homebrew shops in the Bay Area

Can anyone reccomend a good homebrew shop in the Bay Area, specifically close to Freemont CA

Thanks

I suppose you've alread just tried Google Maps, right?
[ame="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=homebrew&near=Fremont,+CA&ie=UTF8&z=10&om=1"]Linky Linky[/ame]

www.oakbarrel.com BaZerkly - really great people there & samples on tap.
www.williamsbrewing.com San Leandro

I'm surprised no one has mentioned More Beer in Palo Alto and also in Concord. Plus there is a small shop called Beer and Wine Making in San Jose.

Cheers~

Beer and Wine Makers of America is the name of the place in San Jose, off of Brokaw and 880. It is where I buy all my beer ingredients. The owner is very cool, helpful and knowledgeable.

He will build you a kit of whatever type beer you want to brew by grabbing all the ingredients off the shelves.

He also has pretty much all the gadgets bottles kegs etc. that you might need. Give him a try.

Regards,

Paulbill

Hooray for the seach function! I've been to morebeer.com a number of times (I window shop a ton), but only now realize that they have a retail location 20 minutes away! I'm on my way there this afternoon to see what kind of damage I can do to my (admittedly small) savings account.

Paulbill said:

Beer and Wine Makers of America is the name of the place in San Jose, off of Brokaw and 880. It is where I buy all my beer ingredients. The owner is very cool, helpful and knowledgeable.

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He is tucked in the back of an industrial park, not easy to find the first time.
+1 on the customer service.


in addition.

Hoptech in Dublin. Dan sponsors the brewclub I am a member of.

Fermentation in Campbell. They are a great wine resource.

MoreBeer - Los Altos.
It is located next to an Armadillo Willie's BBQ. It can be hard to find parking around lunchtime.

Paulbill said:

Beer and Wine Makers of America is the name of the place in San Jose, off of Brokaw and 880. It is where I buy all my beer ingredients. The owner is very cool, helpful and knowledgeable.
Paulbill

Click to expand...

+1 on Beer and Wine Makers.

Just be aware this is not a typical retail place, very small and unorganized to the first timers eyes. The owener, I think his name is Richard, prefers to pull the ingrdients for you based upon the recipe you choose.

Very knowledgeable, yet not condescending in his tone, willing to help and offers lots of info you are willing to listen.

williams in san leandro (just down the street from my house) is not a retail store which is why i never buy anything from them, tax+shipping is a bummer. brewmaster in san leandro is a wholesaler that has a retail space in the front of the warehouse, they actually supply most of the LHBS in the area. the oak barrel in berkeley is ok but pricier than all the rest.

Yesterday I had a great experience with MoreBeer in Palo Alto.

That place is very, very, very user friendly, forgot the guys name I worked with, but he was very patient, informative, and easy going.

There are bulk bins of grain for self service or they will help you along, lots. I also liked that they have tons of equipment, complete brew and wine kits in stock, really good for the visual person as I am!

+111111 on MoreBeer in PA!

This thread is over 5 years old, and since I posted in 2008 to "see what kind of damage I can do to my savings account" I have to confess that there has indeed been damage, and it's not likely to end soon.

I think most people's interactions with MoreBeer occurs via web sales. It's one of the larger online retailers, but for some of us in CA, it's our LHBS. I've moved since my first reply to this thread. The Concord showroom is now 3.5 miles from my house. It's not the cheapest resource, but not having to pay for shipping evens things out most of the time. Add in not having to ever wait for anything, and it's a no-brainer. The staff are knowledgeable and super friendly.

I usually go to More Beer in Los Altos. They have really good service and a nice selection of equipment and ingredients. I just would NOT recommend crushing grain there as their crush results in batch sparge efficiencies of about 65%. When I order crushed grain from Williams, I consistently get 80% batch sparging. Huge difference. Since I live in San Mateo, I always get my order the next day when buying from Williams with their standard flat rate shipping. I really like more beer but I'm quickly converting to going solely through Williams.