Best Prices Online?

[Ty1erC]

I'm trying to determine which online home brew supply company offers the best prices. Any suggestions?

 

[rico567]

Difficult to say.....the online vendors use different strategies. Some have higher prices on the items you buy, and flat rate shipping. Others have lower prices, but higher shipping. You'll have to look around. I've ordered from several, but I keep coming back to Midwest Supplies. For me, it's about the service.

 

[logan3825]

Midwest supplies seems to have the best prices, at least for me. What I have done whenever I order is go to a few sites and fill the cart with what I want to order and see who comes out cheaper. Midwest Supplies has come out on top every time so far even including shipping. That may change after I start washing yeast though. Northern Brewer may come out on top then. I may order some stuff from Austin Homebrew Supply once I get around to brewing a clone beer. They seem to have a very large selection of clone beers.

 

[rod251]

They all seem pretty close, but I also keep coming back to Midwest. I like their website layout and selection as well.

 

[Germelli1]

Its called shopping around and doing your own research...

 

[jollytim]

For DME (and DME only), I've not found anyone that can beat DMEmart. Lowest prices and free shipping (USPS Priority).

I've found some good per pound prices for hops on ebay.... especially Cascades.

For other items I too use Midwest. (For me it tough to not only find good prices, but to find someone that will ship to an APO address).

 

[maxamuus]

Brew Masters Warehouse. Great prices and if you email the owner (i think its [email protected]) he puts you on a preferred customer list which gets you 10% off. He has give-aways for each month for folks who ordered that month. Great Service, usually same day shipping, and great prices.

AHS is likewise great. I think their beer kits are among the best. So many kits and choices from all grain to mini mash to extracts on every kit. They rock!

 

[devilishprune]

AHS is nice for free shipping over 100 bones, Morebeer has free shipping over 59 dollars I think. Just put the items in your cart and price them out. Usually Midwest has the cheapest per item cost but their shipping is a little high (to be fair, they're out of the way). There are a lot of options, and they all have unique items, so just check them out for yourself! There is a sticky https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/homebrew-supply-websites-701/ that should give you a jumping off point.

Good luck!

 

[C3Candy]

I have found http://www.midwestsupplies.com/home...ion-equipment/better-bottles-accessories.html to be the overall cheapest so far...

 

[sportscrazed2]

i did the research a few weeks ago and found morebeer.com to be about 10 bucks cheaper then elsewhere on the internet. but i ordered from northern brewer and don't regret it

 

[Austinhomebrew]

We just added free shipping on orders over $100. This should be the best delivered price. We can't have the best price on every item, but if you buy several items your total should be less with us.

Forrest

 

[Ty1erC]

Its called shopping around and doing your own research...

I understand that, sir. Being a beginner, and not having the time or desire to do price-comparison research, I thought maybe getting the opinions of others would be helpful.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions.

 

[Germelli1]

I understand that, sir. Being a beginner, and not having the time or desire to do price-comparison research, I thought maybe getting the opinions of others would be helpful.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions.

I'm sorry it sounded harsh, but the one pet peeve I have with forums is people asking question out of pure laziness. We don't know what you want to order...That determines a lot of things:
If you are ordering bulky or heavy items, then it may be best to order from someone with flat rate shipping like Austin HomeBrew.
If you are ordering particular items that only some stores carry, then you obviously have to go with a store that carries them.
Or if you are near a retailer, you can save by picking your items up locally.

The only way to be sure is to fill carts on each site, choose shipping options and find out whose cheapest.

If you don't have time or patience, then I reccomend not partaking in this hobby

 

[janitorjerm]

I personally chose AHS for everything I order. I've had bad experience with Midwest and won't use them again. A lot of members here talk about how good Brewmasters Warehouse is.

 

[Ty1erC]

I'm sorry it sounded harsh, but the one pet peeve I have with forums is people asking question out of pure laziness. We don't know what you want to order...That determines a lot of things:
If you are ordering bulky or heavy items, then it may be best to order from someone with flat rate shipping like Austin HomeBrew.
If you are ordering particular items that only some stores carry, then you obviously have to go with a store that carries them.
Or if you are near a retailer, you can save by picking your items up locally.

The only way to be sure is to fill carts on each site, choose shipping options and find out whose cheapest.

If you don't have time or patience, then I reccomend not partaking in this hobby

In posting this question, I learned about a few retailers I probably wouldn't have discovered on my own, so my 'laziness' paid off.

And if being exposed to posts that request advice on a beginners home brew forum 'peeves' you to such a high degree, I'd recommend not partaking in this forum. Or at least to not post passive-aggressive replies to ridiculous questions such as mine.

 

[Germelli1]

In posting this question, I learned about a few retailers I probably wouldn't have discovered on my own, so my 'laziness' paid off.

And if being exposed to posts that request advice on a beginners home brew forum 'peeves' you to such a high degree, I'd recommend not partaking in this forum. Or at least to not post passive-aggressive replies to ridiculous questions such as mine.

Yep, you found vendors you could have found in 20 seconds browsing the vendor page...

 

[bilder]

For me living in Alaska, shipping is the first thing I look at.

I have found some great deals out there, but once they finish raping me on the shipping fees it is simply not worth it. Many Ebay sellers will not ship to Alaska even via USPS. I find it funny when a seller says they will ship worldwide.....except to Alaska and Hawaii. Do we live on Mars or something?

Hint for the vendors- offer USPS for Alaska and Hawaii orders. UPS and Fedx charge way too much for most orders. I often see the shipping charges cost more than the product when going UPS or FedX.

 

[kcpaige89]

Just my $.02,

I usually go with Austin Home Brew because I like how they work. However, I usually order over $100 at a time, which isn't hard since I'm limited to Extract. For many of their kits, you can choose LME or DME or Partial Mash or All Grain. Different Yeasts, whether or not you want the yeast nutrients, and can add a 1% boost to ABV all on the kit page. They tend to be cheaper with the free shipping, and the number of kits they have is easily over 200. Not to mention they actively help on HBT, and sell other things like cheese kits, soda kits, wine kits, and pretty much everything under the sun (although I think many shops do). The only thing I don't like is they don't list all the ingredients or instructions on the website, which isn't a deal breaker. Overall, I choose them even if it ends up being a bit more expensive because it saves me time and effort and I feel like thats worth my money.

 

[Atvar]

Morebeer - first ever order. At the time they were the only site that did free shipping(on orders > $59). That coupled with their monthly specials and waiting for a good deal of the day, the price couldn't be beat. CON - it takes over a week to ship to PA.

Midwest - never ordered, but the non flat rate shipping to PA was rough last I checked.

Brewmasters Warehouse - every order but my first. I found out about the 10% off mailing list, which for me is basically free shipping. I really like knowing exactly what I'm getting in my recipe kits, and love using the Brew Builder to make my own recipes(for better and worse, heh). Shipping is quick to PA. I've gotten comfortable with them and have a hard time seeing myself switch to anyone else.

 

[Ty1erC]

Yep, you found vendors you could have found in 20 seconds browsing the vendor page...

This will be my last comment on the matter. DMEmart appears nowhere on that list, and neither does the tip about e-mailing the owner of Brew Masters Warehouse. Austin doesn’t even appear on the list of registered vendors, but I did easily find that one with Google. Once again, I asked for advice, and people were kind enough to give it.

I checked your profile (I just had to), and you are 21 years old. I may be a newcomer to this hobby, but you’re a newcomer to the land of beer/alcohol in general, so your opinion isn’t worth a lot compared to all of these experienced, helpful people. Perhaps you need to find an elitist homebrew forum where others can appreciate your intelligence, wisdom, and apparent 1 year of experience.

 

[rico567]

OK, let's settle down, gentlemen. I like coming to HBT, but not for exchanges like this......makes it sound like the comments section on Fark. Civility costs nothing.




"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind."

- Henry James

 

[Greyhound]

Welcome Ty1erC. I think you'll usually find people here very willing and eager to answer questions such as yours.

I'd say Midwest is generally the cheapest on-line retailer that I've bought from (even after including shipping costs). As for service, I've had good experiences with Midwest, Northern Brewer, MoreBeer, and Williams Brewing. You can't go wrong with any of them.

Having said that, I try to buy from my LHBS as much as possible and surprisingly, their prices are usually as good as the big on-line guys.

 

[Ty1erC]

Welcome Ty1erC. I think you'll usually find people here very willing and eager to answer questions such as yours.

I'd say Midwest is generally the cheapest on-line retailer that I've bought from (even after including shipping costs). As for service, I've had good experiences with Midwest, Northern Brewer, MoreBeer, and Williams Brewing. You can't go wrong with any of them.

Having said that, I try to buy from my LHBS as much as possible and surprisingly, their prices are usually as good as the big on-line guys.

The only thing I've bought online was a wort chiller from Amazon. Up to this point, I've bought everything at my LHBS. The prices are good there too, but the selection is pretty limited.

 

[HotbreakHotel]

Rebel Brewer has very good prices and a great selection. They're relatively new, but I've had success ordering from there. You might put it in the rotation.

 

[Diver165]

I deal mainly with Midwest Supplies (SWMBO thinks I'm on a first name basis with them). And I sometimes buy from Brew Gadgets as they have pretty good prices on the stuff they carry.

 

[Captain_Bigelow]

We just added free shipping on orders over $100. This should be the best delivered price. We can't have the best price on every item, but if you buy several items your total should be less with us.

Forrest

I just wish that I could buy grain from you in the exact quantities that I need. Some of your grain is only available in a fractional amount of 8 oz.

 

[devilishprune]

You actually can, there's an option for fractional amounts on their website. Usually, after a certain point, there's like a 10 cent difference between, say, 12 oz and 1 lb.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I just wish that I could buy grain from you in the exact quantities that I need. Some of your grain is only available in a fractional amount of 8 oz.

All of the specialty grains are down to the ounce. Base grains go down to 8 oz. Do we need to go down to 1/4 pound on base grain?

Forrest

 

[Indyking]

I have tested several websites. Based on selection and navigation experience to find what I need, I would say Midwest and AHS are the 2 best options by far IMHO. If you think you will be using $100 bucks of stuff for your next brews go AHS as they will give you free shipping. If it's less than 100 bucks, Midwest is cheaper, considerably so.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

We have flat rate shipping if you order less than $100. I don't know if I would call a $7.99 difference considerably cheaper. You really have to compare.

I had a customer that wanted to buy 6 wine kits. He wanted me to match Midwest's price. Of course, I had to match the shipping charges as well. I had to show him that if I matched Midwest's price, I would have to charge him $60 extra dollars.

You really have to compare the delivered overall price not each item plus shipping and another item plus shipping as if you are going to buy just one item per order.

You should buy where you get the best deal. Shop at a homebrew store, any homebrew store.

Forrest