretch to consider that a household item in this day in age.

I believe ahs does do flat rate on their bulk grains.... maybe not? I think so. and I know morebeer does not do free shipping on bulk grains.

elmetal said:

I believe ahs does do flat rate on their bulk grains.... maybe not? I think so. and I know morebeer does not do free shipping on bulk grains.

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TRUE................

If it is on our website, the flat rate applies.

We do state clearly in our kit descriptions that our kits do not come with grain bags. This stemmed from customer feedback requesting to send back the bags because they already had them. So we figured we would ship without a bag.

kappclark said:

Not sure why the first kit I got from them didn't have a grain bag. I called. Where is the bag ? We don't include in the kit ..it is $0.77 extra

How should I brew the beer, then?

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It didn't include a boil kettle either did it?!?!?

I'm sure the mesh bag does help impart a certain flavor to my beers, but I see it more as part of the equipment side of the equation. I already have half a dozen reusable bags of various sizes crammed into my brew bin. I'm mostly looking to get the raw materials to make beer when I order a kit.

I think we should have all brewing vendors dig a pit in a neutral location and have a bare knuckles fist fight for superiority!

This is the only way we will ever know who is truly supreme...