LBS is missing ingredients for your next brew - what do you do?

[BigFloppy]

So, you're thinking about a new brew, you either call or visit your local brew store to make sure everything is in stock you need BUT it isn't what do you do?

Personally, I like to keep my money as local as possible and only mail order if there's little to no chance of a special order being fulfilled so I just mail order "Missing Ingredients". I've never changed what I'm going to brew based on local availability

AND.. what ingredient is most commonly lacking at your LBS - mine is Yeast and Hops

 

[agrazela]

Parking.

 

[Hello]

I go to another LHBS. Parking at one is crap, but it is super close. I drive further to support a business I appreciate more. If they're out of something, then I hit the other up on the way home since I pass right by it. Usually my LHBS is out of certain hops if they're out of anything at all. I've only seen them run out of MO once, nothing else. They're pretty dang good about inventory.

I do prefer to shop locally for ingredients. Equipment is another story.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Usually I will whip out my phone and look for a suitable substitution ingredient. So long as that ingredient isnt meant to be the primary ingredient/flavor note. For example if I was making an all citra beer, and LHBS didn't have it (they almost never have Citra or Mosaic), I would go ahead and order it online, the next closest homebrew shop is almost 2 hours away.

If I was going to do, lets say an English-y ale of some sort, and they were out of MO (they always have MO in stock) I would probably just grab some Pale Ale malt (close but not exact, so long as its not a SMaSH only very sensitive pallates will be able to tell the difference). I could wait to order the MO online, yes, but when I have a brew day planned, I am going to brew, like a heroin addict I will brew if its the last thing I do. (if I wasn't going to brew the beer for a couple weeks but was just stock piling ingredients I would order the MO online and wait, but on brew day, I go for suitable substitutions)

 

[grathan]

This is the dilemma I faced a few years ago. The shop had a substitution chart for every single hop yeast and malt. The final straw was when they suggested a high Cohumulone hop as a replacement bittering hop that I felt ruined my beer.

I think maintaining a relationship with the lhbs is very important, but brewing a recipe exactly as intended to be even more important. At least until you understand how the substitution is gonna impact the outcome.

 

[unionrdr]

My lhbs has a different brand of grains I'm not totally familiar with. But they have a good selection of hops & yeasts. The ones I typically use, anyway. All the caps, brushes, etc as well. I like to order my grains & extracts on-line to get the particular ones & want, not to mention fresher.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I have lived places without readily available supplies. So I plan ahead and keep everything on hand. I have a freezer full of hops and a room to hold all the sacks of grain. I mill while I am heating strike water and I propagate my yeast for about a dozen generations before getting a fresh pitch.

 

[soccerdad]

I was not able to reply with "It depends." Sometimes a variance from a recipe can lead to a wonderful beer ... subbing a different yeast - a change of hops - maybe a slightly different grain bill. If I am unable to brew what's next in line, I will ask 2 or 3 questions of myself .... 1) can I sub a few things and still brew it? 2) is there a different brew in the queue that I should move up? 3) do I need enough with an on-line order to amortize shipping or earn free shipping?

 

[BrokenDog]

I try to keep a small stock of the basics and usually my recipes aren't overly complicated so this isn't a problem. Before I moved to VT I used to frequent the local store all the time for my materials because it was very close, well stocked and priced well, pretty much the opposite is true now so I have been ordering a lot of my supplies and just go there when I have to.

 

[Braufessor]

I always buy whatever I can at LHBS. The owner is great about ordering things I need - and I try to let him know far enough in advance the things I will be looking for. I recognize it is a small shop any he is not always going to have everything there waiting for me.

If he does not have something I will maybe move what I am brewing if it does not matter. Otherwise I will buy all I can from him and mail order something if I have to.

 

[worlddivides]

I buy everything online and have it shipped to me. So far, that gets me the freshest and most high quality ingredients without fail. Occasionally I'll go to the LHBS to get something I want now, but if they don't have it, I'll just buy it online.

 

[Zekk]

For the most part I buy at my LHBS. They usually have everything, unless they run out, like last time I wanted lactose they were out. Their hops aren't packaged very well so I usually just buy what I need that day and have been looking at buying in bulk online.

 

[beergolf]

I buy most of my stuff from my LHBS. He is very well stocked and turns over a lot of product so it is very fresh.

There have only been a couple of times he was out of something I wanted. Those times I either adjusted the recipe with a suitable replacement., or just decided to brew something else. I have a huge pipeline so switching up what I was going to brew is not a big deal.

 

[evanmars]

I usually have a few recipes ready to go. I pick a number 1 choice and try for that.
If they don't have the preferred ingredients for that, I try for acceptable alternatives.
If that still doesn't work out, I go to my next selection. I don't think I've ever been totally out of luck.

My somewhat local (about 0.5hr away) is usually pretty good on hops and grains, but their yeast selection could use a bit of work.

 

[Spartan1979]

I have three shops within 45 minutes of my home. I can usually find what I want. If I plan far enough ahead, I'll just order it online.

 

[Teromous]

I run to the hills.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsBAZXrk2hg&t=1m11s"][YOUTUBE]WsBAZXrk2hg&t=1m11s[/YOUTUBE][/ame]

 

[dkevinb]

I have 3 shops within reasonable (by SoCal standards) driving distance of either work or home. 1 is crap. The other 2 are very good. I've never run into a situation where I couldn't find either what I wanted or a very good substitute. If I have to order something I'd rather just have the shop order it. I want these guys to stay in business. Except the crap one. I don't care too much about that one, but he sells so much commercial beer he doesn't really care about the homebrew stuff, anyway. Probably why it's crap.

 

[DromJohn]

I've been buying online since I started brewing in 2009. I have only had a local HBS since November 2014, and it is a lesser side of a growler shop. Throw in that SWMBO wants organic and that the local doesn't have the market yet to justify organic, then that means I will be buying most of an order online.
So the strategy is to set up a cart online, then take it to the growler shop. For the 8-4-1, I bought Cascade and Crystal hops For The Czar I bought honey malt and Carafa III (which don't have an "organic" option). While I have a White Labs preference, I would have used Wyeast from the local HBS had they the direct substitutes.
I also let the growler shop see my online order for there future purchasing considerations.
May my local purchases increase in the future.

 

[Ski12568]

If the prices for ingredients between my LHBS and online are fairly close, I like to drive to get them. It is my only contact with another home brewer mainly because I am still new to the hobby so I don't mind paying extra to ask some questions to a more experienced live person. I call it investing in my education.

I have purchased almost all of my equipment online.