Kits. Midwest, Northern Brewer or BB??

[bob1852]

How about a chemical free beer.personally i prefer mine without poison.Seven Bridges Cooperative.A nobel direction for shure.

huh?!?!? :fro:

 

[logan3825]

The prices homebrew store charge is based on the ingredients. So, it is not really a comparison because the recipes are different.

Forrest

I have also priced out ingredients and you guys didn't come out ahead either. I will keep looking at you guys but so far no dice. $16.74 for 6lbs LME vs $14.50 at Midwest. $.50 more per ounce of hops than Midwest.(although in the future if I order bulk hops I would go with Farmhouse Brewing Supply) $.40 per lb of grains. Maybe once I switch to all grain I will give you guys some business. Maybe you have superior kits. I have been very happy with Midwest and all the $.50 here, $2 there adds up to being more expensive even with cheaper shipping. I would even go with Midwest if they came out a little higher(under $5) because I get things from them quick. Usually within a couple days.

Now if we are talking clone kits, AHS hands down, but again you can come up with clone recipes on the internet and buy the ingredients.

 

[Flomaster]

little info about Midwest.... yeah they have cheaper prices, but shipping is through the roof. for a kit with 6 gallon BB and bottling bucket. shipping was close to $46 thus brining the price way up..

I made a phone call to see if they would price match Brew Masters Warehouse or Austin Home brew. I was told to kick rocks they aren't going to price match anyone. they are 20% lower any anyone every day of the week and if i dont like it go else where.

I was tempted to ask for a manager, but figured it wasn't worth my time and I'd spend my money else where. I have a starter kit arriving tomorrow from Brew Masters Warehouse.

MidWest will NEVER get any of my business from here on out.

-=Jason=-

 

[logan3825]

I don't blame you. They have to ship much further than they do for me. That same order would have probably only cost $19 to ship to me. Shipping always has to be figured in when you order.

 

[bob1852]

Shipping always has to be figured in when you order.

Which is why free shipping at AHS on any order over $100 is awesome. Not just this and that. Literally, anything.

If you want to buy forty 50-lb sacks of two-row - free shipping.

AHS rocks

 

[Flomaster]

I work for a large company and know what we pay for UPS vs what UPS.com says it should cost. if you're shipping a lot every day your going to get a pretty good discount. so to charge what Fed-Ex.com says its going to cost is well making a few bucks off shipping as well.

example ups.com says $28, but we get billed $4.46

-=Jason=-

 

[bob1852]

okay, but it's still free for orders over $100 at AHS....

I don't care what UPS charges AHS, I just know it's free for me.

 

[Flomaster]

okay, but it's still free for orders over $100 at AHS....

I don't care what UPS charges AHS, I just know it's free for me.

oh yeah thats why MidWest is black listed for me. they aren't competitive when it comes to shipping $100 plus = Free or flat rate of $7.99 still way better than $46.

-=Jason=-

 

[bob1852]

Hey Jason - you're in Chino?!?!?! Haven't been there in awhile!

 

[Flomaster]

Hey Jason - you're in Chino?!?!?! Haven't been there in awhile!

yeah there is a Home brew shop about to open in Prescott. called Mile Hi Brewing. they are going to allow you to brew in the shop and take it home or some thing like that.

I can't wait to brew my first batch of Hefeweizen

-=jason=-

 

[bob1852]

yeah there is a Home brew shop about to open in Prescott. called Mile Hi Brewing. they are going to allow you to brew in the shop and take it home or some thing like that.

I can't wait to brew my first batch of Hefeweizen

-=jason=-

No ****? good to hear - I always like visiting Prescott Brewery when I'm in the area...

 

[ChandlerBang]

We will gladly tell you what is in any kit, you just have to ask. We have the most kits and most award winning kits. If you read the reviews on our web site you will see that we have the best kits.

I just don't want our website to be the recipe database for other homebrew stores. Also, if the recipes are posted, people just take the recipe to their local place to be filled. I develop the recipes and I would like people to buy my recipe from me at least once. The instructions have full disclosure. Then when you love the recipe, you can buy the ingredients anywhere you like. Sounds reasonable right?

Forrest

Agreed

+1 for AHS

I'm diggin' the free shipping.

 

[logan3825]

I honestly don't care what shipping is. I add up my entire order add in the shipping and whomever comes out lowest gets my order. Obviously Midwest's shipping make ordering from them a bad idea in Arizona. Time wise as well I am sure in the hotter months. $46 for shipping would definitely tip things for me.

The OP is in Minnesota so I doubt he will get charged those outrageous shipping rates you guys have. Might even be worth it to drive up to Midwest or Northern Brewer in the Twin cities.

I just don't want our website to be the recipe database for other homebrew stores. Also, if the recipes are posted, people just take the recipe to their local place to be filled. I develop the recipes and I would like people to buy my recipe from me at least once. The instructions have full disclosure. Then when you love the recipe, you can buy the ingredients anywhere you like. Sounds reasonable right?

I don't blame you at all. Even if you just put things in bags only marked specialty grains, 60m hops, etc. You spent the time working on and developing those recipes.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

little info about Midwest.... yeah they have cheaper prices, but shipping is through the roof. for a kit with 6 gallon BB and bottling bucket. shipping was close to $46 thus brining the price way up..

I made a phone call to see if they would price match Brew Masters Warehouse or Austin Home brew. I was told to kick rocks they aren't going to price match anyone. they are 20% lower any anyone every day of the week and if i dont like it go else where.

I was tempted to ask for a manager, but figured it wasn't worth my time and I'd spend my money else where. I have a starter kit arriving tomorrow from Brew Masters Warehouse.

MidWest will NEVER get any of my business from here on out.

-=Jason=-

Midwest is just charging regular shipping rates. You can't fault them for that.

We just eat the shipping.

Forrest

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I work for a large company and know what we pay for UPS vs what UPS.com says it should cost. if you're shipping a lot every day your going to get a pretty good discount. so to charge what Fed-Ex.com says its going to cost is well making a few bucks off shipping as well.

example ups.com says $28, but we get billed $4.46

-=Jason=-

Both $7.99 and free shipping are way below my cost. I picked $7.99 because that is how much it cost me to ship a pound across the street. Obviously no homebrew store is as big as the large company you work at. Ups.com quotes what you would pay if a customer took a package there. Small stores get a 20% (or so) discount. Not the huge discount you are quoting. It must be mega huge.

 

[Flomaster]

I spend $500,000 with UPS and I don't get that deal. What exactly are you comparing.

my company is huge we are in almost every state, http://www.hdsupply.com/ must have a LARGE contract with UPS. any package I check cost on using ups.com has a ridiculously high price much like if you went into a UPS store. when we get our bill for UPS charges they are probably 75% less than what the ups.com says shipping should be.

I shipped 3 boxes from Az to Wabash Indiana 46lbs, 54lbs, 48lbs ups.com said shipping should have been around $112 or so, our bill was around $36.

I guess it depends as there isn't a set discount. it just seemed pretty steep to charge $46 for a coupling of plastic buckets.

</rant>

EDIT: AHS, you will be getting my future business, in this day and age we need all the sales we can get and having a $hitty attitide doesn't not help build your customer base. I know we do what ever it takes to make a sale at work, we always try and recoup shipping costs if we can, but if not well thats the cost of doing business these days.

-=Jason=-

 

[sacrifice]

Midwest is just charging regular shipping rates. You can't fault them for that.

We just eat the shipping.

Forrest

Which is why my last order that totaled about 325 pounds, went to you.

I have ordered from Midwest before, and will continue to do so for items that can come USPS (i.e., small stuff), but for large orders that include full bags of grain, I will use AHB in the future.

Now, if AHB started using the USPS for yeast and such (small orders of 10 pounds and less), I would order that from them also. UPS plus Alaska equals piracy........UPS Prioritized Ground to Alaska equals weeks, not days.

 

[MisterGreen]

We will gladly tell you what is in any kit, you just have to ask. We have the most kits and most award winning kits. If you read the reviews on our web site you will see that we have the best kits.

I just don't want our website to be the recipe database for other homebrew stores. Also, if the recipes are posted, people just take the recipe to their local place to be filled. I develop the recipes and I would like people to buy my recipe from me at least once. The instructions have full disclosure. Then when you love the recipe, you can buy the ingredients anywhere you like. Sounds reasonable right?

Forrest

And the instructions that come with AHS kits are the best I've seen.

 

[Skarekrough]

I did a few kits from AHB and was very impressed with the documentation, the setup and layout. Of the many kits I hvae done I believe they're likely the easiest and least confusion to execute.

I did have a problem with one kit and emailed them regarding it. It was about five days to get a response, which I found to be somewhat on the unacceptable side of things. The issue was with a stuck fermentation so I spent those five days trying all the usual tricks. By the time I received a response I was at the point of resolving it myself through research and trial and error.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I did a few kits from AHB and was very impressed with the documentation, the setup and layout. Of the many kits I hvae done I believe they're likely the easiest and least confusion to execute.

I did have a problem with one kit and emailed them regarding it. It was about five days to get a response, which I found to be somewhat on the unacceptable side of things. The issue was with a stuck fermentation so I spent those five days trying all the usual tricks. By the time I received a response I was at the point of resolving it myself through research and trial and error.

We receive hundreds of emails a day and I have 2 full time people working on emails.
If you need to get an answer quicker just give us a call. 1-800-890-2739.

That way you can jump to the head of the line.

Forrest

 

[FlipMasterFlash]

Never made one of their kits but that recipe for Caribou Slobber
looks awfully good. Anyone ever made it?

Ray

Made it about 8 months ago and it turned out great. Given the name it is supposed to be a copy of Moose Drool and while Moose Drool is a fairly good brown I though the NB kit was much, much better.

 

[Keith_Mahoney]

I just don't want our website to be the recipe database for other homebrew stores. Also, if the recipes are posted, people just take the recipe to their local place to be filled. I develop the recipes and I would like people to buy my recipe from me at least once. The instructions have full disclosure. Then when you love the recipe, you can buy the ingredients anywhere you like. Sounds reasonable right?

Forrest

I can totally understand that. I like hop forward beers and thought it would be nice to at least know the type of hops (not the specific schedule) used in your recipes.

But it's all a moot point now that I have moved to Hawaii I can't justify the cost of shipping in order to purchase kits off the web anymore.
Maybe I'll call you guys in the future and see about buying some kits which only contain the hops and specialty grains while I purchase the base grain from my LHBS in bulk. Then you could fit everything in a USPS flat rate box.

From your posts on this forum you seem more than willing to work with people, is this doable or completely idiotic and too much work?

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I will work on some kits that will be for Alaska and Hawaii after the beginning of the year.

Forrest

 

[joety]

It's unfortunate that the gentleman in AZ got a poor sales rep on the phone from Midwest. I've never had bad service with them, and yes, their prices blow away NB, B3 and AHS. Shipping a significant distance from Minnie can certainly change that calculus, as it should. The economy is working if we are buying from the low cost provider. In the case of someone near Minnie, that is likely Midwest. If you are closer to Forest, than AHS works better for both parties. While I applaud Forest's desire to be everyone's HBS store, it doesn't make sense for him to ship to Hawaii and still charge only $7.99. Someone has to pay for that, unless he's not in this business to make money.

I know it's easy for me to say this being in Wisconsin and often getting my Midwest order the very next day (if ordered after Wednesday once they catch up from the weekend's backlog) and paying low shipping charges, but that's the reality of the economics. Someone is going to lose if you fight those realities.

 

[brew2enjoy]

I only have one batch under my belt so far, but it was a Brewers Best kit and it turned out fantastic. It is conditioning in bottles at the moment but it already taste great. The kit came with everything including the steeping bag.

 

[kingmatt]

The only kits I have tried have been from Midwest and they all turned out great. I also shopped around a bit and even though they don't have the flat shipping rate like some other sites, I found Midwest to be the cheapest when buying one kit or set of ingredients at a time.

 

[joeunc]

check out http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/

I have also used AHS, Midwest, MoreBeer, NB and LHBS. They all are great.

 

[edie]

will be brewing our 6th BB kit this weekend. all have turned out great. last weekend brewed the "red ale" for the second time. we really like our LHBS and have no question as to the freshness of their kits.

 

[evilhomer]

little info about Midwest.... yeah they have cheaper prices, but shipping is through the roof. for a kit with 6 gallon BB and bottling bucket. shipping was close to $46 thus brining the price way up..



-=Jason=-

I didn't pay nearly that much for shipping, I bought their starter kit with the 5 gallon carboy.

Just checked and its $17 to ship that fedex, $45 if you want USPS for some reason.

The thing I find to be a pita with midwest is that its pretty much a minimum of $10 to ship anything. So it doesn't make sense financially to do small orders with them. So I'll wait to put together a big order and shipping will usually be $12/13.

 

[LCTitan]

I have had very good luck with ordering both kits and supplies from AHS and NB! +1 to both of them.