Adventures in home brewing

[Chris Grubb]

Does anyone order from them? I placed one order and had a fine experience, but recently placed another and was less than satisfied. Ultimately they somewhat made it right, but a little disappointed in the customer service. Didn’t know if this was a good place to order from on a regular basis or not.

For those interested, the issue was:
I ordered supplies for my next batch of beer. I ordered a white labs liquid yeast and paid an additional dollar to include an ice pack. I went home at lunch to be there when the UPS truck arrived to put said yeast pack in the refrigerator immediately since the temperature was in the mid 80s. I opened the box to find no ice with my yeast, and the package of yeast was warm to the touch and the plastic pouch very expanded. When I contacted them, the first person said they would refund my dollar for the ice pack not received and talk to the warehouse. When I asked wouldn’t the yeast be replaced, I was told, no it would be fine and just make a starter for it. And as long as it doesn’t get over 120 degrees it would be fine.
My response was it was nearly 90 and I didn’t know where it had been or how long it had been in a ups truck and it may have gotten over 120 for all I know. Again I was told it would be fine, and if it didn’t work let them know and they would refund me. I said I didn’t want to waster a whole day brewing and $40 worth of grains for bad yeast. Then I was offered a replacement yeast if I would cover shipping, which would be $16. Why should/would I pay $16 for a 7 vile of yeast when it was their fault for not shipping as I ordered it. I asked to speak with someone else, who told me ithat was their policy, and yeast was much more resilient than we gave it credit for but offered to send me either a new vile shipping Tuesday, or a similar dry version that would ship out same day. I chose the dry version

 

[ccous]

I doubt the ice pack would have held out for very long

 

[GoeHaarden]

Even when I order ice-packs with yeast from various online retailers they still feel like 90F when I open the box during the summer. A starter is a must anyways with liquid yeast. Ritebrew guarantees their yeast if you're within a certain shipping zone...

 

[myndflyte]

I love Ritebrew because I live close enough to get next day delivery. Even then, by the time it gets to me, the ice pack is melted, there is no coolness to the touch, and in the dead of summer the package was already starting to swell. Despite that, it still made beer.

 

[davidabcd]

Does anyone order from them? I placed one order and had a fine experience, but recently placed another and was less than satisfied. Ultimately they somewhat made it right, but a little disappointed in the customer service. Didn’t know if this was a good place to order from on a regular basis or not.

For those interested, the issue was:
I ordered supplies for my next batch of beer. I ordered a white labs liquid yeast and paid an additional dollar to include an ice pack. I went home at lunch to be there when the UPS truck arrived to put said yeast pack in the refrigerator immediately since the temperature was in the mid 80s. I opened the box to find no ice with my yeast, and the package of yeast was warm to the touch and the plastic pouch very expanded. When I contacted them, the first person said they would refund my dollar for the ice pack not received and talk to the warehouse. When I asked wouldn’t the yeast be replaced, I was told, no it would be fine and just make a starter for it. And as long as it doesn’t get over 120 degrees it would be fine.
My response was it was nearly 90 and I didn’t know where it had been or how long it had been in a ups truck and it may have gotten over 120 for all I know. Again I was told it would be fine, and if it didn’t work let them know and they would refund me. I said I didn’t want to waster a whole day brewing and $40 worth of grains for bad yeast. Then I was offered a replacement yeast if I would cover shipping, which would be $16. Why should/would I pay $16 for a 7 vile of yeast when it was their fault for not shipping as I ordered it. I asked to speak with someone else, who told me ithat was their policy, and yeast was much more resilient than we gave it credit for but offered to send me either a new vile shipping Tuesday, or a similar dry version that would ship out same day. I chose the dry version

I use AIHB exclusively. There are two locations, I believe: one in Taylor, Mi (which is the one I go to) and the other is Ann Arbor, I think, but I don't know AAs reputation.
When the Taylor store makes an error, which is infrequent, they give me store credit. The only errors so far were un-milled grains.
Their customer service (Taylor) has been impressive, in my opinion, and far better than another place that is waaay closer to my house.
With this other local home brew store, I had to go to the brewery across the parking lot and ask the bartender to go get the guy who was supposed to be in the brew shop. He had been sleeping and had left the supply store unattended.
In any case, I give AIHB two thumbs up.

 

[MrPowers]

I still order my yeast from Northern Brewer in the summer because orders from Minneapolis get to me overnight. Even with overnight shipping, in insulated mailers, with an ice pack, it always shows up warm. So I understand why AIH has that policy. Starters are just a must with liquid yeast in shipped the summer.

 

[Moose_MI]

Full disclosure...I live in Meeshigan and enjoy the $5 flat rate shipping. With that said, AIHB is awesome and I use them exclusively. Super customer support experiences.

 

[GPP33]

I usually go to AIH if it's something my LHBS doesn't carry or are just way out of line for pricing on. Always good experiences. I recently purchased a tripple secondary regulator, when I checked out there was a free $25 gift card in my cart. Shipping was also free. One of the gages was off by 2 psi so they immediately sent me new one, it was a different size so they sent me two more and gave me enough credit in my account to cover another $20 gift card. I turned around and ordered $54 worth of hops (free shipping again), after applying my two gift cards it cost me $9 for a pound of Citra and a pound of Cascade which arrived 2 days later. Needless to say I'm a very satisfied customer, they have a great operation and they carry all the really odd fittings that I end up needing.

 

[Chris Grubb]

Ok. Thanks for the replies. I know they seemed to be pretty good to deal with, but was temporarily slightly disappointed in the response since it was their mistake, not mine, but doesn’t sound like part of a trend. I feel good about future orders with them

 

[Brewtallica]

I understand ordering something and not getting what you paid for. But I also understand that yeast is pretty resilient. Yes, they should correct their mistake, but I also wouldn't hesitate to use the yeast. I live very far away from the states and have to order ingredients and yeast online. The last yeast I ordered was Wyeast 1968 and it took about 5 days to get to me. Even though it was shipped with an ice pack, who knows the temperatures it went through. Built a starter, pitched and after a few weeks had a delicious ESB.

 

[schematix]

I’d have asked for a refund for the ice and yeast to offset your cost and labor of making a starter.

In the unlikely event it was dead dead and didn’t take off, then I’d kindly email them to send another at their expense.

If they didn’t then I’d never shop there again and let them know they’ve cost themselves a future customer. There is a lot of competition out there.

But the real lesson here is don’t buy mail order yeast in the dead of summer.

 

[Chris Grubb]

That is what I did. They originally told me they would replace the yeast if I covered shipping, which was $16.
I would have been satisfied if they said “our fault. We really feel like the yeast is still good and would encourage you to use it, but we are refunding the money. If it doesn’t react to the starter, let us know and we will send you another”
They said the ice pack only lasts about 24 hours, but it was delivered in about 48, which would cut exposure time in half.
My question was, if it doesn’t matter, why even make ice an option?
Anyway, I guess it will be fine, and am looking forward to a delicious porter in a few weeks

 

[bkboiler]

have been ordering from them for a while and also recently had a less than ideal experience. used their amazon pay option which didnt work properly and ultimately resulted in a double order. I contacted them immediately and asked that they cancel one. they couldn’t find the duplicate. A week later after two packages showed up on my doorstep, I contacted them asking for an RMA to return one. They wanted me to cover return shipping! I refused and so they offered to cover the shipping costs.

the packaging was done well if a bit wonky...

Long story, but they eventually made it right. I literally think they’re just upgrading their system right now and are having some growing pains. Every other order I’ve done from them has been impeccable, so I’d still endorse them for sure.