Austin Homebrew Closed?

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greatschmaltez

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I placed an order on Friday and these guys still haven't shipped. I tried to call them today and their phone says they are closed for the "holiday". Anyone live in Austin and know what is going on with these guys? It is not like then to be delayed this much on my order.
 
They had a notice on their website a few days ago saying they would be closed and off line today to put in a new website. Looks like the new website is up now.
 
I looked it up its tell a fairy tale day (really I`m not kidding) So I guess they will be open tomorrow. Unless they celebrate polar bear day....
 
Quote from another poster in a different thread!!
Found this on their site.
NOTICE Planned Website Downtime

Beginning Wednesday, February 26 at 8am, we will be taking our website offline to switch over to a BRAND NEW system! We will be deactivating elements of our site beginning Monday, Feb. 24 such as gift card purchases. We expect our new site will be up and functional by February 27.

Our local Austin store will also be closed the entire business day of Wednesday, February 26. Thank you for your patience as we upgrade to enhance your experience with Austin Homebrew Supply!
 
Yeah, I googled all the goofy holidays for today as well and got a chuckle. I'll holler at them tomorrow I guess.
 
It looks like their website is still down, but from the looks of the front page it is much better than the old one. I never liked how cluttered their old website was. With this one it looks like I'll be able to find most of the things I want within 1-2 clicks.
 
Yes we are moving right along with implementation of our new system including our new website. If you want to pop on and view the style try www.austinhomebrew.com. it will be off and on to look at throughout the day. It looks like we are on track to be up and running by tomorrow. Thank you all for your patience.
 
Just out of curiosity, why is the site being tested in a production environment? Seems weird to me.
 
Did the prices go up with this new website or is it just me? I was shopping the day before the site went down and now some of the prices are different.
 
MUCH better layout. I like that you don't add yeast, double pitch, ice pack, etc. options by default on kits anymore.
 
I had a little problem earlier today (about 3 AM, long story). I had to reset my pword and the link wouldn't work. All resolved now. Just gotta get used to the new format.
 
The price jumped a bit as they now include dry yeast, yeast fuel and a wirflock tab by default now. If you select a liquid yeast as well, you still get the dry yeast. I wish they would say what dry yeast it is though.
 
Why do the kits include dry yeast as a default and you can not remove it?

WTF? Why limit options?, I don't want dry yeast.

AHS is slowing coming off my list of go to's :(
 
godofcheese said:
The price jumped a bit as they now include dry yeast, yeast fuel and a wirflock tab by default now. If you select a liquid yeast as well, you still get the dry yeast. I wish they would say what dry yeast it is though.
Click to expand...


I don't like that. I don't need some mystery dry yeast, yeast fuel and wirflock. I won't buy a kit from these guys at this point.
 
castillo556 said:
Why do the kits include dry yeast as a default and you can not remove it?

WTF? Why limit options?, I don't want dry yeast.

AHS is slowing coming off my list of go to's :(
Click to expand...

Haha yeah it does seem a bit ridiculous. I would end up with a whole bunch of unused dry yeast that would probably expire. I'm not too keen on the yeast fuel or Whirlfloc either. I have my own "medicine cabinet" of supplies that I use during brewing.
 
Teromous said:
Haha yeah it does seem a bit ridiculous. I would end up with a whole bunch of unused dry yeast that would probably expire. I'm not too keen on the yeast fuel or Whirlfloc either. I have my own "medicine cabinet" of supplies that I use during brewing.
Click to expand...

totally agree.
let us select which option(s) we want and lower costs? first flat rate shipping gone, now raised prices and unwanted bundled items!
love their kits but i will probably be shopping around now. who knows might find my new love.
 
Teromous said:
Haha yeah it does seem a bit ridiculous. I would end up with a whole bunch of unused dry yeast that would probably expire. I'm not too keen on the yeast fuel or Whirlfloc either. I have my own "medicine cabinet" of supplies that I use during brewing.
Click to expand...
Yeast "fuel" is unnecessary most of the time. Unless their dry yeast is a serious sign of soon to be or expired yeast, or just their attempt to find a one-stop shop yeast for all beers (not fully advisable), I don't want to add "fuel" to my beer. Proper pitching with viable yeast should mean you don't ever really need fuel.



DU99 said:
rome wasn't built in day.sometimes new website's do have teething issues.
Click to expand...

This is true but the option-less move to force people to buy things that are unnecessary or useless if they choose an another option to their dry mystery yeast is not a growing pain of the new site. This is a move that is clearly intentional but it doesn't make sense. At the very least, they should tell us what yeast they're going to give us. My concern is it will be repackaged from bulk and we'll never really know how fresh it is. The addition of fuel suggests that in some cases their mystery dry yeast won't be enough for the recipe so they're going to bump it up by adding fuel. I just don't follow the concept.

Best to just piece together a kit myself and obviously, that is still an option. I definitely like a lot of the design changes of the site. They did good.
 
I guess I'm missing something...I was just looking at a kit on their site and all of the options (yeast, nutrient, ice pack, etc) were set to "no" by default.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
grizzly2378 said:
I guess I'm missing something...I was just looking at a kit on their site and all of the options (yeast, nutrient, ice pack, etc) were set to "no" by default.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Click to expand...

Yeast Option

All recipes include the recommended dry yeast. If you prefer to pitch with our recommended liquid yeast then select the liquid yeast below and keep the dry yeast as a backup.
 
roadx said:
Yeast Option



All recipes include the recommended dry yeast. If you prefer to pitch with our recommended liquid yeast then select the liquid yeast below and keep the dry yeast as a backup.
Click to expand...


Ah, it's so clear now. Honestly didn't even read that...just looked at the options in the drop down box. That is kinda weird.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
At least they still do fractional pounds with grains. I'm not the point yet where I can store grains long-term, so I only order what I need.
 
I continue to have problems with the "My Cart" area of the new site. Once you add an item the price is adjusted. However, when you change your mind and remove that item, the item is gone, but the price stays the same. Looks like I'll order from somewhere else this time around. Can't trust the website for the basics, I'm not going to trust them with my credit card information.
 
Ah yes I see that now. Well I suppose you could always pitch the dry yeast into another recipe to do a side by side comparison. Forgive me, I'm upbeat.
 
Hello said:
Best to just piece together a kit myself and obviously, that is still an option. I definitely like a lot of the design changes of the site. They did good.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately they don't list the recipe for their kits (that I can see). You might be able to contact them and just have them add the ingredients to your cart individually, or have them email the recipe.
 
I ordered quite a few kits from them despite not having recipes posted because the prices were good and free shipping. Still ordered when they went to flat rate shipping. I'm done now, not going to be forced to buy "nutrients", whirfloc, and dry yeast I don't want.
 
I too have placed a bunch of orders with AHS. Looking around their shiny new site and seeing how much they still have out of stock... I wonder if the money spent on the face life could have been better used buying inventory. That and it sounds like they are focused on selling kits from what the folks here are talking about and what their home page is all about. Then they add a bunch of crap people don't want to their kits? I don't get it.

I've found a few other sites that I like. Not sure what happened to these guys but I think they took a wrong turn in Albuquerque or something.
 
Yeah the whole mystery yeast + energizer is super sketchy. I rarely buy kits but if I do it'll be from northern brewer or morebeer.
 
Why is it that every store I start to like goes downhill?

First it was NB getting rid of flat-rate shipping.
Then Brewmasters Warehouse taking weeks to ship orders.
Now Austin....

Does anyone have another merchant I can doom?
 
I really like Austin, but if they are increasing prices and doing strange things, I might look for another place.
Any other online beer supplier in Texas? I shop Texas first.
 

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