It's official........

[Soulshine2]

Being new to the game I had no idea about the AB attempt to control the game. Have seen this tried in my day job, it causes problems but eventually it always fails. Trip to lhbs today was a sad trip. Staff was bummed out, store appeared to have been ransacked, they were sold out of almost all base malts. Cobbled together enough for a black lager for next weekend, but I need to be buying a grain mill this week to move forward past batch 10.
Eric

absolutely, buy a mill. great investment and have more control of your crush.

 

[eric19312]

Free shipping on 50lb sacks is a game changer! So much for not doing business with companies owned by evil overlords...

 

[IslandLizard]

Hops is in sealed bags and in the fridge.

OK for a few months. Better off in freezer if stored for longer times, e.g., hops bought per pound.

 

[NeoBrew]

Free shipping on 50lb sacks is a game changer! So much for not doing business with companies owned by evil overlords...

Is that sarcasm or did you just sell your soul to the devil?

 

[bracconiere]

you can always do what i did...find a local supply of whole barley at a feed store and start malting your own!

 

[harrydrez]

Free shipping on 50lb sacks is a game changer! So much for not doing business with companies owned by evil overlords...

It's cheaper than my lhbs too, not bad.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Our club buys through a local brewery. Base malts are about 50 cents/lb.

 

[RevFrank]

Several suppliers offer flat rate, if not free, shipping. I use Atlantic Brewing Supply out of Raleigh,
NC and MidWest Supply in addition to an LBS about an hour away.

 

[dpinette2]

love 2 brew has free shipping on orders over $75...i have used them a half dozen times and always get shipment in two days....NB always takes a week in my opinion

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

love 2 brew has free shipping on orders over $75...i have used them a half dozen times and always get shipment in two days....NB always takes a week in my opinion

I have been waiting over a week for my last order from them thank god I did not order any liquid yeast

 

[BrewerBrad82]

It's a bummer that your LHBS is closing. It's such an amazing thing to have that place you can go if you need that last minute thing or want to brew on short notice.

I've gone through this over the last couple years. I live in Minneapolis/St. Paul Minnesota. My LHBS was Northern Brewer. They didn't have much for advanced equipment, but you could always count on a full shelf and that the ingredients had been churned through quickly and what was on the shelf was fresh. It wasn't long before I started brewing that some investor bought both Northern Brewer, and the other big store around here, Midwest Supplies. When AbInbev bought that investor out, they wiped out 90% of the LHBS around here. (I don't consider anything AbInbev owns to be "local".)

Fortunately there is one other LHBS around here. Brew & Grow. I'm lucky that they are in my corner of the cities. They are a good store and I can't complain since I have access locally. I've experienced a few quality control issues there, but I'm happy to be able to get what I need near by.

What LHBS got wiped out? I have been brewing in Minneapolis for over a decade and I am not aware of any shops in the Twin Cities shutting down...

 

[brew703]

Texas Brewing has $7.95 flat rate shipping. They also offer $2.95 shipping quite often with a $20 purchase. I have been ordering from them lately. Usually get 2-3 recipes at a time. The grains come sealed in a vac sealed bag. No issues with them. Same day shipping as well so i get my grains in two days.

 

[NeoBrew]

What LHBS got wiped out? I have been brewing in Minneapolis for over a decade and I am not aware of any shops in the Twin Cities shutting down...

NB and Midwest are dead to me since Abinbev bought them.

Abinbev has a track record of trying to box out craft beer over the years. I can only assume the same thing will start happening with homebrew shops under their leadership. Time will tell I guess.

To each their own. This is my choice. You may have a different and valid way to see it.

 

[specharka]

Northern brewer has free shipping View attachment 594565

 

[burntchef]

So due to the lhbs store closing and their running out of stock, I did not get the ingredients to make a porter. What I got were ingredients to make a Swartzbier. I brewed on Saturday and had a og of 1.077! Drank the wort from the hydrometer tube and I think it shows a lot of promise. This could be a last minute change that comes out amazing.
Eric

 

[singybrue]

Free shipping on 50lb sacks is a game changer!

Not exactly "free" shipping, considering that same bag is about $35 in the store.
Still a good price price for mail order though.

 

[Beer-lord]

Not exactly "free" shipping, considering that same bag is about $35 in the store.
Still a good price price for mail order though.

Well, I can't get Mecca Grande malt in my area or anywhere near my area so, for me, this isn't true. But for other malts, my LHBS (which is the only one in my area and may close if they can't sell it by early next year) my cost is around $50.

 

[hilts]

Download some podcasts and make the drive