My AG weekend is foiled! Rant inside...

So I placed an order with a certain online HBS a couple days ago and normally they ship fairly quickly, either same day or next day. Well it's been 2 days since I placed the order so I called them and I'm 10th in line to have my stuff made and shipped so it might not ship out until tomorrow. They said they were short on people and training so things were running slower than normal. This normally wouldn't be a big deal but I have been waiting to do my first AG and I even took time off of work to setup my brewery and allow for time to brew and cleanup etc....I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to brewing this weekend so I found a local (sort of) place about 2 hours away. I placed an order for an weizen extract kit with steeping grains because I had to brew this weekend. So the upside is that I will have a anice weizen to drink, the downside is once my grains arrive from the other place I will have to wait a couple weeks to actually brew.
Now that I know about this local place, they are getting my business, I can't handle the lag time with these out of state HBS's. Hopefully this kit turns out good, it sounded decent with about 5 lbs DME and a pound of wheat malt for steeping. I think I am going to try some lemongrass in this recipe too.
Sorry for the rant, I was just pretty pissed that I wasn't going to be able to do my AG this weekend.

That sucks. I placed an order with an online company on Sunday evening, and usually I get an email the next day with a tracking number for my shipment. Nothing from them yet- maybe the same company?

Anyway, at least you're brewing something. Dumb question, though- when you ordered the weizen kit, couldn't you have ordered an AG kit from them? Regardless, I'm sorry for the disappointment. My first AG was such a blast and well worth waiting for and I know yours will be too.

you could walk on the wild side and do it mid week.

You don't mention which online HBS it is, so I can't comment on that. I have had extremely fast results from Northern Brewer. Now, I live relatively close to them (about 370 miles away), but even so, they get things here so fast using regular UPS ground that I sometimes think that someone is running over to UPS with my order before the credit card has even been approved. I suspect that if you pay a little extra to get it out to Oregon fast, they will be just as good for you there as they are here.

Yooper Chick said:

That sucks. I placed an order with an online company on Sunday evening, and usually I get an email the next day with a tracking number for my shipment. Nothing from them yet- maybe the same company?

Anyway, at least you're brewing something. Dumb question, though- when you ordered the weizen kit, couldn't you have ordered an AG kit from them? Regardless, I'm sorry for the disappointment. My first AG was such a blast and well worth waiting for and I know yours will be too.

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It wouldn't surprise if it was the same place but my intention wasn't to badmouth anyone, just to rant.
I could have ordered grains from the local place, but I didn't have any idea for recipes so I figured I'd stick to what I know, which is extract with steeping. Although this kit uses DME, which I've never used before.

As far as brewing midweek, I would love to but we have a new baby in the house and when I get home from work I have a whole nother set of things to do. Although once I set up my brewery this weekend, hopefully it will streamline my whole process and allow me to brew in less time.


Dan

mmditter said:

You don't mention which online HBS it is, so I can't comment on that. I have had extremely fast results from Northern Brewer. Now, I live relatively close to them (about 370 miles away), but even so, they get things here so fast using regular UPS ground that I sometimes think that someone is running over to UPS with my order before the credit card has even been approved. I suspect that if you pay a little extra to get it out to Oregon fast, they will be just as good for you there as they are here.

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Yeah I ordered something from them a couple days ago and it was out the same day. They have great service, and normally my "go-to" HBS does as well, it's just bad timing for me


Dan

Willsellout said:

It wouldn't surprise if it was the same place but my intention wasn't to badmouth anyone, just to rant.
I could have ordered grains from the local place, but I didn't have any idea for recipes so I figured I'd stick to what I know, which is extract with steeping. Although this kit uses DME, which I've never used before.

As far as brewing midweek, I would love to but we have a new baby in the house and when I get home from work I have a whole nother set of things to do. Although once I set up my brewery this weekend, hopefully it will streamline my whole process and allow me to brew in less time.


Dan

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Dan, I know you weren't bad-mouthing any company, and I didn't take it that way. I don't care when my stuff comes, because it's not a time issue at all for me. I just meant that it's unusual that my order doesn't seemed to have been processed by them yet- usually it's super quick.

Using the DME is even easier than LME I think. It might clump a bit at first, just keep stirring and it will dissolve.

Yeah sorry if I came of as a bit of a prick on that last post. I just didn't want to do any kind of badmouthing of businesses that support homebrewing and really it's not a big deal, it's just I was planning on it and had my heart set on it. I should have ordered it last week but I kind of let it sit on the back burner. Oh well now I will have two brews (IPA, Weizen) as well as Ed's Apfelwein going on.



Dan

I've had great luck with Midwest. (My Saturday night order for this weekends AG batch is sitting on my front doorstep).

I always put instructions in the order to please call my cell phone if there is any issue with shipping by XX date. Last time they did have an issue... they were out of the specific (Wyeast) yeast I wanted. They called and asked what I wanted to do. I asked for a White Labs substitute and knowing it was a few $$'s extra, I asked how they wanted me to handle the difference...

"No problem" they said..."Just place your next order with us..."

Stuff was here two days later...just in time.

TIP: I always try to add a few extra things I need to my recipe order, up until the shipping charges go up. I mean c'mon, while you're at it, I could use three more fermentation locks, couple bags of hops and 6 feet of gas hose...great price, no tax and the shipping doesn't go up.

I'm just a lucky EAC living here in Austin. If I need something, I make a drive to Austin Home Brew and pick it up. Lately, I've been stocking up on base grains, some small amounts of specialty grain, standard hops, & dry yeasts to back up my liquid propagation yeast farm. I want to be able to brew at the drop of of a hat when SWMBO says BREW!

I started my Stone IPA Clone last night around 7 PM and was finished around 12:30 AM this morning. I was kinda cool outside at night. Quiet, everyone in bed, just me and the smell of beer brewing. Ahhhh. Life is good.

Yeah I am still waiting on backordered Special-B (10 lbs). I have plenty of stuff I can brew in the meantime, but the one recipe I really want to brew has the Special-B. Kind of irritating, but whatcha gonna do.

EdWort said:

I'm just a lucky EAC living here in Austin. If I need something, I make a drive to Austin Home Brew and pick it up. Lately, I've been stocking up on base grains, some small amounts of specialty grain, standard hops, & dry yeasts to back up my liquid propagation yeast farm. I want to be able to brew at the drop of of a hat when SWMBO says BREW!

I started my Stone IPA Clone last night around 7 PM and was finished around 12:30 AM this morning. I was kinda cool outside at night. Quiet, everyone in bed, just me and the smell of beer brewing. Ahhhh. Life is good.

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Yeah you are lucky. This situation just re-emphasises my need for a grain mill so I can order bulk grains. I too want to brew at the drop of a hat! I thinkmy next purchase will be a barley crusher. I think between that and an outdoor burner I should be set for equipment for a long time.


Dan

On another note, I have ordered from Morebeer.com and they've taken 2 weeks to get something to me without bothering to let me know it's back ordered. I hate that when I'm used to stuff shipping out the next day or so.

Update: Then again, those folks at Morebeer.com DO provide great service most of the time. I placed an order an hour ago and just received the "Your order has been shipped" email. Gotta love it when that happens.! :rockin:

EdWort said:

On another note, I have ordered from Morebeer.com and they've taken 2 weeks to get something to me without bothering to let me know it's back ordered. I hate that when I'm used to stuff shipping out the next day or so.

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Yeah I hear you. Although Morebeer got my kettle to me quick. I would really just like to have a LHBS instead of going over the internet for everything I need. That's the price you pay for living in a small town I suppose.


Dan

We have at least 3 LHBS stores here where I live. One is just a few blocks from my house. The two that I go to regularly are nice, but small. They can't afford to stock everything at once. The online places are nice because you can just order whatever you want and it comes in a couple of days.

Chimone said:

you could walk on the wild side and do it mid week.

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Plan :

Monday. Arrive at work, head down, work hard. small coughs, glass of water on desk at all times, small sips.
Tuesday : Still head down. Start closing eyes slowly and coughing a lot.
Wednesday : Yawning and complaining of lack of sleep due to coughing at night.
Thursday : Call into office, "me sick, not coming in". Conversation at work : "he did not look as if he was going to last the week - he looked like crap yesterday, surprised he came in at all". BREW!!!!
Friday : Feet up on couch. or BREW!!!
Saturday : Miraculous recovery.

By the time you get to work on Monday it will have been four days. long enough to shake a cold but a few coughs would not hurt.



*cough* *Cough*

Dibby--you're some kind of artist, man.

Last time I ordered from Austin Homebrew it took a week to ship.

I order some grains, hops, and yeast from AHS last night (late) and it is shipped today.

Now, if UPS can make a 3lb. delivery from Austin to Atlanta in by Friday I will be very happy.

zoebisch01 said:

Yeah I am still waiting on backordered Special-B (10 lbs). I have plenty of stuff I can brew in the meantime, but the one recipe I really want to brew has the Special-B. Kind of irritating, but whatcha gonna do.

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What are you brewing that requires TEN POUNDS of Special B?

EdWort said:

I'm just a lucky EAC living here in Austin. If I need something, I make a drive to Austin Home Brew and pick it up.

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What is their store like? It must be well stocked!

Beerrific said:

I order some grains, hops, and yeast from AHS last night (late) and it is shipped today.
.

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that's interesting...

Willsellout said:

that's interesting...

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That's very interesting.......I just spent $110 on Sunday evening and nothing.......not even an email. "Currently, your order is still in our store and is currently being processed. The tracking feature will work after we have finished processing your order and UPS has logged it in at their distribution location. Approximately, 2 hours after 6pm CT of the day your order was processed by our shipping department"

Willsellout- I got a plan! I'll brew an AG brew this weekend, if I get time, and dedicate it to you! I think I have enough stuff in the basement without my order coming in.

Dibby- I'm glad I'm not your boss. You would have fooled me. Great plan!

Yooper Chick said:

Dibby- I'm glad I'm not your boss. You would have fooled me. Great plan!

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I would never be your boss. You female.

...btw I have not pulled a sickie in over six months - got a new job. In my last one I was shocking to say the least. As soon as I got above 1 sick day accumulated I would be off. Esp if I had the house (well a shed really) to myself. Would laze around all day smoking and chopping trees down! Damn I miss that!

RichBrewer said:

What is their store like? It must be well stocked!

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It's a pretty decent size with probalby less than half dedicated to retails space. They go through loads of stuff, so it's pretty fresh. Their LME is dispensed from what looks like 50 gallon barrels.

In the 4 years I've lived in Austin, they've moved twice, each time to a bigger location.

Willsellout said:

that's interesting...

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It was a small order, 1 lb of grain, 1 oz of hops and one pack of wyeast.

I think the first time when I ordered after a couple days I called and they said everything was in order...I guess I expected it sooner than a week.

Beerrific said:

It was a small order, 1 lb of grain, 1 oz of hops and one pack of wyeast.

I think the first time when I ordered after a couple days I called and they said everything was in order...I guess I expected it sooner than a week.

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Oh well that might explain things. I had 11 pounds of grain, some DME, and a weld-b-gone bulkhead/ball valve assembly. That takes a lot longer to crush and pack up...oh well, I'm still brewing this weekend, plus I will be putting together Ed's apfelwein as well...lots of goodies in my kitchen right now...my IPA is kicking ass and taking names.

YC- Thanks, it's appreciated!


Dan

zoebisch01 said:

Yeah I am still waiting on backordered Special-B (10 lbs). I have plenty of stuff I can brew in the meantime, but the one recipe I really want to brew has the Special-B. Kind of irritating, but whatcha gonna do.

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*TEN* pounds of Special B? That sounds like a lifetime supply! What recipe requires that much?? Really curious....