Cheap Ingredients

[jimmymcfarlson]

I am new to homebrewing and their is no brew shop anywhere near my house. I was just wondering what are the best websites to get cheap ingredients.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

I am new to homebrewing and their is no brew shop anywhere near my house. I was just wondering what are the best websites to get cheap ingredients.

I prefer MoreBeer.com, as they have decent prices...but the real reason is that their free shipping reaches my house in 2 days. If you can find one of the four below close to you, they are all reputable suppliers.

Austin Homebrew
Beer Making and Home Brewing Supplies | MoreBeer
NORTHERN BREWER
Homebrewing Supplies - Midwest Supplies

 

[mmb]

I like Midwest more and more now because, despite paying for shipping, the total on the order usually comes out less than the other online retailers. They also ship fast to Michigan, being in the, surprise, Midwest USA.

Home wine making supply and home brew supply available on-line at Midwest Homebrewing Supplies. Search for wine recipes and beer recipes

 

[WeHeavy]

Being "cheap" shows up in the final product, I know from experience. What your looking for is the best price for quality ingredients.

For me shipping plays a big part in the final price so I buy a lot from MidWest. I just recently discovered another that's closer and sells all the major brands, South Hills Brewing Supply.

Brew magazine's web site has a find suppliers by zip code near the bottom right of their home web page.

Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine - home page

 

[Chriso]

This is an excellent resource to investigate, too:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/price-experiment-81056/

Bottom line is that it depends on where you are. Take some time, price the same recipe from all the major sources, and buy where you decide is best to buy from.

I try to refrain from recommending one HBS over another - I just let the prices speak for them. At the end of the day, all of them have decent-to-excellent service and support.

And I disagree with WeHeavy, you can be cheap and still produce good beer. That debate is hashed out almost monthly. Bulk 2-row, bulk hops, washed yeast, etc etc etc ad nauseum.

Here are a bunch of links that also contain good info:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/best-cheap-brew-competition-74573/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/how-would-you-go-cheap-54603/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/northern-brewer-all-grain-kits-cheap-82559/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/62-morebeer-10-gallons-sweet-nectar-84788/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/4-brews-b3-65-haus-ale-85290/

 

[WeHeavy]

This is an excellent resource to investigate, too:


And I disagree with WeHeavy, you can be cheap and still produce good beer. That debate is hashed out almost monthly. Bulk 2-row, bulk hops, washed yeast, etc etc etc ad nauseum.

I'd have to disagree with Chriso also.
Here's some of the things being cheap taught me.

Big box store digital thermometer - off by 7 degrees.
El cheapo plastic measuring cup - off by several ounces.
Big box store scale - off by several ounces with no way to correct.
Hops at a unbeatable great price - stale with no alpha rating.
Beer kits marked down - there no longer fresh and have that twang.

Chrisco is correct about most HBS in that for the most part you will get decent-to-excellent service and support.

After you brew your first few batches and decide you really like it, one of the things you can do to save cost is buy in bulk and if you can find a HBS with in driving distance make 2 or 3 runs a year for supplies. I've traveled up to 2 hours one way just to check out a shop.

Just remember You get what you pay for.

 

[Chriso]

We're just working off of different definitions of "cheap", then. The therm/scale/cup aren't part of this, I was talking ingredients only.

Hops - Sure. I can see your point. I, similarly, bought a couple pounds last year that wound up being old crop, and one of the pounds was past usability. That was my mistake. But you can still be "cheap" by buying from Freshops/Hops Direct, or even just comparing between all the online HBSes for your hop order, if you don't want to buy bulk.

Kits - Sorry to be a bit of an elitist on this one.......but i'd never buy a kit off of a shelf, to begin with. That's just asking for stale ingredients. But - I don't have much room to talk on this point, as I refuse to buy kits period. They work for some people. I'm not saying they're horrible. I'm just sayin I won't touch 'em. *shrug*

But bottom line is that you can still be cheap. Sure, sometimes it can burn you. Sounds like you were less lucky. I lucked out. I use an inexpensive digital therm. I wouldn't trust analog therms period. I bought my scale at a head shop, and it works fantastic, under $20 and it weighs both hops and specialty grains. Measuring cup..... I wouldn't know if mine WERE off, because I don't measure water closely to begin with. I measure to the nearest half gallon. Because I'm lazy.


But ultimately, I think we agree in principle. We're just disagreeing on how "cheap" manifests itself.