In Support of All Home Brew Stores

[JasonTerry]

What would you like to see your LHBS do as a business to become a better resource for your hobby?

My local LHBS is a great store, but it could be soo much more as a business. I have, and continue, to try and offer suggestions, humbly, to help him grow his business. Maybe if we compile a good list of things a few store owners will read it we get our wishes.

Some things I would love to see

• Classes on brewing. Beginner to advanced
• email notifications... hour changes, closings, Sales, New products
• review my brew. Seriously. A solid eval on the outcome of my efforts.

Thoughts?

 

[buzzkill]

to offer hops by the pound. paying oz at a time is good for him until I go online to spend my money at a different place.

 

[Gunfighter04]

I'd be happy just to have LHBS less than an hour and a half away. Add $20 to any trip and it's hard to justify over ordering online

Hmmm maybe I should start one.

 

[gregger]

There are two LHBS in my area. I sometimes dread going to both, depending on what I want.

Inside of one in particular looks like a pack rats/hoarders household. It's horribly unorganized, dust on shelves, cracked drywall, and I'm sure hasn't been vacuumed in months. Basically a hole-in-the-wall at about 300 sq ft. of retail space. All this store needs is one good days worth of cleaning, painting, and re-organizing. I go there only for equipment. The ingredients and extract kits appear to have been sitting on shelves for YEARS exposed to sunlight and heat.

The "good" store is a little farther away from my house, but it's cleaner, the people are friendlier, and they spend time with you answering your questions... they are so in-depth that you crave to take a class. The bad thing is they don't offer classes often enough and they have very very crappy hours, and they don't have enough merchandise. The shelves they do have are stocked, but in general, there is just a lot of empty floor space. They could seriously fill this place up with merchandise that people want.

Both of these places are just a good day's effort away from being magnificent places to shop, talk, or just hang out.

 

[nutty_gnome]

I once asked my guy about 'review my brew' and I was told that SO many people give him free beer that if he were to try it and comment on it all it would take up all his free time and leave him too inebriated to run the store. Not saying he won't try one here or there, but expecting him to judge everyones beer is too much (and probably bad for business anyway).

 

[maida7]

What would you like to see your LHBS do as a business to become a better resource for your hobby?

My local LHBS is a great store, but it could be soo much more as a business. I have, and continue, to try and offer suggestions, humbly, to help him grow his business. Maybe if we compile a good list of things a few store owners will read it we get our wishes.

Some things I would love to see

• Classes on brewing. Beginner to advanced
• email notifications... hour changes, closings, Sales, New products
• review my brew. Seriously. A solid eval on the outcome of my efforts.

Thoughts?

My local store does all that.

 

[JasonTerry]

Maida7... damn another reason for me to move to Asheville.

I bet if you threw a fee on the Rate My Brew it would cut down on the guys who just want to be told they made good beer and really dont care about making better beer next time.

 

[RLinNH]

Sounds like I'm spoiled with my LHBS. Keep up the great work Steve.

 

[rawlus]

there are a few in my area.... one is like the one gregger describes, unorganized, dirty, slovenly, unkempt, etc. the other is a bit better organized but lacks a truly customer-service oriented approach to business....

my requirements are as follows:
good website, with good detail about hours of operation - these hours should be convenient for the customer, not convenient for the operator - if you want weeknights and weekends off, dont go into retail.
email address is a plus, so i send off an inquiry and await a response.
the inventory needs to cover the basics and then some, if they are gonna hedge their bets and not carry alot of essentials because they dont want to carry the stock, then they should not be in business - if i want to order something, then i'll likely order online and go by total price.
their yeast must be fresh and of a good selection
the place should be spotless, more importantly, there should be a culture of maintaining a clean and orderly shop. for a hobby that requires such careful sanitation practices ive never seen so many ****hole LHBS's
LHBSes are in some cases as much about customer relationships as the products they sell, they need to enjoy that aspect otherwise they should not be in business.
for me personally, good selection of kegging supplies is essential, fittings, connectors, etc.... ability to refill CO2 is awesome.

really though, it is the basics, convenience, cleanliness, attitude, selection.. many times i am willing to pay more provided the other things above are covered. i suspect alot of these places feel that if they cannot compete on price with the bog online guys, then they're not gonna compete at all...

 

[JasonTerry]

Rawlus. Excellent points. Basic business. But so important.

 

[user 19629]

I want to go in with a grain bill for a recipe and pay for that amount of grain.
I dislike the shops that only sell grain in one pound or larger increments.
If I have recipe that calls for 4 oz of chocolate malt, I really hate buying a whole pound.

 

[broadbill]

What would you like to see your LHBS do as a business to become a better resource for your hobby?

My local LHBS is a great store, but it could be soo much more as a business. I have, and continue, to try and offer suggestions, humbly, to help him grow his business. Maybe if we compile a good list of things a few store owners will read it we get our wishes.

Some things I would love to see

• Classes on brewing. Beginner to advanced
• email notifications... hour changes, closings, Sales, New products
• review my brew. Seriously. A solid eval on the outcome of my efforts.

Thoughts?

Your assumption is that the person running/employed by the local LHBS is more knowledgable/qualified/schooled and able to provide the training/critique you are looking for. Frankly, I don't think that is the case in the majority of small LHBS. Maybe in a brick-n-mortor Morebeer, NB, etc...but probably not in the independant place.

The seasoned hobbist could probably be a better asset for the things you are looking for....1. its their hobby and that is a great motivation to learn about it; 2. they don't have a business to run!

 

[GetLooseontheGoose]

I say if your LHBS does not offer this, maybe a home brew club will. Hae you looked to find any HBC in your area?

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/directories/find-a-club

http://clubs.homebrewtalk.com/

 

[broadbill]

I want to go in with a grain bill for a recipe and pay for that amount of grain.
I dislike the shops that only sell grain in one pound or larger increments.
If I have recipe that calls for 4 oz of chocolate malt, I really hate buying a whole pound.

So find another homebrew shop to do business at. Plenty of them only charge for the grain you buy. I can get AG recipes online for cheaper than I can at my LHBS (even with shipping).

I always look in these threads and and amazed at both the varying level of service each LHBS provides, and also the pains people go through to patronize them, despite getting royally screwed.

Don't get me wrong; I believe in supporting the local guy as much as the next person...but I also believe in voting with my dollar.

 

[maida7]

I say if your LHBS does not offer this, maybe a home brew club will. Hae you looked to find any HBC in your area?

I was thinking the same thing. I find a club is a great resource.

 

[JasonTerry]

There actually is a club in the area but I havent yet looked into it. For me this board covers my needs... thank you for the suggestion though. But as a business the LHBS could accomplish so much more in positive effect on the hobby and, I am sure, to their own bottom line.

My lhbs has a very knowledgeable owner operator. Great guy. Big help. Clean store with great supplies decently priced... What caused me to post this is with this strong foundation he could grow his business with some more modern business techniques.

 

[user 19629]

So find another homebrew shop to do business at. Plenty of them only charge for the grain you buy. I can get AG recipes online for cheaper than I can at my LHBS (even with shipping).

I always look in these threads and and amazed at both the varying level of service each LHBS provides, and also the pains people go through to patronize them, despite getting royally screwed.

Don't get me wrong; I believe in supporting the local guy as much as the next person...but I also believe in voting with my dollar.

There is another shop near me that will sell you whatever amount of grain you need for a recipe, but there are several others I've been to that just sell pre-bagged amounts.

 

[shoestealer17]

I love my LHBS, the owner is very helpful and he has tons of grains/yest/hops/equipment.
The one thing about the review my brew is that he also sells beer, so you cannot bring anything in the store that has already been fermented by Texas law.

 

[GetLooseontheGoose]

There actually is a club in the area but I havent yet looked into it. For me this board covers my needs... thank you for the suggestion though.

Ok the one thing that a lhbc may have that you can not get on the boards or through your lhbs is the fact that you can let the other club members try your beer and find out what they think. Another thing let's just say you and a couple other people in your club brew the same beer style. You can all try eachothers and see what you like and dislike. A club is really a good thing.

 

[BendBrewer]

Boy I feel pretty lucky with mine. Beer bar and restaurant are supposed to go in next.

 

[JasonTerry]

Oh I agree. Club would be a great plus for me. I would love to be there when others brew as well. You pick up soo much being there... but for me, and my time restraints I couldnt do a club yet. Thankfully I can get a lot from this site and books.

 

[BendBrewer]

Technically, HBT is a club. Feel free to enter that on competition forms.

 

[TVM71]

My local store does all that.

Likewise...very cool with the classes they offer and a Newsletter that even has coupons for brewkits.

 

[superjunior]

Likewise...very cool with the classes they offer and a Newsletter that even has coupons for brewkits.

same here, one just opened down the street from me and the place is awesome! classes, newsletters, I can go on and on. owners are really enthusiastic about the hobby and it shows, they're already doing very well.
excellent job Brian

 

[davesrose]

My local store does all that.

Is that Hops and Vines, or ABS? Both are good stores and show why Asheville is a great brewing town. My mom likes to do the occasional extract brew, and we've decided that she likes Hopes and Vines better just because she usually gets more solid advice for a casual brewer.

As for my LHBS, the main one I use is BrewMaster's Warehouse. What I like about Ed's system is the ability to create an account and keep your recipes onfile. It's hard for homebrew shops to stock every esoteric ingredient or equipment...and I give a smaller shop brownie points if they can correctly suggest substitutes that they would have in stock.

 

[maida7]

Is that Hops and Vines, or ABS? Both are good stores and show why Asheville is a great brewing town. My mom likes to do the occasional extract brew, and we've decided that she likes Hopes and Vines better just because she usually gets more solid advice for a casual brewer.

As for my LHBS, the main one I use is BrewMaster's Warehouse. What I like about Ed's system is the ability to create an account and keep your recipes onfile. It's hard for homebrew shops to stock every esoteric ingredient or equipment...and I give a smaller shop brownie points if they can correctly suggest substitutes that they would have in stock.

I'm thinking of Hops and Vines. My experience with AHS is somewhat limited.

Hops and vines offers classes with hands on instructions that take you thru the whole process. At the end of the class you take home some of the beer that the class has made. They have a mailing list, facebook, etc.. They sell beer and do all sorts of free tastings and events. Lastly they have an open meeting once a month where home brewers are encouraged to bring in their beers, share and talk.

 

[bovineblitz]

I'd like to see prices on things. Stickers on the malt containers, stickers on the big hop bags, stickers on the yeast cooler... it's irritating not knowing the price until I get my receipt.

Price in general is a little high but rent is high here so it's understandable (and not unreasonable at all, online is always a little cheaper).

 

[iijakii]

I quit shopping there due to $3/oz hops (even cheaps like Cascade) and no bulk hop option.

Also they have their kids running around the store (and screaming) all the time. It's really unprofessional. At first I liked that their kids were there, because I kind of thought of it as a small business atmosphere and good parenting since they're not just chunking the kids in a day care all day. BUT, the more I go, the more it reeks of poor parenting. Kids running around, parents yelling at them to stop/shut up rinse&repeat.

 

[JasonTerry]

I agree on the pricing. I am usually close with a guess, but damn it adds up fast with a good grain bill.

 

[beerrepository]

We only have on shop in Indy, but it is a fantastic one. Staff are knowledgable, helpful, always friendly. They have a really nice inventory, even if stuff is a little more expensive than online. Most importantly, they are good at building relationships with their customers. I can ask them anything on Twitter and they always get back to me quickly.