Austin Homebrew Supply

[julioardz]

Yeah, I've also been in to the store a few times after Black Friday and it looked pretty empty compared to what I'm use to seeing. I had different employees tell me they had problems with shipments coming in. I just assumed Black Friday and holiday season wiped them out. It was no big deal for me, I just changed up my recipes a bit to use what they had in stock.

I went again this past Friday and things were looking better but still not fully stocked. An 18-wheeler was backing up to their bay door when I was leaving. I hope that means more inventory will soon be back to normal.

AHS has been my lhbs and my favorite thing about them has always been the large and diverse inventory. I don't plan things out enough and often brew spur of the moment, so it's nice to have AHS 10 minutes away.

 

[tmendick]

I ordered 3 kits 12/13 and they were at my door 12/20 so it seems like they are back on the ball

 

[livetaswim06]

Looks like they have been having issues keeping stock up due to a large expense in upgrading the site. Here's to hoping that everything comes back to normal soon, definitely one of my favorite sites

 

[castillo556]

Not really liking the new website. You can't order by price and you don't see the price on the main page for the kits.

Also, the prices went up by a few dollars each.

AHS may be coming off the "go-to" list.

 

[DU99]

New web sites can be a PITA.sometimes they have issues with the scripting.give it a few days

 

[Rhumbline]

It's a shame, they were the only site I bought from. I've made a lot of their kits and always said good things about them.

But why would you force me to accept dry yeast that I have no need for and tell me to "save it as a backup?".

And I'll echo the comment above about not liking the missing ability to sort by price and view the kit prices in a list.

Maybe this is the push I needed to get into BIAB and coming up with my own recipes. I can buy grain locally.

It's a shame.

 

[Homercidal]

After a quick look, I actually like the new design. Very nice looking and easy to navigate. However, I do echo a couple of others in that I think it would be nice to have the price of the kits showing along with the name in the listing page. It's not handy to shop when you have to click into the detail page to get the price. Some people shop by price. A LOT of people probably shop by price.

In that same vein, it might be nice to be able to sort the entire kit database by price so if someone were to be shopping for "Anything as long as it's around $35" they can do that.

That might be something to look into implementing soon.

 

[TheZymurgist]

I just noticed that they've changed their fraction amounts for grains to only 4, 8, and 12 ounce options. You used to be able to buy by the ounce. That SUCKS!!!! Big time. I used to be one of their biggest supporters, but now I'm back to weighing my options.

 

[livetaswim06]

I like the new design as well, but echo some frustrations with the new style. I don't really shop on price, but I know that will be an issue for some. Maybe their issue is not knowing which price to list since every recipe has LME, DME, MMDME, MMLME, AG. There should be a filter on the side to filter for kits by style and recipe type so you can see price of the kit as you want it. Unless you are experienced, it might be a little unnecessarily difficult to figure out all the abbreviations in the dropdown.

As far as yeast goes. I really don't understand packaging "recommended yeast" with each kit. Some of us want to move to all grain and are very picky about yeast. Is the IPA I am ordering adding in Safale 5, notty, muntons gold, or something else? Beneath the yeast selection dropdown the included yeast should be listed otherwise I will be calling each time to question what exactly is included. Also I disagree with raising the price to include yeast. What if I have some and don't need more? Why is it not possible to remove yeast from the order if you want to use a different one?

 

[TheZymurgist]

I think by packaging a recommended yeast, they're able to streamline things better, which saves time and cost, so I understand that. You can't really fault them there.

 

[Homercidal]

I think by packaging a recommended yeast, they're able to streamline things better, which saves time and cost, so I understand that. You can't really fault them there.

I agree. It makes a good emergency yeast in case there is a mess up with the order, or the liquid arrives in bad shape due to weather or some other unforeseen circumstance.

I would prefer to know what kind of dry yeast it is, but then I don't buy kits, I find or create my own recipes, so it's not a big deal to me, in actuality.

Just remember it's a brand new system, guys. It has an opportunity to change in the future.

Sucks about the amount of hops minimum order though. Who wants to order 4 ounces all the time??
EDIT: Oops, I checked and realized I thought you posted Hops were in 4, 8, 12 ounce increments, and I went back to see it was Grain you mentioned. big difference.

 

[szap]

Just finishing first year of home brewing and have done over 20 kits from Austin Home Brew. One thing I liked on their old site was being able to go into my account and see all the kits I ordered in the past and the dates as well as keeping the wish list. When I went to the after the new software install, I had to register again and all past records were gone. Kind of disappointing.

 

[livetaswim06]

Just finishing first year of home brewing and have done over 20 kits from Austin Home Brew. One thing I liked on their old site was being able to go into my account and see all the kits I ordered in the past and the dates as well as keeping the wish list. When I went to the after the new software install, I had to register again and all past records were gone. Kind of disappointing.

I was told by AHS support that accounts should be migrated. They told me to hit forgot password and you will be able to follow the steps and get back in.

NOTE: I tried the above and it didn't work, so who knows.

 

[Homercidal]

It might take time to migrate the old information into the database. I'm sure they are focused on simply making sure the new site is functioning properly.

 

[livetaswim06]

I don't really agree that adding yeast, whirlfloc and brewvint yeast fuel is passing savings on to the customer. Lets say someone was buying kits and bought all 3 in bulk. Now they have to pay for something they already have as the prices have gone up on each kit to reflect the "free" additions. Assuming 1 kit a month, thats means you can pay almost ~50 for stuff you don't need. That becomes much more the more kits you buy and then you have extra stuff you payed for but don't need laying around.

Am I the only one that thinks we should just pay for what we need?

 

[Rhumbline]

I've thought about this and oddly enough if they had just raised their prices I wouldn't be that torqued off. It was the idea that I was paying for something I had no use for that got me.

I also was unable to sign in, that's a lesser issue.

I do think that this is the incentive I need to look into moving on from the extract kits.

 

[kh54s10]

I did my first kit in two years about a month ago. It was one from my LHBS . I use recipes and make my own so I buy separate ingredients. Thus I am not concerned about the kits and yeast included.

I use the cart from several sites and choose which to buy based on final cost, shipping included. So if they are still low they will keep my business. I have not tried to log in yet since I am very well stocked at the moment.

 

[Rhumbline]

UPDATE:

I was able to log in after changing my password. it took a while for them to get the email to me with the link.

One odd thing, they had my address correct, but had changed my name to John Martin. Man, if they did that to every account it's going to be a circus.

 

[castillo556]

I don't really agree that adding yeast, whirlfloc and brewvint yeast fuel is passing savings on to the customer. Lets say someone was buying kits and bought all 3 in bulk. Now they have to pay for something they already have as the prices have gone up on each kit to reflect the "free" additions. Assuming 1 kit a month, thats means you can pay almost ~50 for stuff you don't need. That becomes much more the more kits you buy and then you have extra stuff you payed for but don't need laying around.

Am I the only one that thinks we should just pay for what we need?

Nope. I am with you. I buy almost all my kits from AHS, mostly because of the price and that you can individualize each kit and only order what you need. I don't want stuff "packaged" up with the kit that I don't need or want.

I am really disappointed. This seems to have taken them from the best of the homebrew sites to the middle.

 

[livetaswim06]

It seems like such an easy fix to make. Hopefully Forrest is reading this thread and will consider making the changes. At the very least, I would hope he would chime in on why the change was made.

 

[sudbuster]

Since they have stopped bulk base malt discounts and have raised per pound prices shockingly, and raised prices generally, I will not be using them as my sole source of brew supplies. Perhaps they are content with the walk-in trade.

 

[livetaswim06]

Since they have stopped bulk base malt discounts and have raised per pound prices shockingly, and raised prices generally, I will not be using them as my sole source of brew supplies. Perhaps they are content with the walk-in trade.

Did they announce that there will be no more bulk pricing on malts? I see there are no bulk malts on the site but maybe they will be added back in later. I am just going to wait for a sale at my LHBS.

 

[Beer-lord]

I'm not taking up for them but as a small business owner, I can only say that the cost of running a business has gotten very much expensive over the last few years. FedEX and UPS have done their yearly 5% increase which means everything you buy cost more.
And, not one aspect of my business hasn't been affected by price increases. Sadly, the worst is far from over.

 

[Pappers_]

Lets try to keep to reviews of your direct experience of the business. Layout the facts, let others interpret them for themselves.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

We at Austin Homebrew Supply are working hard to get you the best quality service and product we can. We recently made some major operational changes including a new web site. Not all is set in stone and we appreciate everyone's input. We will announce any changes that we make based off of that input. We will also do our best to address things that we have to keep in place due to operational restrictions.

This is a growing experience for us.
Thank you for your patience.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Once again thank you everyone for your observations and attention to detail. While rolling out our new system it was brought to our attention that some prices have changed dramatically. Part of building the best customer experience is having competitive prices. Please know that at Austin Homebrew Supply we have and will continue to adjust our prices so that we can offer you the customer the best shopping experience possible. We will be reviewing all of the current prices and adjusting them appropriately.

Thank you for your input and patience.

 

[livetaswim06]

Once again thank you everyone for your observations and attention to detail. While rolling out our new system it was brought to our attention that some prices have changed dramatically. Part of building the best customer experience is having competitive prices. Please know that at Austin Homebrew Supply we have and will continue to adjust our prices so that we can offer you the customer the best shopping experience possible. We will be reviewing all of the current prices and adjusting them appropriately.

Thank you for your input and patience.

Well crap, I just ordered a few minutes ago. Hope I don't regret it!

Some notes from the order. Called AHS and asked what kind of yeasts were included in the kits and they were US-05 for the Budget IPA and US-04 for the Toasted Coconut Porter.

 

[evrose]

Your old website wasn't that great... but the new one is worse. Geesh guys...

Prices on the kits are hard to find. The logo graphics are straight out of 2004.

 

[kadozen]

I sort of second this but I loved the old site. It worked better on my phone then the new layout.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[BWE]

I know, it felt like the Obamacare rollout all over again. Websight sucks, and if you like your account you cant keep your account. Well, my account got deleted. Hope that wasn't too political for the moderators