Attention San Diego brewers!!

[BrewJr]

I found a new home brew store located at 3176 thorn st in north park. Those of you in the area that have been using home brew mart and have been dealing with those snobby a-holes you don't have to anymore! The guys at this store are very kick ass, and they will help you out! The store is kinda small and they have mostly grain hops and yeast and not many replacement parts for your brewing setup but they are very friendly! Just thought I would pass that on!

 

[zbonaker]

A co-worker who lives in the area told me about the shop. I'm going to check it out...

I usually stick with American Homebrew Supply - it's a good, clean, helpful shop and has my loyalty. Although I always have to go to Home Brew Mart for Vienna malt... I dread going there. Snobby a-holes doesn't even begin to describe it, especially after their new, trendy interior remodeling.

Hopefully this new shop can fill in when American Homebrew doesn't supply the ingredients I need.

 

[JarrodH]

I still have to check this new shop out. Been meaninto for the past couple brews.

 

[Wyldjim]

What are prices like? Their website was under construction before. HBM was very cool and friendly 10 years ago. Some of the guys are friends (Doug is great!)

They have been slipping big time for several years now Prices are terrible

 

[BrewJr]

My grain bill was 9.5 lbs and with the hops and yeast and sanitizer my bill came to $27! so I thought that very reasonable!

 

[scrambledegg81]

Good prices...not worth the drive from where I'm at though...Hydrobrew in Oceanside is about 5 minutes away.


[/gloat]

 

[BrewJr]

ya i stopped going to homebrew mart and started to drive from chula vista to hydrobrew, but that started to suck so i just started buying my stuff from austin homebrew. But i am familiar with hydrobrew! very nice people up there to!

 

[Wyldjim]

Morebeer is good too. Like way cheaper than HBM and free shiping over $59. They have a store in Riverside, but they ship from main store in Nor Cal.

I can't get a batch outa HBM for less than $50 it seems

 

[Gremlyn]

A co-worker who lives in the area told me about the shop. I'm going to check it out...

I usually stick with American Homebrew Supply - it's a good, clean, helpful shop and has my loyalty. Although I always have to go to Home Brew Mart for Vienna malt... I dread going there. Snobby a-holes doesn't even begin to describe it, especially after their new, trendy interior remodeling.

Hopefully this new shop can fill in when American Homebrew doesn't supply the ingredients I need.

I stopped going AHBS because of the owner. He just can't seem to figre out when to stop talking sometimes. Definitely doesn't hesitate to give his unsolicited opinions and things that I disagree with. I went there after initially getting snubbed at HBM, and at first thought it was decent, but then the AHBS guy started to rub me the wrong way, and I went back to HBM. HBM is also much cheaper for most things, which is amazing considering they're more expensive than the online places for a lot of stuff. Check the prices for corn sugar and compare... It was something like $6.95 for 2lbs of it at AHBS, and $3 for 2lbs at HBM.

 

[trailblazer]

i usualy go to murrieta home brew emporium. its a small place but the guy is nice and its 5 minuts from my house. more beer has a way better selection but their about 40 minuts away.

 

[schristian619]

I have to agree with Gremlyn on this one. American Homebrew supply is an OK shop at best. I went there a couple times and thought "ok, this guy seems nice and I like to support small local businesses so I'll shop here from now on." Then the guy started to bug me with unsolicited opinions and exactly as noted, just doesn't know when to stop talking. I love home brew mart though, the people have always been great to me and the selection is pretty good. Grain prices are average, but the rest is pretty high. I wouldn't buy equipment from them.
I saw an ad about a new shop opening in north park, where I live, but never went. I'll check it out though. I wonder what their selection is like for grains. I need to pick up some for an irish red this week. Hope they have maris otter....

 

[40oz]

What a funny thread, I'll have to try some other local marts, I just went back to Home Brew Mart the other day since been there 4-5 years ago. Nice remodel, and nice snobs. I know what you mean.

 

[KCBrew]

In other news I'm in SD for a neuroscience conference and NEED good beer destinations! I'll be at 5th amd Broadway, where can/should I go?

 

[scrambledegg81]

I believe the Yard House is your best option.

http://www.yardhouse.com/CA/san_diego/

 

[Coldies]

I go to Hydrobrew because its close (about 10 min away) and the guys are very helpfull there. Nothing is worse than when your trying to get into a hobby and the store employees treat you like an incompetent fool because they have been doing it longer than you.

 

[92greenyj]

Isnt that one in North Park also like some vegan organic food store place too? If so, no thanks. I'll pass. I won't shop anywhere filled with tree hugging hippies.

Personally, I love Home Brew Mart. I live about 8 minutes away from it and I have always had good experiences shopping there.

 

[schristian619]

KCbrew....its san diego beer week. Check out SDBW.org and see whats nearby. The Neighborhood is pretty close to you. Great beer and food.

 

[Gremlyn]

In other news I'm in SD for a neuroscience conference and NEED good beer destinations! I'll be at 5th amd Broadway, where can/should I go?

There is The Beer Company, new place on 6th and maybe F? Somewhere around there, east side of the street. Haven't had their beer yet though... There is also the Neighborhood which is about 8th or 9th and G. I'm sure you can find the more exact locations, my memory is fuzzy on downtown as I don't go there much. Downtown Johnny Browns is somewhere there too, I think it's a little more east by the Civic Center, and you have Rock Bottom on 5th and probably G or so. Good luck!

 

[TBrosBrewing]

If your just looking for a place with a good section of bottled beer to enjoy as well. Super Jr. Market is on 7th just north of Broadway. They have a giant selection of beers in a very small store.

 

[KCBrew]

Thnks guys! I'm about to check out the Yard House, it's like 3 blocks away, there are soo many Cali beers I'm dying to try out.


After that, I'll swing by the Super J.

Much appreciated!

 

[92greenyj]

if you wanna take a little trip head up to Escondido and visit the Stone Brewery and Bistro

 

[RustyMusket]

Yea I agree those guys over there are pretty snobby at HBM, I hate going there and they are way overpriced. Anyway i found this place in Santee if your out the east county www.beverages4lessinc.com/ . they have a pretty good selection of malts for being a beer and liquor store. Great selection in off the wall beers. They have some brewing supplies basically the bear necessities They do have hops although not a big supply of them and they also carry yeast mostly white labs and that is delivered to them on thursdays. You can also go in there and tell the guy what you want and he'll get it for you. they are good peoples.

Any body in san diego want to sell an old glass carboy they have laying around collecting dust???

 

[Keir]

Any of you SD guys try Mother Earth Brewing for your supplies? I've been meaning to check it out, but haven't been able to make it over there yet. I like Hydrobrew, but Vista is closer than Oceanside for me...

Oh, and I haven't been to Home brew mart in years, since i moved to north county. Bummer to hear they turned into snobs, I liked them years ago.

 

[Coldies]

Any of you SD guys try Mother Earth Brewing for your supplies? I've been meaning to check it out, but haven't been able to make it over there yet. I like Hydrobrew, but Vista is closer than Oceanside for me...

Oh, and I haven't been to Home brew mart in years, since i moved to north county. Bummer to hear they turned into snobs, I liked them years ago.

I have gotten my last 2 batches there and that place is great. I live in Carlsbad too and work in Escondido, so Mother Earth is on the way home for me. They have a great selection of grain, and unlike Hydro Brew they carry foreign grain as well (British Pale malet, etc...) best part is that they are a brewery too so you can drink a beer while you get your grain selection. They have whitelabs and Wyeast as well as the standard dry stuff.

I didnt spend to much time looking at their brewing supplies but it looks like they have all the basic stuff. Let me know some time your gonna go over and I can meet you to have a beer. Their chocolate stout is fantastic!

 

[charliec]

Personally I haven't experienced the snobbery at Home brew Mart, but the prices are higher. I knew about American home brewing supply but have never been there, North Park area would be closer for me as I live in east Chula Vista. Next time I find myself up in the Murphy canyon area I'll check out AHBS.

 

[Petho]

I can't stand American Homebrew Supply and Homebrew Mart is a tad on the Snobby side. I really like the new place Homebrew and Gardens, they have an awesome All Grain class on Saturdays. I spent an hour there just chatting with friendly guys and even got a lesson in kegging and building a kegerator. Freddy down in Santee at Homebrew4Less is another good place. Good prices and friendly.

BTW, Rusty, I have an old Carboy if you need one.

 

[RustyMusket]

So I went to check out this new place in El Cajon its on Arnele and Johnson. The man who runs it is Jim and he invited me in for a tour, really nice guy. They are still stocking their shelves but so far from what I have seen they have everything your gunna want or need at an extremely reasonable price. If I remember correctly he said they have 27 different specialty grains and 9 different base malts and alot of extract stuff. There opening date is the 31st of May, he also said you could come buy this next tuesday which as he called it their soft opening. Man I cant wait, now I am really stoked about this place.