LHBS Pet Peeves

[remilard]

yea Mine is the same way... but at the same time they have to pay for overhead and many of the online hbs are completely based on the internet and have little overhead to speak of.

I am having a hard time thinking of an internet only home brew store now that BMW is not internet only.

Certainly the big names all have store fronts. B3 and NB have multiple store fronts.

 

[wizardofza]

yea Mine is the same way... but at the same time they have to pay for overhead and many of the online hbs are completely based on the internet and have little overhead to speak of.

I don't know of any online-only HBS. I was just doing the comparison between NB, BMW and MB. I guess I just don't understand the economics of running a place like this.

Still, I think for my future orders I'll be going online. It just sucks, because sometimes you get the urge to brew a few days or so before the weekend (or whenever your brewday is) and you need stuff NOW. I guess I'll have to be a better planner.

 

[Richard-SSV]

There are two LHBS in my area and I have the same gripe about both of them. They both tend to discard the recipe that I came in there with trying to buy and upsell me to a recipe that they have which is without question more expensive. I understand that they are experienced brewers and that if done correctly their recipe may ultimately taste better than the one I came in there with. However, being a novice I don't necessarily need liquid yeast over dry yeast, etc.

Being a newbie I want to focus on a simple recipe that I can execute correctly. After I get brewing somewhat down I will move up to liquid yeast and yeast starters, etc. For now just give me what I asked for.

I suppose what irritates me the most is they don't even ask if I prefer one product over the other. They just give me the more expensive one. This has happened once at each of my LHBS. I went to one shop to get some liquid extract. The guy there filled a small bucket with extract. It wasn't until I looked at the receipt later in the day that I noticed he charged me $4 for the bucket! Had I known that the bucket was $4 I would have just got the extract in a can. Again, I'm not arguing over which ingredients are better, I'm just saying that I should have been given the option to choose.

Now that I have got my feet a little wet you can be sure that it won't happen again. Why? Because instead of going to my LHBS I ordered my latest ingredients from BrewMaster's Warehouse. Using their Brewbuilder I got exactly what I wanted. If I need advice on what and what not to use I'll come here to Homebrew Talk and get solid advice for free!

 

[jppostKW]

i Use The Brew Hut in Aurora CO its down the street and really resonably priced 1.50 for 2 row and 1.75 for all the other specilatys always very well stocked with anything imaginable even more so since they just did a huge expansion. Very helpful staff and a great bonus kicker its in the same room as dry dock brewing so there is great beer too.

 

[WIP]

One thing that is bothering me lately is my LHBS' lack of Wyeast. They have every type of White Labs (3/4 of their stock.) But I want to use a smack pack, and I don't want to pay shipping on it.

 

[suckr]

My biggest issue is the amount of money I tend to spend in there but this is really not his fault.

If I had to really nit-pick it would be the initial asthetics of the store. Its really like walking through someones overfull storage area or garage. Things are laying around with no apparent order - he knows where everything is, and within a couple visits, I figured it out.

hops = $2.00-$2.25/oz
yeasts = $.90 for most of the drys - not sure about liquid
prepackaged beer 'kits' = $20-$30 - though it seems if he's not busy he'll piece together a 'kit' for you if its a couple bucks cheaper
not sure on grains as I'm not there quite yet but I'd have to assume they're pretty good judging by the lines I've seen in there and totals I've heard him tell people at the register.
hours = ok I guess - 11-7 Wed.-Sun. but If you call and he's not busy He'll let you in (I think he lives next door)

The wife and I have been there a few times together and every time she's asked me how he stays in business 'cuz my total is so much cheaper than the 'estimate' I told her before we got there. Hell, I bought a brewing starter kit while I was there cheaper than than I could get it online.

The biggest perk is if you're walking around shopping he'll offer you a drink, or two, or five. Most of what I've brewed has been a recipe of something I've tried there while shopping.

Sorry to gush.. I just am so happy and consider myself lucky to be so new at this and have a real live person so close that is so helpful and doesn't take advantage of a 'noob'

 

[Grimster]

The only LHBS I know of (other then kegkits.com hehe) is "Pearly Gates" a natural foods type shop, and the homebrew is almost an afterthought for them. You could fit their entire inventory in a spare bedroom of your house (if you had plenty of shelves in there). Their prices aren't too bad, and they have the "bare necessities" but that's it.

However it seems RebelBrewer is about 90 miles away so if they're open on weekends at ALL I can imagine they'll see me in there soon

 

[DavidSteel]

$3-5 per pound grain prices. Very expensive extract kits. my LHBS pales in comparison to most online shops.

Holy dickin' grain prices, brewman!

 

[brewmonk]

I don't get my local supplier:

- He's friendly, has decent prices, is open hours that most people can work with.
- He has samples, and a recipe for it if you need it, is willing to discuss things, and humour peoples eccentricities.
- It's more than a 9 minute drive to get there, and he has a decent adapter and h/w set selection.


Some people.

 

[WIP]

I don't get my local supplier:

- He's friendly, has decent prices, is open hours that most people can work with.
- He has samples, and a recipe for it if you need it, is willing to discuss things, and humour peoples eccentricities.
- It's more than a 9 minute drive to get there, and he has a decent adapter and h/w set selection.


Some people.

Jerk . . .