Hippiefreak said:Damn, when it rains, it pours....
Right at the beginning of festival season....The weekend before is Shakori Hills http://www.shakorihills.org/ , and SWMBO is extremely unlikely to get two weekends off in a row (especially after taking 4 days off).....plus, we'll be broke from participating in the all the festivitiesShakori was the first festival she ever went to, and now I've turned her into an addict.. (I'll never forget her reaction to the whole festival scene thing - saw Del McCoury Band, and Sam Bush - I wouldn't trade that for the world).
Sucks, cuz I haven't seen the guys from GUTA in a while - and it would be fun to hang out with them again.
If anyone can....come meet us at Shakori....we can figure out some way to meet there if you're interested (cell phone service out there sucks, so that won't be an option)....and it costs about the same as one day at the brew festival for a whole weekend of music in the woods with a bunch of freaks. I'll be the guy in the tie-dye =)).
Otherwise, we've got the whole summer to get together...
On another issue.....finally decided to make the jump to all-grain...looked around and decided that I could get 10 gallon coolers with the false bottom and plastic valves and stuff from Homebrew.com/homebrewadventures....had the whole setup with plastic valves, hose, and Phil's Phalse bottom for 159 bucks....damn, that's cheaper than i was able to find two 10 gallon coolers for......
Well, apparently, there's a shortage of those 10 gallon coolers.....placed my order on the 23rd, and no order confirmation until today....got anxious on Monday after no order confirmation, and when I looked on their website - the price had gone up 30 bucks for the setup (well, hell Northern Brewer has the same setup with stainless valves for 199)..let it slide, cuz I have this thing about supporting 'local' businesses, and liked the fact I can pay for ground with my orders with them and usually get one day shipping anyway....
Well, today(Wednesday), I get notice that the 10 gallon coolers are on back order...well, I'm not in that big a hurry, but am concerned that since my approximate receive date is xx/xx/xx, that I'm being blown off - hoping that I'll back off and order them later at the higher price. Asked me if I wanted to just get the part of the order that they have or wait for the whole thing....well, since all the beer kits I ordered are all grain - kinda useless for me to get the all-grain kits without the mash-lauter tun.
Given that past experience with Northern Brewers makes me feel like I would have had the system they offered already (with the stainless valves).....I'm not sure how to take this.....I would have at least expected a call like Monday or Tuesday if it was back-ordered (Northern Brewer called me on my last two orders the same day or next business day - just to tell me they got out a day late - actually, now that I think about it, NB has called me on every order that I've placed....I only went with them in the beginning because they are the HBD sponsors....I've liked the partial mash kits I've gotten from HBA - they've been top-notch, with extra grain/hop bags and quality all the way....I'm just concerned that after the merger, things have changed ). I"ve heard some of y'all comment on the 'green board' so I know you've dealt with them.....should I be worried, or do ya think they'll come through?
I don't want to make a stink, but I just want someone to reassure me that I'm not gonna spend the whole spring waiting for something just to save 30 bucks.......when I could have gotten better hardware yesterday, and paid a little more in shipping......
And, yes, before anybody flames me (stress tested Lord of the Rings Online all weekend, so I've had my share of Trolls....and orcs, and goblins, and other creepy crawlies this weekend...hehe) - yes I know that getting two 10 gallon Gotts with false bottom and valves for 159 bucks is a steal....that's why I jumped on it......but if you're gonna advertise a whole setup and it's not in stock - I expect to be told that when I add the item to my cart.......I've provided IT support to many of those inventory/supply websites for the past 10 years, and I know that it's not hard to make sure your current inventory is reflected on your order page - and if you drop-ship certain items, you let your customer know WHEN they place the order, not 5 days later.
Am I just being an *******?
Also, with all the scary stuff I've heard about the scarcity of (ball-lock) corny kegs....anybody got good experiences to share about acquiring those? Can't even peruse the back parking lots of the local fast food joints, since they've all gone to the baggy in a box or 200+ gallon syrup tanks
Well, hope to meet you Eastern NC area brew freeks soon....
Peace, love and free beer,
Chris (aka Hippiefreak)
http:/bt.etree.org/chorner
Holy fright...cliff notes, please?
