Did Northern Brewer Purchase Austin Homebrew AND/OR Adventures in Brewing?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

44Arrows

New Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2015
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Just curious ,,,,, friend showed me a receipt from a AHB order that seemed to mention Northern on it.
 
They could of wholesaled products to AHB. I know Keg Factory uses MoreBeer's wholesale group. Sell a bigger inventory by stocking what is reasonable and outsource the rest.
 
1638579696274.png

Welcome to HomeBrewTalk.
 
Well right now Northern Brewer prices 3 lbs of Muntons light DME for 17.99; Adventures and Austin have it for 13.64. That is a major price differential.
And Midwest Supplies sells it for $14.99. I know NB & MS are basically the same outfit. Same warehouse, very similar web sites but MB "free shipping" threshold ($49) is lower than MS. ($125) Still higher than AIH but closer.
Cheers, :mug:
Joel B.
 
And Label Peelers has in for 11.19. It will be cheaper during a sale. I have never ordered from Northern Brewer. I used to use Midwest, but Northern brewer bought them (and AB-InBev then bought them and then sold them), so I started using Label Peelers, but not recently. Recently I used Rite Brew, which is great but doesn't carry Muntons DME or yeast or label making paper, and Adventures in Home Brewing which carries those things and had Muntons DME when Label Peelers did not. Heck, you can even by Muntons DME at Friar Tucks for 12.99 that last time I checked, but that was probably over a year ago now. So apparentlyI do care who owns what, what they carry, what they charge, and what the total will be with shipping.:mug:
 
Last edited:
I have threatened to buy from AIH, Rite Brew and others before but I seem to gravitate to NB/MS (mostly MS lately) for kits, extract, yeast etc. because if it ships out Monday I (almost always) get it Tuesday. That's a deal maker/breaker for me.
MB gets most of my equip. needs because they do have the stuff and a kit or two if I place an order from them. I like the fact you can buy their extract kits with DME or LME, your choice. I hate that they ship FedEx.
It's interesting though, Midwest doesn't charge normal rates if you order bottles when you make minimum "free" shipping. Most outfits exclude bottles from "free" shipping.
I'll quit rattling and hijacking now.
Cheers, :mug:
Joel B.
 
Yes i believe Northern Brew has bought out Adventures in Home Brewing and Austin Homebrew... I received an email from Northern Brewer stating all orders for all three companies will be shipped thru Northerns shipping company. No other reason for that then them buying out Adventures and Austin
 
I've seen enough mention of this in numerous places to believe it to be true. They are my LHBS and someone in a local group heard it from an employee there so that's pretty solid evidence. And someone who makes a homebrewing product posted here or on a Facebook group that he was told his shipping location was changing from AIH's Ann Arbor address to Northern Brewer's Minnesota address.
 
I guess when somebody gets their AIH/AHS package from a Mn. addy instead on Mi. or Tx. we'll know more. As far as employee treatment, the truth will be harder to find. Always seem to be two sides to those situations, 20 hr. pay for a NDA seems a bit chintzy if true.
As far as buy outs go, again we might never find true info. Big fish buy smaller fish all the time, the reasons vary. I do hate to see fewer players in any market though. NB/MS have treated me right, I can find no fault with them. YMMV.
Cheers, :mug:
Joel B.
 
Wow, that sucks. I liked AIH, and can't stand NB & MS.

I guess AIH's insane clearance sale makes more sense now.

I still like Morebeer & Williams. And I will try to just visit LHBS more often (which I happened to do today anyway).
 
This is exactly why it's imperative to support your local HBS if it hasn't went out of business yet. I understand if ones not close to you but please support your LHBS even if you have to pay a little more. Brew on!

I really want to support my LHBS but they make it hard on themselves. If I’m going just for ingredients, there’s generally no problem. If I’m looking for any sort of equipment that has been designed and made after 1999, I’m SOL. I’m not a real high tech brewer, but I was looking for a floating dip tube for a keg. Instead of simply saying they didn’t have one, I was lectured on how I should fine with gelatin after racking to secondary and there will be no sediment. After I told them I was planning on fermenting and serving from the same keg, you would have thought I told them I was preparing for a trip to Mars in my homemade rocket. I do realize that is a very specific example and it’s a method not many people use but these guys are not giving great advice. And don’t get me started on stale hops. Plus, it’s an hour drive for me one way.
 
i don’t work in the brewing industry but I have been through 2 mergers and sales
In the last 2 years. Each time the benefits get worse…. At least I never lost my job. Best of luck to those that have.

I have an AIH gift card, hope it is still valid.
 
I really want to support my LHBS but they make it hard on themselves. If I’m going just for ingredients, there’s generally no problem. If I’m looking for any sort of equipment that has been designed and made after 1999, I’m SOL. I’m not a real high tech brewer, but I was looking for a floating dip tube for a keg. Instead of simply saying they didn’t have one, I was lectured on how I should fine with gelatin after racking to secondary and there will be no sediment. After I told them I was planning on fermenting and serving from the same keg, you would have thought I told them I was preparing for a trip to Mars in my homemade rocket. I do realize that is a very specific example and it’s a method not many people use but these guys are not giving great advice. And don’t get me started on stale hops. Plus, it’s an hour drive for me one way.

I should have specified the caveat that they should be a business that provides good service and products. I wouldn't expect someone to stick with a business that doesn't do good business.

If my LHBS doesn't carry something, I need, I have no qualms about getting it online.

Edit: I am one that would make that one hour drive for a good shop though.
 
And Label Peelers has in for 11.19. It will be cheaper during a sale. I have never ordered from Northern Brewer. I used to use Midwest, but Northern brewer bought them (and AB-InBev then bought them and then sold them), so I started using Label Peelers, but not recently. Recently I used Rite Brew, which is great but doesn't carry Muntons DME or yeast or label making paper, and Adventures in Home Brewing which carries those things and had Muntons DME when Label Peelers did not. Heck, you can even by Muntons DME at Friar Tucks for 12.99 that last time I checked, but that was probably over a year ago now. So apparentlyI do care who owns what, what they carry, what they charge, and what the total will be with shipping.:mug:
Last time I bought from ritebrew three pounds of dme was $9.19.
 
I was pleasantly surprised that my preferred LHBS (I'm lucky to have a few options) seemed to be upgrading yesterday. They added a grainfather section, a duo-tight fittings section, and a new freezer for hops. That was all new in just the last 1-2 months and seem to be welcome additions. (Though they also told me they are mostly phasing out Wyeast in favor of Omega - which I thought was surprising).
 
The owner of Cadillac Straits which is both a brew pub and supply shop told me he is expanding. The space next door came up for lease and is larger than the current supply shop space so he's moving that over and using the old supply shop space as extra seating/private event space for the brew pub. Unfortunately for me they are over an hour but it does make for a nice weekend afternoon trip with the brew pub there.
 
At the moment, the primary sources of information appear to be a 7 year old HomebrewTalk account with just one post and a reddit burner account. :rolleyes:

This popped up today on R/Mead.
A web search shows it in five (of six or seven) subforums. In one of those threads, there is a comment from the burner account that contains some reasonable business sense.

On the 'consumer' side: gift cards, like IPAs, are better when consumed fresh.
 
I should have specified the caveat that they should be a business that provides good service and products. I wouldn't expect someone to stick with a business that doesn't do good business.

If my LHBS doesn't carry something, I need, I have no qualms about getting it online.

Edit: I am one that would make that one hour drive for a good shop though.
With current gas prices, that 2 hour drive is getting expensive!
 
Last time I bought from ritebrew three pounds of dme was $9.19.
Yes, that is why I like and order from Rite Brew. I think they've risen recently, but their prices are excellent on what they carry like Briess DME. The problem is they do not carry Munton's DME, Muntons yeast, label paper, or Briess Dark DME. I was quoting Muntons DME prices. My real point is that Northern Brewer is outrageously high.
 
AIH is my local store, and I've been shopping from them since they opened their first location in Dearborn. Bummed that its under new ownership, but as a business owner, it should be your goal to make the business desirable to be purchased, and to sell and retire. Good on Jay for being able to build and run a store so that happened! I'm happy for him!

K
 
So, to be fair, do we know that NB is a terrible company because they bought the stores and then fired all these employees? Maybe this had been going on a long time and NB is coming in much later? I don't know either way, just hate to jump to conclusions. And if NB did take over, it's not like they have a staff they are going to tell to move across the country and start working in these stores. It'd only make sense to keep the same people if the stores are going to stay open. Something else is going on.

NB / MS is actually my LHBS but I have no particular love for them. That'd actually be Ritebrew I have love for but I suppose that's not really what this thread is about.
 
A few months back, someone in a Toledo area homebrewing group was told by an AIH employee that Blackstreet purchased AIH the previous week. I don't know what incentive either had to lie. Since that time AIH has put tons of random inventory on clearance, wiped all traces of company history from their web site, and the Taylor building is empty and for sale. Its either true, or an elaborate scheme to spread rumor.
 
Back
Top