Northern Brewer

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the_bird said:
I've never had an incorrect order from NB, and even with the old shipping policies stuff always seemed to get here a day or two sooner than I expected. So, no complaints from me at all. Quality of the ingredients always seems top-notch as well.

As always, though, if price is a consideration then spend the five minutes to do a comparison between the shops mentioned. One of the places that has "cheap" shipping, I've always found their basic prices to be pretty high. I've only ordered from there a couple of times, because it's usually been the most expensive.

I also appreciate that Northern Brewer has been a longtime supporter of the Jamil Show, which has taught me a metric ****ton about beer and brewing. So, all things being equal (more or less), I'll send orders that way. I try to do as much of this shopping locally as I can, though.
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Where are you buying anything locally? I can't find anything less than an hour from here.
 
"Local" is a relative term. I go over to Hennessy, over in Rensselaer; it's a really good store, they're stocking pretty much everything you could want. Cost me more in gas that it would cost me to pay for shipping, but it's nice to be able to get out of the house for three hours sometimes!

Oh, and welcome to HBT - you're really local to me!
 
There was a place in Pittsfield for maybe two years or so, but they shut down a little while back. I never went there, because every time that I did they were out of some very basic ingredients (any kind of clean dry yeast, or Star-San, or Cascade hops... I mean, WTF?)
 
the_bird said:
"Local" is a relative term. I go over to Hennessy, over in Rensselaer; it's a really good store, they're stocking pretty much everything you could want. Cost me more in gas that it would cost me to pay for shipping, but it's nice to be able to get out of the house for three hours sometimes!

Oh, and welcome to HBT - you're really local to me!
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Roger has a shop, or two, in Mass somewhere. One, just recently added/remodeled?
I too shop in Rensselaer. (I work in Albany)
As for online shopping, I am pretty loyal to NB, if only to support BTV and other educational efforts.
Never dissapointed with an order.
 
He's got four locations now, three in Mass and the NY place. Haven't been to any of the MA shops, they're all way out East. West Boylston, Cambridge, and South Weymouth (which is new, I believe, at least for him). Roger's a good guy, and I love the NY shop - he expanded maybe two years ago, and basically stocks every kind of hop and specialty malt you can imagine.
 
MalFet said:
Californians complaining about difficulties in obtaining beer-stuff? Not on my watch. :D
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I know, right? Waaahh!!! I live in the land of milk and honey!!!

I live in rural Illinois. Quit yo' b*tchin'. ;)
 
Almost always go with nthomebrew.com only because their local store is very convenient to me ... though I did just order some Wyeast sake yeast and a couple out of stock other items from nthomebrew ... went with the priority mail delivery so I know I should get it in prompt fashion ...
 
tj218 said:
Any ideas on the quality of LME from Brewmaster Warehouse? Does it get good turnover?

I really like NB, but since I saw the price increases I found the Brew Builder at Brewmasters and that is a pretty neat little tool. Buying by the ounce (even the LME?!) is a nice little feature too.
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The quality is very high. Pretty much everyone uses Briess LME in bulk since they are the only producer that is within the country. We go through hundreds of pounds a week so no drum is in the store longer than a week.

Thanks,

Ed
 
the_bird said:
He's got four locations now, three in Mass and the NY place. Haven't been to any of the MA shops, they're all way out East. West Boylston, Cambridge, and South Weymouth (which is new, I believe, at least for him). Roger's a good guy, and I love the NY shop - he expanded maybe two years ago, and basically stocks every kind of hop and specialty malt you can imagine.
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That shop is awesome. I went once to buy an airlock back in '97 and he has been sending me a really neat newsletter in the mail ever since.
 
grathan said:
That shop is awesome. I went once to buy an airlock back in '97 and he has been sending me a really neat newsletter in the mail ever since.
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I hope you go in there for more than an airlock! He's stocking pretty much everything I can imagine. First place I saw cherrywood-smoked malt (WOW!), he's got tons of different hops (CITRA, baby!), all vacuum-packed, pretty much ever yeast stain, and it all seems to be fresh and in good shape. Got a fair amount of equipment there, too.

I probably will place an order this week from Brewmaster's Warehouse (not sure if I've ordered from there before or not, but I know people seem to love them), just because I can't get over to NY this weekend.
 
the_bird said:
I probably will place an order this week from Brewmaster's Warehouse (not sure if I've ordered from there before or not, but I know people seem to love them), just because I can't get over to NY this weekend.
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I've ordered from Brewmaster's Warehouse, and been extremely happy with my orders. It comes FedEx, instead of UPS (or it did when I last ordered) and super quick to me. I bet it'd be even faster for you. Prices were good, packaging was perfect, and I am a satisfied customer.

I try to buy from most of the Vendors on the forum, and to spread my orders around. I don't mail order yeast in the summer, so now is the time for me to do another order for yeast and small items.
 
i love northern brewer, but sadly i just placed an order from midwest supplies. for a sack of 2 row and several packs of yeast, it was 53 bucks cheaper from midwest. cant bite that one just for brewing tv's sake. i will try my best to shop there, but damn!
 
Two thoughts here:

Grain prices will almost certainly climb due to the drought conditions and the exploding number of small breweries coming online. Basic supply and demand.

Fuel prices are driving up shipping costs so flat rate may or may not be a thing of the past, but if it sticks it will probably land at a higher price point.

Either way, the economics are out of the hands of NB and the rest.

Regardless, will still be shipping large orders thanks to a punitive CA sales tax but still supporting the local guys to fill the holes and score live yeast.
 
harrydrez said:
There is a store in Ludlow called DYI Brewing that is supposedly good- I have never been but I think I'll go check it out this weekend.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18063/?view=beerfly

There is a LHBS in North Hampton I think- unless it closed recently?
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Correct. There is one in Northampton, and there are a couple in the Albany NY area. My point was there is nothing in between. I'm looking at an hour+ drive in either direction to get to a shop.
 
I was planning on brewing the smashing pumpkin kit this Saturday, so on Monday before noon I ordered my kit. I figured that it would have gone out late Monday or early Tuesday. Today is Wednesday and I still didnt have a confirmation that it got shipped. So I gave them a call and the guy told me that they are backed up and that it will ship today and delivered on Monday. I ended up having to cancel my order and I was very disappointed. I usually hear about their great customer service and how they try to make good with their customers. Where was that for me? If it takes them that long to get a package to leave their warehouse I would expect a shipping upgrade or something. This was my first kit I have ever ordered from them, might also be my last.

I guess I'm just venting.
 
Lack of planning on your part does not imply an emergency on their part :)


Always order sso that you recieve items a week before you intend to use them. Learned this lesson when building a buggy chassis and I needed heims joints in 3 days so I could get it together and drive it on the 5th day...it didn't happen then either.
 
2-3 days handling time is pretty normal and should be expected. unless you paid for rush/next day/whatever shipping, expecting a shipment is 5 days (normal shipping) is unrealistic. it may happen, but shouldn't be expected.
 
Did you pay for expedited shipping? According to their shipping information page for Ground shipping "Most in-stock orders ship within 1 business day" (emphasis mine). Expedited shipping ships same day if ordered before noon Central. If you selected a shipping option that wasn't guaranteed to be delivered in the time frame you wanted it's your own fault. I would never count on ground shipping to get me something in less than a week, particularly since expedited orders get priority in shipping out. If you did select a shipping option that guaranteed it would be shipped the same day then they are definitely at fault.
 
I wasn't aware that the brew stores were behind the curve. I'm just used to a 24 hour turn around when ordering things online, usually things ship the same day if ordered early enough. I guess I'll just stick with my LHBS (he is actually cheaper than online stores on many things).

Honestly I just wanted to support Brewing TV.

They did give me a $10 store credit. So that's like free shipping for next time.
 
atom said:
2-3 days handling time is pretty normal and should be expected. unless you paid for rush/next day/whatever shipping, expecting a shipment is 5 days (normal shipping) is unrealistic. it may happen, but should be expected.
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While I agree that this would be a pretty standard handling time, Northern Brewer probably shouldn't put "Your order will be shipped on the same or next business day" on their shipping blurb next to your shopping cart if 2-3 is what should be expected from them. On the full shipping page, they say "most items ship within 1 day", which is probably a more reasonable statement.

Personally, I understand how its easy to get backed up and have an order take a few days to get out. But that's a good reason not to explicitly promise something better than that on your website.

Anyways, my experience with Northern Brewer has been good and would certainly buy from them again for things I can't get from closer. I'm sorry that the OPs experience wasn't all he had hoped it would be, and think that possible their website does overpromise a bit in this area.
 
I didn't check my email until after the original post, so I didn't know then about the $10.

Did I get something for troubles? Yes
Do I get to brew my beer on Saturday? No

In the end I'm still not happy, I was expecting too much. I guess I'm just not used to ordering beer kits online. I figured it would go faster than a week, its was 3 business day shipping.

I also want to make clear that this wasn't intended as a hate post. It was just for feedback. So thanks for that.
 
AZ_IPA said:
Have you tried Austin Homebrew? I'm guessing shipping from Austin to Houston would be quicker than from wherever NB is.
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Yup. Austin to Baton Rouge, LA is always 2 days via UPS ground, so Houston would be at most 2 I would think.
 
I'll have to check them out next time. What has your experience been like? Anything to watch out for?
 
While I think your expectations are skewed I applaud you for not making a huge deal of it and adding outlandish claims of how terrible they are.

They are my LHBS so I am biased, but I can say before moving to MN I had the same shipping experience when ordering from them online.
 
Midwest Supply has excellent customer service and has never disappointed me. I usually do business with them for items I have a hard time finding locally.
 
509inc said:
While I think your expectations are skewed I applaud you for not making a huge deal of it and adding outlandish claims of how terrible they are.

They are my LHBS so I am biased, but I can say before moving to MN I had the same shipping experience when ordering from them online.
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Honestly I truly believe that any warehouse that has something stocked should be able to ship it within 24 hours of placing an order. If my bar is set too high, then thats what is on me.

My brew buddy also suggested Austin. He said he gets his stuff within 2 days. And yes I realize they are practically local for me.
 
I also ordered something from Northern Brewer early last week. It took them a full business week to get it into the hands of UPS which seems rather ridiculous in this day and age. Add to it that it will take a week to get to me once shipped and I can just about guarantee that this is the last time I will be ordering from Northern. Two weeks from the time you take my money just doesn't cut it.

Normally I order from Williams which is fairly close (norcal to norcal). They have always, each and every time, shipped on the same day I ordered as long as the order was in by 3pm west coast time. And since they are in my general area, for the flat rate of $7 it gets to me overnight (fedex ground). It is lucky that they are so close as to get it to me immediately. It is just plain good warehouse skills that gets it out the day the order is placed. Bravo Williams.

If Williams had carried the White House ale kit, I definitely would have ordered it from them. 48 days and counting. I should still be able to brew it and have it ready to serve by Ale-ection Day (irrespective of winner).
 
I've been happy with Northern, ordered from Austin, happy with them too, but don't care for their LME containers. Ordered from Williams on a Tuesday, got order on Thursday! Really like Morebeer's foil packed LME. My LHBS is a Feed/Farm store, their selection of brew stuff is getting better all the time, but it's hard to beat shopping in your pajamas. :eek: Originally I thought I would "graduate" to All Grain, now I'm thinking "why?". I don't need to own chickens to make an omelet. I have neighbors that sell farm fresh eggs, they deal with the chicken sh*t, I get good eggs. Kind of how I view AG. Don't get me wrong, if you like milking the cow for your milk, more power to ya. Did I get :off:
 
I've never had anything but awesome service from NB. Same goes for Midwest, Austin, and High Gravity. My local store is okay at best, but great to have in a pinch, so in no way am I complaining about it. You have to keep in mind that everybody and their sister is ordering a Pumpkin beer kit this month, so stuff might take a little bit longer. I did the same thing when I started brewing. Next year, brew your pumpkin in July, and it will be even better for the fall. Patience grasshopper.
Cheers
 
tom_gamer said:
Bob clearly had one too many homebrews lol. What do you not like about Austins containers?
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Who Me?;) Austin's container lids leak, of three containers two leaked a little, lost about 1/2 cup from the third. Made quite a mess with those packing peanuts stuck to everything.
 
CBXBob said:
Who Me?;) Austin's container lids leak, of three containers two leaked a little, lost about 1/2 cup from the third. Made quite a mess with those packing peanuts stuck to everything.
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Thats not good. I'll still give them a try in the future.
 

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