How close is your (L)HBS

[Dan]

50 miles. It's a good shop but it's a lot easier just to have stuff show up at my door step.

Same here.

 

[zeg]

My nearest is about an hour away, but I've never been there. The one I occasionally visit is about 2 hours away, but in the city where my parents live so we get down there more often. Most of my stuff comes from Midwest or Austin, though.

 

[Kmcogar]

My local homebrew store is an hour away. I have a truck that get 15 miles to the gallon. It's cheaper to have them ship my ingredients then it is for me to drive to the store.

 

[Chap]

About 10,000 miles away to Home Brew Mart (Ballast Point) San Diego

 

[neosapien]

I can walk to mine in under 5 minutes. Love the place. They have a good selection of fresh ingredients, and will special order anything I ask for and call me when it arrives. Never realized how lucky I am until this thread.

 

[Slowfro]

I answered 15-30 minutes since that's about right from my house (maybe 25 minutes), but it's only about 8 minutes from work so it's perfect!

 

[philber]

From work it is 30 miles, 40 minute drive and from home 35 miles, still 40 minutes. They have a great selection but the prices are high, however I found that unless I do a monster order it is still cheaper to go there than to order online. So now I buy bulk hops from online, nikobrew.com. Grains from LHBS or fiftypoundsack.com, specialty grains come from LHBS if I don't roast them myself from 2-row. Yeast I have found that my only option is the LHBS, but $7 for a smack pack is steep.

Anyone know a cheap place to buy yeast online? I was watching the LHBS from New York on ebay that was selling yeast 6-12 months after use by date, but I didn't want to chance it.

 

[pm5k00]

With no traffic I can make it to mine ( Homebrew Party ) in just under 15 minutes... and its a little under an hour to Austin Homebrew Supply.

 

[user 108580]

5 minutes from my work to J&M Brewing Supply in Novato, CA.

 

[HawksBrewer]

The poll is asking long it takes to get there, vs how many miles. Mine is 10 miles away and can take from 15min to 90min depending on trafic. But my LHBS is a great place with lots of stock and bags of grain and hot good coffee. I like to go there and spend money even if I can find it cheeper online, becasue I enjoy the time spent there talking to people. And they know I'm in the loop of brewers and they comp me stuff now and again.

Do you go to Brew and Grow on Kedzie or Perfect Brewing Supply in Libertyville? I grew up in Wilmette and currently am lucky enough to live 10 min from B & G West Loop. Great selection of everything I could ever need. They also seem to have Citra and Amarillo when that IPA bug starts itching.

 

[punkrockdave]

5 minutes from my work to J&M Brewing Supply in Novato, CA.

Didn't realize there was a LHBS in Novato. Another good option while I'm out that way.

 

[user 108580]

Didn't realize there was a LHBS in Novato. Another good option while I'm out that way.

They opened up about 6 weeks ago.

 

[mikescooling]

Do you go to Brew and Grow on Kedzie or Perfect Brewing Supply in Libertyville? I grew up in Wilmette and currently am lucky enough to live 10 min from B & G West Loop. Great selection of everything I could ever need. They also seem to have Citra and Amarillo when that IPA bug starts itching.

I go to the one on Kedzie, I havent been to the one in Libertyville. I drive by there every day on my way to school. It's too easy to stop and spend some money.

 

[SparklyFarmBrewing]

Happy to say Northern Brewer St Paul is 5 minutes from my work, I spend at least one lunch break a week there!

 

[workman]

Within walking distance.

 

[the_bird]

It's a little more than an hour to get to the good shop. There was one about 25 minutes away for a couple years, but it closed (had only been open a couple years); didn't have much selection even before it became obvious that they were going downhill. Went in one day with a simple list, and they had almost nothing I needed - no US-05, no Cascade hops, no Star San... I think they had the Crystal 60°, but that was it.

There's another place an hour or so in the other direction, but every time I've stopped by they've been kind of on the rude side ("You know, most people call their grain orders in before they get here.... What do you want a three gallon carboy for, anyway?"

The good shop, though, over in Rensselaer, is a REALLY good shop. It's still pretty small, but they have pretty much anything you could ask for, and they're always super-friendly.

 

[downtown3641]

It usually takes five to ten minutes to get to mine, depending on how I catch the two lights.

 

[unionrdr]

JW Dover is about10-15 minutes up I90E from me in Westlake. They got a lot of different hops & yeasts in a really cold fridge that's temp controlled. Lots of wine & beer stuff. I gotta check oon their grain supply though. But lots of equipment,LME,DME,caps,other chemicals,etc. Prices are compareable to on line.

 

[logdrum]

JW Dover is about10-15 minutes up I90E from me in Westlake. They got a lot of different hops & yeasts in a really cold fridge that's temp controlled. Lots of wine & beer stuff. I gotta check oon their grain supply though. But lots of equipment,LME,DME,caps,other chemicals,etc. Prices are compareable to on line.

Not on Wyeast, last time I was in it was $9.50 a pack & every single 1056 in the fridge was swelled. Left empty handed.

 

[davekippen]

I am lucky. Its about 1 minute by car, 10 by foot. Great selection and cool guys running the place. Before I started brewing, I didnt even know its there. Its in the basement of an old church or something. Its called The Red Salamander, no reference to beer at all in the name!!

 

[sweed]

Depends, 30 seconds from work, or about 30 minutes from home. These are 2 different lhbs that I use. The one by my work is over an hour away from my house if there was no traffic, which is why I go to the other one that is by my gym.

 

[unionrdr]

Not on Wyeast, last time I was in it was $9.50 a pack & every single 1056 in the fridge was swelled. Left empty handed.

Huh. It's been a few months since I was last there. Maybe some squeezed the packets while searchin the fridge,or theywere damaged in shipping. That's a new one for me. And the price musta went up. Gotaa get over there when I start my tripiweisse...

 

[ryno84]

I live 15 minutes from MoreBeer in Concord. Really makes it convenient bc I can pick up anything they have online without shipping, including their clearance items.

 

[dford]

Brewmasters Warehouse is 3 hours away. I've never set foot in store but their shipping is fast and cheap.

 

[mux]

4 blocks and I work there part time when they need help.

 

[mbauer013]

Yep, Midwest moved locations 2 years ago to 3 blocks from my house. Full fermenters, empty wallet

 

[Hammy71]

21 miles (35 minutes), but it's kinda on the way home from work.

 

[david_42]

The good ones are in the 30-45 minute range. There's one much closer, but the hours are so wacky I've given up trying to buy anything there.

 

[HookUp]

Depends on traffic, but 30 to 45 min. I typically buy in bulk, so end up ordering but for the onesey twosey things, stop by to chat.

Just found a cool new store with good people.

I luv the old store though because they carry equipment I cant afford, like a $750 conical fermenter.

 

[Bubba]

About maybe 10 miles but in NY it could take an hour depending on the time of day.

 

[Dawnhulio]

Maybe a mile and a half away. It's a small shop, good to visit on an emergency-need basis, but not for all of one's brewing necessities. *That* shop is about 10 miles away. Needless to say both are easily accessible.

 

[daksin]

The closest one to me actually just moved 5 minutes from my house, but that guy thinks he is god's gift to brewing but doesn't know bugger all about brewing, and is a bit of a jerk. His prices are OUTRAGEOUS, and grain selection is dismal, to boot. I would only ever go there if there was some sort of emergency that couldn't spare the extra 40 minutes round trip to HomebrewMart down by the 8. Can't imagine what that would be- his hours are crap too. Only open until 6 on weekdays and half the time he leaves early.

Homebrewmart is the shizzy- excellent grain and hops selection (they've got citra and simcoe on the regular, though it's expensive), knowledgeable people working at all hours, Ballast Point tasting room, and fantastic equipment selection. Their prices are great too. It's only ~20-25 minutes from my house anyway. If I'm ordering a ton of stuff, though, I usually order from Norther Brewer. Flat rate shipping plus lots of stuff means their slightly lower prices end up beating even HBM. I always buy yeast locally and then reuse it though, because white labs is right here (across the street from LHBS #1) so it's always freshest at the store. No point in paying NB to ship it from CA to MN and then back to me.

I prefer to drive down to HBM, even if I do spend $8 on gas (NB shipping money) because I think it's important to support a business that is absolutely doing it right. Also major shout out to North County LHBS Hydrobrew- those dudes know their stuff and have great selection/prices. The Mother Earth tasting room HBS is a lifesaver too. I find myself in North County needing beer stuff more often than I would have guessed.

 

[MisterTipsy]

5 miles. Big store. Good store.

 

[bleme]

I have one an hour north and one 75 minutes south. Fortunately, my work sends me by one or the other about 4 times a year so I usually plan to spend my lunch hour there.

 

[Ramitt]

After reading others plights I feel damn lucky to be 15 to 20 minutes from a good hbs, though lately they have town so torn you you almost can't get there from here.

 

[helibrewer]

The close shop is 15 minutes but too pricey for most stuff. The Whole Foods has pretty good selection of grain, yeast, hops, misc small items. It's about 10 min with good prices. I work 15 min from MoreBeer (Concord) and go there after night shift for the big stuff.

 

[BrotherGrim]

Mine is about 2 hours, I went there for the first time last weekend. It is the Wine Smith in Mobile Alabama. I must say it was very nice to visit the shop. The owner, who's name I cannot remember, was very personable and easy to talk to. I was like a kid in a candy store, as I had just found the place, but he was very helpful. As the visit was actually for a birthday party, I was unable to spend all day there, but I did drop a few dimes in the till. I will be making the trip back down to visit the shop as often as I can.

I will still be using mail order for supplies as I will be brewing more than I will be making the trip, and until I get set up for bulk storage of grains, I will be ordering batch by batch.

 

[Sambecker1]

I'm lucky, I have 3 within 15 min drive. The best one was only open Wed and Sat but tomorrow goes 7 days!!!

 

[terror_storm]

1.2 miles / 4 minutes

 

[allenH]

There are 2 nearby. The close one is 10 minutes away and is open 7 days a week. They are owned by the German restaurant around the corner and ran by the two bartenders. It is partnered in the building with a German deli, which is cool, but good luck finding anyone working the beer side. You go in and get your goods, go to the deli counter, grab a girl working there and drag them around the beer side to check the prices and ring you up. Did I mention German restaurant and deli? Good luck getting any c-hop other than cascades, you would be in heaven if you were making any German beer. I do buy yeast and cleaning supplies from them.
The other one is about 45 minutes away and has been in business a long time, I have never been there, but reading their reviews (on HBT and google), you better email your order at least 24 hours in advance, and don't ask any questions or try to look them in the eye.