When is a conundrum not a Conundrum?
On Wednesday I was miffed.
Now on Saturday I am fuming.
It's brew day.
I have nothing to brew.
I am missing my first brew day.
I am not brewing an IPA.
I wanted to brew an IPA that's maybe not an IPA: Northern Brewer Condundrum Session IPA.
So I brew next Saturday.
Oh, SWMBO tells me that I forgot about her plans for me next Saturday.
Yes, she says I can brew next Saturday.
I can put it off two weeks.
No, she says she wants me to to brew next Saturday, with that glare that tells me that I owe her and she will save that debt when it will hurt the most.
Uff da! Northern Brewer.
Northern Brewer has changed their shipping policies and have decided that because I selected flat rate shipping, then to keep from overworking their warehouse personnel too hard Northern Brewer chose not to process my order for six days. Northern Brewer was willing to charge my credit card two days before processing my order. Northern Brewer is treating flat rate shipping like the U.S.P.O. treats second class mail. Yes they will mail it, but won't get to it till they have taken care of the first class customers.
Ok, Northern Brewer has changed priorities.
But Northern Brewer still had to send out my order.
So the warehouse personnel still had to work the same amount.
Plausibly Northern Brewer is trying to cut out overtime.
Plausibly Northern Brewer is trying to encourage customers to pay more than flat rate shipping. I was told that if I had paid $10 shipping instead of $7.99 I would be brewing today.
But if we all start paying $10 instead of $7.99, and Northern Brewer still wants not to work too hard (or pay overtime), shouldn't I still expect slower processing times?
SWMBO wants mostly organic ingredients.
I am a partial something brewer.
I make a mess when using DME, so I have a strong preference for LME.
Northern Brewer, Midwest Supplies and Seven Bridges are the OHBS that I've found that offer organic LME.
If I am going to use Northern Brewer again, then I can no longer trust them to deliver a Thursday order in time for a brew day two Saturdays (9 days) later.
So, I can order earlier? How much earlier?
So what about Midwest Supplies? Yes, Northern Brewer owns them. The money mostly ends up in the same pockets. But Midwest Supplies doesn't have flat rate shipping, so they shouldn't be treating me as second class.
But if I am willing to pay more for shipping, then why not use Northern Brewer?
As to Seven Bridges, they've proven they can deliver by brew day even though they are on the left coast. But my next brew uses Galena. Seven Bridges does not carry Galena. Do I substitute with Chinook when I can get Galena from the Northern Brewer/Midwest Supplies sister stores?
And what about DME?
The only OHBS I found with a Val-Dieu Triple clone was Maltose Express. The Maltose Express kit used a lot of DME. Yes, I made a mess. However, the Val-Dieu Triple came out fabulous!
Why cannot I learn how not to make a mess?
Now, Maltose Express doesn't offer organic DME, but many other OHBS stores do.
So at least for smaller brews, I could just put up with the mess.
But, then for big brews like the Terrapin Reunion '10 :turtle: [Hey Austin, where's that smilie?] that's a lot of DME.
Back in my Iowa days we had a local comic strip, that in 2015 has reappeared.
I lived in a county that shared a corner with Davis County. The county seat is Bloomfield. True or not, I always associated Davis to Bloom County, and think I knew Steve Dallas.
That said, to Northern Brewer for missing my brew day:
On Wednesday I was miffed.
Now on Saturday I am fuming.
It's brew day.
I have nothing to brew.
I am missing my first brew day.
I am not brewing an IPA.
I wanted to brew an IPA that's maybe not an IPA: Northern Brewer Condundrum Session IPA.
So I brew next Saturday.
Oh, SWMBO tells me that I forgot about her plans for me next Saturday.
Yes, she says I can brew next Saturday.
I can put it off two weeks.
No, she says she wants me to to brew next Saturday, with that glare that tells me that I owe her and she will save that debt when it will hurt the most.
Uff da! Northern Brewer.
Northern Brewer has changed their shipping policies and have decided that because I selected flat rate shipping, then to keep from overworking their warehouse personnel too hard Northern Brewer chose not to process my order for six days. Northern Brewer was willing to charge my credit card two days before processing my order. Northern Brewer is treating flat rate shipping like the U.S.P.O. treats second class mail. Yes they will mail it, but won't get to it till they have taken care of the first class customers.
Ok, Northern Brewer has changed priorities.
But Northern Brewer still had to send out my order.
So the warehouse personnel still had to work the same amount.
Plausibly Northern Brewer is trying to cut out overtime.
Plausibly Northern Brewer is trying to encourage customers to pay more than flat rate shipping. I was told that if I had paid $10 shipping instead of $7.99 I would be brewing today.
But if we all start paying $10 instead of $7.99, and Northern Brewer still wants not to work too hard (or pay overtime), shouldn't I still expect slower processing times?
SWMBO wants mostly organic ingredients.
I am a partial something brewer.
I make a mess when using DME, so I have a strong preference for LME.
Northern Brewer, Midwest Supplies and Seven Bridges are the OHBS that I've found that offer organic LME.
If I am going to use Northern Brewer again, then I can no longer trust them to deliver a Thursday order in time for a brew day two Saturdays (9 days) later.
So, I can order earlier? How much earlier?
So what about Midwest Supplies? Yes, Northern Brewer owns them. The money mostly ends up in the same pockets. But Midwest Supplies doesn't have flat rate shipping, so they shouldn't be treating me as second class.
But if I am willing to pay more for shipping, then why not use Northern Brewer?
As to Seven Bridges, they've proven they can deliver by brew day even though they are on the left coast. But my next brew uses Galena. Seven Bridges does not carry Galena. Do I substitute with Chinook when I can get Galena from the Northern Brewer/Midwest Supplies sister stores?
And what about DME?
The only OHBS I found with a Val-Dieu Triple clone was Maltose Express. The Maltose Express kit used a lot of DME. Yes, I made a mess. However, the Val-Dieu Triple came out fabulous!
Why cannot I learn how not to make a mess?
Now, Maltose Express doesn't offer organic DME, but many other OHBS stores do.
So at least for smaller brews, I could just put up with the mess.
But, then for big brews like the Terrapin Reunion '10 :turtle: [Hey Austin, where's that smilie?] that's a lot of DME.
Back in my Iowa days we had a local comic strip, that in 2015 has reappeared.
I lived in a county that shared a corner with Davis County. The county seat is Bloomfield. True or not, I always associated Davis to Bloom County, and think I knew Steve Dallas.
That said, to Northern Brewer for missing my brew day:
