Texas DFW Area - I see a lot of brewing equipment for sale

[easttex]

Just a general observation but apparently there's a lot of equipment being offered for sale around DFW. I see it listed here, FB Marketplace, Craigslist; generally around. Just feels like many are giving up the hobby and moving on.

I wonder if that's because of the lack of local suppliers here or not? Or did the suppliers shut down because the local market tanked?

From my perspective, ordering in is a pain in the ass but it also sucks to have to drive over to Fort Worth. There's no convenient time of the day to do that.

 

[kartracer2]

I can't speak of the area but I wonder sometimes if some people thought they could "buy" good home brew. When you read some of the advertising spiels, they make it sound like "buy this and you will make world class beer at home". Most of us know that it's not that easy, if I thought that spending more money would instantly make my beer better I would, to a point.
It's like buying a set "PING" golf whackers, they wouldn't help my game in the least but damn, they look good in the cart. I don't have time for lessons or practice. Then that day comes and you whack a whole case of balls in the rough. Your friends laugh at you. You've had it, enough you say, the clubs are up fore sale.
Maybe the same for beer making. I got all this stuff, my beer is mediocre at best, My friends don't like it, I just as well buy it as make it. I don't have/want the time to spend to make it better. All the shiney is up for sale.
I might be way off, I might be close, we'll probably never really know for sure.
Just me doing some ramblings.
Cheers,
Joel B.

 

[madscientist451]

I've heard the AHA revenue from members is way down, but I don't have solid numbers on that. Most homebrew shops I used to go to are closed down, maybe the online shops are doing ok, who knows? Homebrewing has been on the decline for years, hit an uptick with COVID and is probably going to spiral down some more....

 

[MaxStout]

Homebrewing is a hobby that's easy to get into, but getting good at it takes practice. (Which is the sign of a good hobby, IMO) I'm betting many discovered that the first beer or two wasn't so good, and they set the gear aside. Too high of expectations. Lots of ads selling boxes full of beginner gear on CL, and plenty of unused recipe kits that are who knows how old.

Probably some others for whom life got in the way--family, back to jobs, etc. Brewing is hard to do if you don't have the time commitment. Many of those postings start out with something like "I'm not using this stuff anymore, and want it gone."

I do see some advanced gear for sale, but it seems like sellers want to recoup close to purchase price for used, and those ads keep popping up for a long time. It tells me their stuff isn't selling.

Yeah, I'm always surfing CL, even though I have about all the gear I need. But if I run into the right deal for something I could use an extra of...

 

[beerfactory]

buying grain by the pound, hops by the ounce, not reusing yeast.. it's expensive. and the equipment upgrade bug can bite hard. and brewing marginal beer can take it's toll on a person.

 

[Sammy86]

I can't speak of the area but I wonder sometimes if some people thought they could "buy" good home brew. When you read some of the advertising spiels, they make it sound like "buy this and you will make world class beer at home". Most of us know that it's not that easy, if I thought that spending more money would instantly make my beer better I would, to a point.
It's like buying a set "PING" golf whackers, they wouldn't help my game in the least but damn, they look good in the cart. I don't have time for lessons or practice. Then that day comes and you whack a whole case of balls in the rough. Your friends laugh at you. You've had it, enough you say, the clubs are up fore sale.
Maybe the same for beer making. I got all this stuff, my beer is mediocre at best, My friends don't like it, I just as well buy it as make it. I don't have/want the time to spend to make it better. All the shiney is up for sale.
I might be way off, I might be close, we'll probably never really know for sure.
Just me doing some ramblings.
Cheers,
Joel B.

This is the perfect explanation, very well said!

 

[mashpaddled]

Plenty of reasons for this. Homebrewing has been a declining hobby for the past four or five years after its peak around 2015-2017. Homebrewing follows craft beer trends and there aren't as many people getting into craft beer with the rise of seltzers and other alcohol categories growing more. People slide out as their interest fades into other things.

Also the beers most hyped are not the easiest to brew well at home as a novice--particularly hazy IPAs and adjunct heavy, double digit ABV stouts--so people who thought they wanted to try brewing are going to find out maybe not. DFW is also getting more of the popular styles around so people who brewed to drink what they wanted have less incentive to brew when they can pick up a four pack of beer they want instead of spending half a day brewing.

The wave of lower cost all-in-one brewers is going to move people who still homebrew to dump their older setups in favor of new gear because gear acquisition is always a thing in this hobby. In a few years you'll see the same places awash in grainfathers, foundries, etc. too.

 

[Oleson M.D.]

A number of home brew supply stores in the area have closed their doors, for good. One has remained open as an online retail store only.
With multiple Total Wine stores in the area, it is so easy to buy what you want, and drink what you like.
Even kegs of German Pilsner, that are pretty fresh. Or a keg of Guinness. Easy to get. Cheaper than brewing it yourself.

But we still brew. Why? Because we like to!

 

[kartracer2]

Just a dumb question but are there any dry areas in Texas any more? Last time I was in Tx there were places where you could get beer at a steak house maybe but couldn't buy a six pack or a bottle of booze. That was a long time ago though.
Cheers,
Joel B.

 

[easttex]

Just a dumb question but are there any dry areas in Texas any more? Last time I was in Tx there were places where you could get beer at a steak house maybe but couldn't buy a six pack or a bottle of booze. That was a long time ago though.
Cheers,
Joel B.

Its kind of a relative question because we have "wet", "dry", and "modified dry" and it can go all the way down to the precinct level on what can be sold (beer and wine vs hard liquor for off premise consumption vs sale of mixed beverage on-premise allowed). We have some pretty archaic alcohol laws here....

The short answer is "Yes". We do still have dry areas around Texas, especially in some of the more rural areas wherw voters haven't made a push to allow the legal sale of alcohol. That's not to say that people in those areas don't drink though; they just buy it somewhere and bring it home.

 

[kartracer2]

@easttex Thanks for the reply. We once stayed at a hotel with a big name national chain restaurant across the parking lot. Couldn't sit in the "bar" to just have a drink in it, but could get a beer/drink with a sandwich/meal order. Quickie marts didn't sell any beer either. Had to go a few miles up the road to a liquor store to get a box of beer/booze for in the room. It was a "very busy" store. (LOL).
Cheers,
Joel B.

 

[PCABrewing]

I do see some advanced gear for sale, but it seems like sellers want to recoup close to purchase price for used, and those ads keep popping up for a long time. It tells me their stuff isn't selling.

That's like the guys who will spend $60K building a hot rod or race car then expect to get as much or more when they sell it.
If the enjoyment you expect to get isn't enough to justify the spend it probably should be reconsidered.
When you come to the realization that you aren't interested anymore sometimes it is easier to just give it to someone who is.

 

[PCABrewing]

Its kind of a relative question because we have "wet", "dry", and "modified dry" and it can go all the way down to the precinct level on what can be sold (beer and wine vs hard liquor for off premise consumption vs sale of mixed beverage on-premise allowed). We have some pretty archaic alcohol laws here....

Kind'a like when I was assigned to Salt Lake City for 10 mos.
You could buy beer by the growler at a brewery. You could buy packaged liquor at a "State" store.
If you wanted to drink in a "bar-like" environment you had to join a club, usually ~$10 for a year.
But there were no standard liquor stores.

I don't know what their Home Brew laws were.

 

[easttex]

That's like the guys who will spend $60K building a hot rod or race car then expect to get as much or more when they sell it.
If the enjoyment you expect to get isn't enough to justify the spend it probably should be reconsidered.
When you come to the realization that you aren't interested anymore sometimes it is easier to just give it to someone who is.

The natural evolution is to ask for what you think you'll get. Then settle with yourself to take less than you think it's worth. Then cut the price to nothing to get rid of it. Then pay someone to haul it away. (Then hear acquaintances complain "If they'd only known sooner!)

Just like the ferm chamber I'm about to push over to the dumpster.

 

[JAReeves]

The analogy with golf is fully appropriate. I love golf, but I suck at it. Maybe if I went out more than once every couple of years, but all of my golfing buddies are aging, sick, or too busy. A new set of clubs isn't going to help me at all. Lessons from Tiger Woods probably wouldn't make a difference, either.

On the other hand, I love to make beer. And I don't need to wait for someone else in order to put a brewday together. Is my beer as good as pro beer? Some of the styles, yes, after 4 years of brewing something or other at least once per month and reading a gajillion books, magazines, and the collected wisdom of the folks here. I daydream about recipes. I can't drink fast enough in order to make more because I love the process. People request some of my beers regularly, which is...surprising, because I'd make it anyway.

My dad's a car guy. I love his finished products, but I'm not the guy that listens to a motor or the car rolling down the street and know exactly what is wrong with it; he is.

Everyone's got their passion project, I suppose, and there is a lot of amazing equipment up for sale all over from people that invested heavily in a hobby that isn't their baby. Aren't all hobbies like that?

 

[Bassman2003]

It is a shame the LHBSs have been closing. I do not know which is the chicken or egg. Texas Brewing told me they are focusing on commercial accounts and only have one guy manning the store, so they can no longer fill grain recipes. Only individual grain orders in no less than 1lb increments. I had made TX Brewing my only shop for pretty many years and liked their products but I have some recipes that have under 1lb increments. ? Brewhound has a decent selection of grain but not all the brands I like. So I will bounce back and forth. Hopefully TX Brewing can return to full staff one day.

Or maybe the hobby is in a steeper decline than we know. I would buy sacks of grain but they are high priced as well.

 

[oakbarn]

New LHBS in Dallas North Texas Home Brew Supply!!

 

[Oleson M.D.]

It is a shame the LHBSs have been closing. I do not know which is the chicken or egg. Texas Brewing told me they are focusing on commercial accounts and only have one guy manning the store, so they can no longer fill grain recipes. Only individual grain orders in no less than 1lb increments. I had made TX Brewing my only shop for pretty many years and liked their products but I have some recipes that have under 1lb increments. ? Brewhound has a decent selection of grain but not all the brands I like. So I will bounce back and forth. Hopefully TX Brewing can return to full staff one day.

Or maybe the hobby is in a steeper decline than we know. I would buy sacks of grain but they are high priced as well.

Plus, many are literally giving away their home brewing equipment, just to get rid of it. They want out, plain and simple.

I can understand, as you can go to Total Wine & More, and order any keg of beer you want. From any brewery. For far less than the cost to brew it yourself.

 

[Bassman2003]

I have enjoyed meeting Chris at Brewhound. He has Weyermann pils & Munich, Weyermann floor malted Bohemian and Belgian pils as well. Plus nice English malts. That is good enough for me. Not crazy about the house pale malt being Great Western (would prefer Rahr) but this malt does perform well in the brewhouse. He said he is busy, so who knows?

 

[Beermeister32]

The past couple years, the economy has tanked, plus Covid. I haven’t brewed as often, I’ve spent more time on my real business, making sure all is done to stay in operation. In bad economic times, it is hard to justify brewing all day Saturday when the main focus is to keep the company solvent, and doing all you can to remain so.

So brewing has taken a back seat to more pressing issues this year, like many other hobbies I’m certain. It is a fun hobby for good times. If we can somehow dig out of the current economic crisis, I plan on picking it back up. In the mean time as stated above, Total Wine and Bevmo are there to fill in.

 

[user 30639]

Dallas homebrewer who is getting out of it here, I've got my remaining gear for sale here, check if you're interested.

I think a lot of it is selection. When I moved to Dallas in 2011, there were no breweries in the Dallas city limits. All there was in DFW, the 4th largest metropolitan area in the country, was Rahr and Franconia. Deep Ellum, Lakewood, and Peticolas were all moving towards opening but they hadn't yet. I remember going to a beer festival at the Irving Convention Center in spring of 2011 and Deep Ellum was there selling merch to promote themselves but they didn't have any beer yet. Fast forward 11 years and how many breweries are in DFW? 50? 75? Have we broke 100? I don't know, but more are opening. We could probably support another brewery in Oak Cliff, we only have 1. Also, in 2011 you didn't have the mega stores like Specs and Total Wine. Goody Goody was probably the biggest chain, and they seem to focus more on spirits and wine.

Also it's just a matter of time. I brewed a lot from my late 20's to my late 30's and a lot of the friends I made in the homebrewing community were roughly the same age. And life happens that takes people away from brewing. Getting married, getting more responsibility at work, having kids, etc all take time. I can spend all day Saturday brewing beer and then have to drink 5 gallons of it. Or I can walk up the beer store and get a six back or two of something I want in 10 minutes. That and I realized for health reasons I should probably cut back on my drinking. Homebrewing is a great hobby and I made a lot of great friends and had a lot of fun. But it's time for me to call it quits.

 

[Bassman2003]

Sorry to hear that but completely understand. Best of luck and maybe you will return to brewing someday.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

With a metroplex as big as ours, It's weird to see homebrew suppliers close so rapidly, I think it may be due, in part, to the extra equipment and difficulty needed to make good beer in our climate. People try brewing, it's not as good as they have had from micro breweries, and slowly give up. That coupled with other reasons listed above, it makes brewing here kind of a challenge.

 

[bwible]

HB suppliers have gotten fewer here too. I have one small shop with just the bare basics that is about 40 min away. I especially don’t like buying hops there because he buys pounds and breaks them down himself with no special packaging. I have another store that is gigantic and much better stocked but that is almost a 2 hour drive.

I buy more mail order. The bigger stores have good online selections and deals on shipping. That hurts the smaller stores. But I don’t find lack of ingredients or inability to get ingredients to be any issue.

There is some good beer around. But so much now is hazy this, lactic that, sour this, and it seems like we’re full up with just oddball stuff now. Classic styles are getting harder to find. And for me thats more incentive to brew myself. I’ve brewed more than ever the last 3 years.

 

[bwible]

I can understand, as you can go to Total Wine & More, and order any keg of beer you want. From any brewery. For far less than the cost to brew it yourself.

Sixtel kegs at the Total Wine near me are not cheap for anything.

Michelob Ultra $62.99
Stella Artois $89.99
Sam Adams Boston Lager $89.99
New Belgium Fat Tire $86.99
Landshark $67.99
Dogfish Head 60 min $104.99
Goose Island IPA $81.99
Troegs Perpetual IPA $94.99

You telling me you can’t brew 5 gallons for less than that?

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Sixtel kegs at the Total Wine near me are not cheap for anything.

Michelob Ultra $62.99
Stella Artois $89.99
Sam Adams Boston Lager $89.99
New Belgium Fat Tire $86.99
Landshark $67.99
Dogfish Head 60 min $104.99
Goose Island IPA $81.99
Troegs Perpetual IPA $94.99

You telling me you can’t brew 5 gallons for less than that?

Factor in the $4,000 spent on brewing equipment, and the raw ingredients including water, and my time which is around 8 to 12 hours, and the electricity used, no…can’t brew cheaper than that.

Typical 1/6 bbl prices here are $65 to $85.

 

[mashpaddled]

Dallas homebrewer who is getting out of it here, I've got my remaining gear for sale here, check if you're interested.

I think a lot of it is selection. When I moved to Dallas in 2011, there were no breweries in the Dallas city limits. All there was in DFW, the 4th largest metropolitan area in the country, was Rahr and Franconia. Deep Ellum, Lakewood, and Peticolas were all moving towards opening but they hadn't yet. I remember going to a beer festival at the Irving Convention Center in spring of 2011 and Deep Ellum was there selling merch to promote themselves but they didn't have any beer yet. Fast forward 11 years and how many breweries are in DFW? 50? 75? Have we broke 100? I don't know, but more are opening. We could probably support another brewery in Oak Cliff, we only have 1. Also, in 2011 you didn't have the mega stores like Specs and Total Wine. Goody Goody was probably the biggest chain, and they seem to focus more on spirits and wine.

Also it's just a matter of time. I brewed a lot from my late 20's to my late 30's and a lot of the friends I made in the homebrewing community were roughly the same age. And life happens that takes people away from brewing. Getting married, getting more responsibility at work, having kids, etc all take time. I can spend all day Saturday brewing beer and then have to drink 5 gallons of it. Or I can walk up the beer store and get a six back or two of something I want in 10 minutes. That and I realized for health reasons I should probably cut back on my drinking. Homebrewing is a great hobby and I made a lot of great friends and had a lot of fun. But it's time for me to call it quits.

I started brewing over in Fort Worth in 2009 partially out of interest and partially out of the absolute lack of selection of beer. There wasn't a lot of craft beer going on those days. I remember going to that beer festival but I don't remember what it was exactly. Big Texas Beer Festival?

There are always people getting in and out of homebrewing due to life changes or losing interest; however, the hobby has always been propped up in part by the group who brewed because it was cheaper or because it was easier to brew than hunt down craft beer. As craft beer continues to normalize and become easily available, that group is a permanently vanishing part of the hobby. Over here in Denver, I see a lot of the same thing with people trying to sell entire setups for next to nothing, jumping out of the hobby. Quarantine gave a lot of home food/drink hobbies a bump but most of those people are getting out.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Sixtel kegs at the Total Wine near me are not cheap for anything.

Michelob Ultra $62.99
Stella Artois $89.99
Sam Adams Boston Lager $89.99
New Belgium Fat Tire $86.99
Landshark $67.99
Dogfish Head 60 min $104.99
Goose Island IPA $81.99
Troegs Perpetual IPA $94.99

You telling me you can’t brew 5 gallons for less than that?

Can absolutely brew cheaper than that. I'd say my average 5-gallon batch comes in at around $15 - $20 a batch. There will be ones that cost more and ones that may cost a little less depending on the ingredients. I will not factor in what I have invested in equipment nor time spent because those do not matter. Much like you don't tell me the round of golf you just played cost you $82 when it cost everyone else in your group $50 because you factored in the $1,200 set of clubs, two Pro-Vs in the drink, and the four hours on the course.

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Brewing your own beer to save money is like buying a bass boat and fishing gear to save money on fish.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Or planting a tree to save money on lumber.

 

[user 30639]

I started brewing over in Fort Worth in 2009 partially out of interest and partially out of the absolute lack of selection of beer. There wasn't a lot of craft beer going on those days. I remember going to that beer festival but I don't remember what it was exactly. Big Texas Beer Festival?

No...Big Texas Beer Fest started in 2012 bu I'm pretty sure it was always at Fair Park.

Went through my email and the one in Irving was just called the North Texas Beer Fest. They no longer have a website and I can't tell from a 10 year old email who put it on. I was off by a year as well. This one was 2012, not 2011.

Edit to add. Really trying to figure out the timeline because I know Deep Ellum was at the beer festival in Irving but was not pouring. They opened in 2011 so it doesn't make any sense, even with the backwards TX alcohol laws at the time, they wouldn't have been pouring at a 2012 fest. There was a NTBF in 2011, but it was in Plano and not Irving. Who knows.

 

[lumpher]

If I was still in DFW you'd see most of mine up for sale, also. I stopped brewing months ago. But then again, if I was still in DFW, I'd probably still have time. I moved out almost 4 years ago, and as I get more projects going around my house and land here, I just don't have time to brew, or the neighbors to help me drink what I brew. As it is, I live out in the middle of nowhere, so my brewing equipment is in the shed or 1 of the spare bedrooms packed away.

 

[user 30639]

I also think it's a sign of the state of the hobby that a 5 gallon keg priced at 40 bucks is still available. At the risk of sounding old, back in my day if you saw a keg in good shape on craig's list you needed to get on it because someone else would beat you to it.

I've also read/heard around the internet that the AHA membership numbers are way down but I have no way to independently confirm that.

 

[bracconiere]

Brewing your own beer to save money is like buying a bass boat and fishing gear to save money on fish.

huh, your just nervous....

 

[Oleson M.D.]

$40 is the average asking price for these.
Not what I would call a fire-sale.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

$40 is the average asking price for these.
Not what I would call a fire-sale.

Yeah, now. There was a time in the not too distant past that they were double that for a very rode hard keg. I think what he was getting after is that demand is slowing and price is showing that fact.

 

[lumpher]

Yeah, now. There was a time in the not too distant past that they were double that for a very rode hard keg. I think what he was getting after is that demand is slowing and price is showing that fact.

Yep. There was a time not too long ago when, if you saw a keg for sale that needed a complete rebuild for 40 you jumped on it because there were no kegs available hardly. Kegs go through a cheap phase, then hard to find, the flooding the market, then back to rare...

 

[user 30639]

Yeah, now. There was a time in the not too distant past that they were double that for a very rode hard keg. I think what he was getting after is that demand is slowing and price is showing that fact.

That's exactly what I was getting at. When I started kegging, it was a matter of you took whatever you could find it whatever condition it was in and there wasn't a whole lot of room for negotiation. It was just the demand outstripped the supply. Now it's the complete opposite. At least for 5 gallon corny kegs. I had some 2.5 gallon kegs that had a lot of interest and I should have raised the price on.

 

[Drinkerbell]

The past couple years, the economy has tanked, plus Covid. I haven’t brewed as often, I’ve spent more time on my real business, making sure all is done to stay in operation. In bad economic times, it is hard to justify brewing all day Saturday when the main focus is to keep the company solvent, and doing all you can to remain so.

So brewing has taken a back seat to more pressing issues this year, like many other hobbies I’m certain. It is a fun hobby for good times. If we can somehow dig out of the current economic crisis, I plan on picking it back up. In the mean time as stated above, Total Wine and Bevmo are there to fill in.

I'm glad to hear your optimism. I'm in talks to buy a LHBS in Atlanta, but business has been really slow this summer. One or two places in the area have closed, but I'm hopeful.

 

[Drinkerbell]

I started brewing over in Fort Worth in 2009 partially out of interest and partially out of the absolute lack of selection of beer. There wasn't a lot of craft beer going on those days. I remember going to that beer festival but I don't remember what it was exactly. Big Texas Beer Festival?

There are always people getting in and out of homebrewing due to life changes or losing interest; however, the hobby has always been propped up in part by the group who brewed because it was cheaper or because it was easier to brew than hunt down craft beer. As craft beer continues to normalize and become easily available, that group is a permanently vanishing part of the hobby. Over here in Denver, I see a lot of the same thing with people trying to sell entire setups for next to nothing, jumping out of the hobby. Quarantine gave a lot of home food/drink hobbies a bump but most of those people are getting out.

I was feeling that the slowdown was related to craft beers being everywhere too, until last week when I noticed their prices going through the roof. I can definitely brew for less now. Off to rework my marketing...