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SwampFoxBrewer

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While I would much prefer to buy supplies regularly from a local business, my closest LHBS is a bit of a drive. I’ve made an online purchase from MoreBeer and was pleased with their quality and prices/delivery speed.

What are your preferred online retailers? I’ve found a handful (Adventures in Homebrewing, MoreBeer, etc.), but would like to have a few sources to compare.
 
I have not had to resort to on-line for ingredients, thank goodness. We still have one good size lhbs in New England in Jaspers up in Nashua, NH, about 25 minutes away from me. The owner does do on-line ordering (see Jasper's Homebrew & Winemaking and Supply - love the "boomchugalug.com" url!) but I prefer visiting in person when I need stuff.

For everything other than ingredients my go tos are brewhardware.com, chicompany.net and ritebrew.com...

Cheers!
 
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I'm assuming @SwampFoxBrewer is inquiring about ingredients rather than equipment. A new (to me) source I've used happily: brewchatter.com. My favorites (they ship but I buy at their stores): fhsteinbart.com and mainbrew.com

Most of my major equipment (i.e. brewing vessels) comes from Spike. Most of my hardware comes from brewhardware.com.
 
I've purchased a bunch of hardware from BrewHardware.com, but I've started buying ingredients from them, too, now that my LHBS has closed. I've found that their prices plus shipping are competitive with the bigger guys with their free shipping, and I like that I can by grain by the ounce, so no waste. Plus they are not too far, so shipping is fast. I get my packages within a few days.

Ritebrew had some great prices on serving equipment when I built my keezer last year.
 
No LHBS closer than a few hours for me so everything is online. Right now, my preferred order is Brewhardware, Great Fermentations, Ritebrew, Morebeer.

Brewhardware grinds specifically for BIAB on request (.25 I believe). Great Fermentations will double grind on request. Ritebrew does not have a BIAB grind option. Not sure about morebeer, but I've heard their grind can be hit or miss.

Prices, once I figure in shipping, comes out near the same for all of them and I usually get my orders in 3-5 days. I've not had complaints with any of them.
 
I've used Morebeer pretty exclusively. They have a outlet about 30 mins from me and the guys there have been very helpful. I use their online to purchase ingredients simple because they offer free shipping for orders over 60 bucks, so no need to drive over if I can get what I need delivered for free. Being in California, my last order got to me in a day and a half, so I cannot complain there either. I've also used Austin Home Brew, but I think they got bought out by somebody, cannot remember who, and Morebeer has just been easier.
 
I found Hearts Homebrew in Orlando recently. I paid something like $1.65/pound for crushed malt, packed in long, skinny bags that are easy to empty into an AIO. You can tell them to put each recipe in a single bag so you don't end up dumping the wrong malt into a batch. They will let you specify amounts down to small fractions of a pound, and this also goes for hops and ounces.

Other companies used to do things like this, but it looks like these days they would rather force you to buy whole pounds so they make more money, your beer costs more, you end up with grain you don't want, and you have to put every grain in a separate bag if you do fractions. It's just as easy for vendors to weigh out 1.5 pounds as 2 pounds, so I don't know what the excuse is. I don't want my kitchen filled up with tiny, stale bags of this and that.

They sell wet yeast for $8, not $11.

The ingredient selection is not awe-inspiring, but it covers a lot of ground, and back when I used the big outfits, they often failed to stock things I needed.

Hearts was fast when I ordered. I picked my order up, and their site let me tell them when I wanted it. I gave them like three hours, and it was ready long before I was. If they're fast with takeout orders, they're probably fast with shipping.

The down side of Hearts is no free shipping, but free shipping can be a ripoff. If you're paying an extra dollar per pound for grain and three extra dollars for yeast, and you have to buy grain you don't want, free shipping is actually more expensive and causes you unnecessary work. If paying for shipping bothers you, you can buy several batches at once and reduce the per-batch bite.

I plan to use Hearts for ingredients from now on. I'll just drive down and buy multiple batches.
 
I went to Hearts today and got enough stuff for two 5-gallon batches of beer. Tax included, $48.xx. I already had yeast for one batch, though.
 
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