Detroit Metro anyone?

Hey, Off topic but....Do you SE Michigan Brewers have any EXP with "Adventures in HomeBrewing" ? I was wondering cause I went to there site and they had some sweet deals on Kegging starting kits.

RICLARK said:

Hey, Off topic but....Do you SE Michigan Brewers have any EXP with "Adventures in HomeBrewing" ? I was wondering cause I went to there site and they had some sweet deals on Kegging starting kits.

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I have not been there yet but my boss has and seid they have a lot of stuff.

RICLARK said:

Hey, Off topic but....Do you SE Michigan Brewers have any EXP with "Adventures in HomeBrewing" ? I was wondering cause I went to there site and they had some sweet deals on Kegging starting kits.

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I went there for the first time a few weeks ago.
I like going and checking out other homebrew shops and comparing them to my local shop.
I got a great deal on 3 cornies and picked up a couple of small items while there, but wasn't impressed by the shop.
As soon as you walk in, you're greeted by a shelving unit full of dusty/dirty glasses.
That seems to be the theme of the shop.
It's set up a little strange. By strange, I mean their organization is a bit weird and backwards in some sections.
I was impressed by the larger size of their shop, but wasn't impressed once I realized that they have a large selection of "crap".. They have alot of stuff, but 60% of it seems like it was stuff that we would never use.
They were also packed. There was about 5 different groups of people in there, with only 2 people working. There was a woman (owners sister I heard) who seemed to know her stuff. She seemed to be very knowledgeable. There was another guy there who didn't seem to know alot about brewing, but was very nice.

If you're close by, its probably worth it.
But if you hear the hype about the place, save yourself the trip.

RICLARK said:

Hey, Off topic but....Do you SE Michigan Brewers have any EXP with "Adventures in HomeBrewing" ? I was wondering cause I went to there site and they had some sweet deals on Kegging starting kits.

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I got my inital kegging setup stuff there, except for my reg. and CO2 tank. I liked the prices, and got great customer service. I do agree with the Cap'n, though, that a lot of the stuff wasn't anything I'd be interested in, and "dusty" is a great description of the shop. However, they did have everything that I did need, and prices comparable to most online shops, without having to worry about shipping charges. I'd go back again for sure, just based on the the customer service I got. Probably not worth too long of a trip, but worth the 1/2 hour it takes me to get there from Ann Arbor.

Alright thanks everyone I was just askin because there website hes me started with 2 cornies a 5 # tank a dual gauge 2 cobra taps and lube for 200 $ I just have to get the hose and quick releases for the 2nd corney and I Was going to take a trip down there in a couple of weeks rather than pay the shipping.

RICLARK said:

Alright thanks everyone I was just askin because there website hes me started with 2 cornies a 5 # tank a dual gauge 2 cobra taps and lube for 200 $ I just have to get the hose and quick releases for the 2nd corney and I Was going to take a trip down there in a couple of weeks rather than pay the shipping.

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I went to get the cornies and save on shipping.
3 corny kegs + gas for the truck, was still a very big savings over my regular shop.
Thats on large, heavy items though.
If what you're buying is cost effective to ship, it would probably be more worthwhile to go that route.
For me, if its not ridiculously much more (money-wise), ill just pay the extra couple bucks to my regular shop. Its worth it for all the free advice and the loyalty factor.

But, im glad I went, just to see the place. It's nice to check other shops out.
For me, it makes me appreciate my regular shop more.

Don't get me started on the clusterf* that is Cap N' Cork

capcrnch said:

Don't get me started on the clusterf* that is Cap N' Cork

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Really? That's too bad. I was thinking of taking a drive to check it out, just to sample another almost-local HBS.

capcrnch said:

Don't get me started on the clusterf* that is Cap N' Cork

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I'm starting to feel the same way about them.

e lo said:

Really? That's too bad. I was thinking of taking a drive to check it out, just to sample another almost-local HBS.

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No, go and take a look.

My problem with them was this...
Imagine 10 lbs. of crap.
Imagine that 10lbs. of crap, stuffed into a 5 lb. bag.
You just pictured Cap n Cork.

They were cool, but they had so much crap stuffed everywhere. There was literally zero organization and zero sense made in item placement.
You could find a hydrometer down one aisle, but a thief was 3 aisles over in the beer kit section. It was strange.

They had alot of stuff, but it was hard to find.

My personal gripe with them was the service..
One of the guys was awesome. He was super helpful and really nice.
The other guy was a dick.
But, the "cool" guy apologized and said the dick was having a bad day, which everyone is entitled to, so I blew that off.
There was a guy there while I was shopping that was a new brewer... The "dick" was helping him and just beating the guy up for asking dumb questions. Granted, some of his questions were pretty bad, but still.

capcrnch said:

No, go and take a look.

My problem with them was this...
Imagine 10 lbs. of crap.
Imagine that 10lbs. of crap, stuffed into a 5 lb. bag.
You just pictured Cap n Cork.

They were cool, but they had so much crap stuffed everywhere. There was literally zero organization and zero sense made in item placement.
You could find a hydrometer down one aisle, but a thief was 3 aisles over in the beer kit section. It was strange.

They had alot of stuff, but it was hard to find.

My personal gripe with them was the service..
One of the guys was awesome. He was super helpful and really nice.
The other guy was a dick.
But, the "cool" guy apologized and said the dick was having a bad day, which everyone is entitled to, so I blew that off.
There was a guy there while I was shopping that was a new brewer... The "dick" was helping him and just beating the guy up for asking dumb questions. Granted, some of his questions were pretty bad, but still.

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I think that's the guy I have talked to the last two times.

Here is a link to a good Beer map.

http://beermapping.com/maps/citymaps.php?m=detroit

Mustangj said:

I think that's the guy I have talked to the last two times.

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I think the "dick" was an owner or a manager?
The way the cooler guy talked, he made him out to seem like he had importance.

I swear, I got SO lucky with Hopmans being right by my house.
Rick is genuinely really nice and helpful, their prices are good and their set up is nice.
It's just a clean shop with good organization and great people.
Praise hopman. haha

Has anyone ever been to Beer and Grow?
is it nice or what?

Just to put in my (differing) opinion...
I hate to see anyone bashing Cap N' Cork.
I have been to every brewstore in the greater detroit area. I go to school in Livonia, live in SCS, and work in detroit so I'm always driving all over the place. The only place that I have not been to is Adventures in Homebrewing. I'm not one to ask a ton of recipe related questions as I usually know what I am looking for, but I'm a stickler for equipment knowledge, and also being able to get what I am looking for.

Cap N' Cork, first of all, is the cleanest most organized brewshop I have ever been in. They alway have whatever kind of wierd piece of equipment I might be looking for that day, and Andy (I think that's his name, he's the short bearded younger guy that fields all of the all-grain questions) has been willing to run down whatever I'm looking for so I don't even need to look for it. Just wanted to put in my $.02.

TerapinChef said:

Just to put in my (differing) opinion...
I hate to see anyone bashing Cap N' Cork.
I have been to every brewstore in the greater detroit area. I go to school in Livonia, live in SCS, and work in detroit so I'm always driving all over the place. The only place that I have not been to is Adventures in Homebrewing. I'm not one to ask a ton of recipe related questions as I usually know what I am looking for, but I'm a stickler for equipment knowledge, and also being able to get what I am looking for.

Cap N' Cork, first of all, is the cleanest most organized brewshop I have ever been in. They alway have whatever kind of wierd piece of equipment I might be looking for that day, and Andy (I think that's his name, he's the short bearded younger guy that fields all of the all-grain questions) has been willing to run down whatever I'm looking for so I don't even need to look for it. Just wanted to put in my $.02.

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I agree with every thing you just seid. I'm just saying that this ONE guy is not cool. You are right all the other people in the place are real helpful and you tell them what you are looking for and they have it. I have went in there with a shopping list and just handed it to one of the guys and he ran all over the store for me.

TerapinChef said:

Just to put in my (differing) opinion...
I hate to see anyone bashing Cap N' Cork.
I have been to every brewstore in the greater detroit area. I go to school in Livonia, live in SCS, and work in detroit so I'm always driving all over the place. The only place that I have not been to is Adventures in Homebrewing. I'm not one to ask a ton of recipe related questions as I usually know what I am looking for, but I'm a stickler for equipment knowledge, and also being able to get what I am looking for.

Cap N' Cork, first of all, is the cleanest most organized brewshop I have ever been in. They alway have whatever kind of wierd piece of equipment I might be looking for that day, and Andy (I think that's his name, he's the short bearded younger guy that fields all of the all-grain questions) has been willing to run down whatever I'm looking for so I don't even need to look for it. Just wanted to put in my $.02.

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Everyone has their own opinion. Obviously Cap N Cork isn't all too bad, they've been in business for a bit.
I personally just found it to be disorganized and less then I wanted.
The place wasn't "dirty" (it was Adventures that I found dirty)

Again, im spoiled by my lhbs which is spacious and organized, so the bar is set high.

Wine barrel is where its at....They have everything with a helpful and friendly staff

Helmy said:

Wine barrel is where its at....They have everything with a helpful and friendly staff

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Is that place in Livonia?
Someone was just telling me they had hb stuff today.

yes it is....plymouth and middlebelt-ish Im telling you man this is the best place i have found. Definately worth a look.

is brew n grow out of business? I had a friend tell me they shut down in dec

I called them and phone number was shut off. Does any one know what happened?

Brew n Grow closed last month. They sold all thier surplus merchandise to The Wine Castle at 7 mile and Farmington Rd.

The Wine Barrel is a good beer store but thier homebrew supply section is seriously lacking. There a very small selection of grains and nobody there has any knowlege on brewing.

Adventures in Homebrewing is by far my favorite LHBS. They have a huge selection of ingredients and a very knowlegable staff. The beer glasses at the front are a bit dusty but this has no bearing on the quality of the store.

Mustangj said:

I have to agree with everything you say.


In the area you have.
1. Sherwood- over priced and the beer sucks
2. Dragonmead- I like it but i know not everyone is a fan
3. Rodchester, Royel Oak and Detroit brewery (same Owners)- All three palces have the same beer pretty much. The beer is good.
4. Motor City works brewery- I thought the beer was really good ( I just went For the first time last week) and they have a good night life.
5. Woodward brewers- The beer is ok. I have found better beer at the local beer store.
6. Copper canyon- Sucks and hard to find.
7. Kuhnhenn Brewing- Good when they have it. I was there not to long ago and they did'nt have **** maybe three beer on tap.

I think sence I started brewing my own beer I've been spoiled with such good beer that it had to judge brew pubs.

I think if the baraboo is good but if you don't mind driving a little go to Rodchester.
They have a couple pool table and they still might have a smoking room for cigars.

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Kuhnhenn's by far is the best. I find it doubtful that they only had three beers on tap. Check out the lated addtion of beer advocate and see who has two of the top 25 beers in the country, and 1 of the top 25 in the world.

rbridges01 said:

Kuhnhenn's by far is the best. I find it doubtful that they only had three beers on tap. Check out the lated addtion of beer advocate and see who has two of the top 25 beers in the country, and 1 of the top 25 in the world.

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Kuhnhenn was the best in the area and I never had a problem. The last couple time I went there the staff had changed and the service sucked and yes they were out of just about every beer they had on the menu.

The last time I was in there ( the final straw) I asked for three different beers before I found on they had and it was good. The waitress comes over to me and asked if I wanted another I reply "yes" 20 min later she tells me "im not suppose to be hear it's my day off" in a real bitchy tone.

That's fine that they rated the best but when your wait staff is bitchy and tell you they don't have it that's speaks loader then what the beer advocate has to say.

just saw this on craigslist


"Home Brewing Center just opened up in Livonia. It is located inside of Wine Castle which is on the corner of Farmington & 7 Mile Road. We sell a full line of Brewing yeast, extensive selection of grains and malts. Complete Start up kits, Pellets & Fresh Hops. Full selection of brewing accessories.

Any questions call (248)477-5533 or email: [email protected]"

Sweet. Thanks for the info.:rockin: