LHBS Prices... Why So Expensive?

[waldoar15]

I guess I'm lucky. I've got two pretty good ones within a 20 minute drive. I can place my order online and it's ready for pickup the next am when I get there.

They do pretty good on bulk grain, better than I can get it shipped for. The only thing I don't buy at either of those two shops is bulk hops.

No sales tax on grain here.

 

[The_General]

dartedash,

I'm in the same boat as you (just up the road).
I've been up to Frederick a few times, didn't find what I needed but everyone was helpful. I can't see going to Annapolis and Columbia isn't much closer. I gave up trying and order online freely, without guilt. I choose to use those who support or advertise here - I think of them as my lhbs.
jason

Count me in on that too. I guess I'm just down the road though. I shop exclusively online and I don't feel one bit guilty about it. The way I see it, I only have so much free time to dedicate to brewing related activities. If I have to 2 hours or so to get to an LHBS, it's not worth it.

By the way, I feel like a homebrew shop could make a killing in Montgomery County. There are tons of brewers and no local store.

 

[BradleyBrew]

I try to support my LHBS whenever I can. I buy lots of things in bulk though.

-Grain - Bulk. At least my base malt. It's a little cheaper, but much more convenient.
-Hops - Bulk. It's 100-200% cheaper bought in bulk online!!!!
-Yeast - LHBS. I'm not saving much buying online, and I know the stuff at my LHBS has been kept cold
-Specialty grains - LHBS. I use so little, the cost doesn't matter
-Small equipment (airlocks, hop bags, etc, buckets) - LHBS. They're cheap.
-Large equipment - Online or DIY. LHBS have insane markups for equipment like mash tuns, false bottoms, pumps, wort chillers. Buy that stuff online, or DIY it.

I give my LHBS business because it's nice to have them when I need them in a pinch.

+1 Amen

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I buy most of my stuff locally because it's cheaper or roughly the same price. I'm not going to quibble over a few cents per lb. on a $20 order.

I do buy hops in bulk online.

 

[buffalobrewer]

I buy everything but bulk hops ($2-3 oz at the lhbs). Their specialty grains and yeast prices are within my local purchase threshold. Hopefully the syracuse bulk buy will go through with a drop off closer to Buffalo as the lhbs bags of grain start at $59 and go up from there.

 

[JRems]

I try to buy local. I only usually buy hops in quantity online, especially ones that are out of stock often like simcoe and Amarillo. If I need an oz of saaz or hallertauer I'll just get it at the lhbs. I'll buy my specialty grain there, but my homebrew club has too much of a discount on base malt ($35 for 55lb 2 row) to buy it at the lhbs. I don't mind paying $2 for a pound a specialty grain but $2 a pound for 2 row is crazy.

 

[CompassBrewing]

I started brewing when living in San Diego, and there was no internet to speak of back then. Luckily, my LHBS was Home Brew Mart in Solana Beach, and it was run by Yusef Cherney, who co-founded Ballast Point Brewery. He taught my roommate and I how to brew, formulate recipes, tasted our beers, and how to brew all-grain. Couldn't ask for a better mentor..

Time went on, and the internet swept across the world, and now there's better prices and tons of stores to choose from. I live in Baltimore now, and both LHBS are an hour round trip, so I stick to online. If I lived in San Diego still, I'd still be going to the Home Brew Mart in Solana Beach.

Home brew mart is in linda vista now. Never know they started in solana. I buy my yeast and any items I need in a hurry but they're prices, in my opinion, are ridiculous. Ballast Point is however one of my favorite local brewers though.

 

[tknice]

What's up Maryland brewers!!

I work in Elkridge which is right around the corner from Maryland Homebrew and it's been so nice having a lhbs so close--even if their prices are a little higher.

I'd also say "a little higher" is a bit relative as others have said. My lhbs gives a lifetime 10% off after you spend a grand, so it may be wise to check if yours does the same. If so, start working toward that 1K by getting your kegging system going or maybe buy the 15 gal kettle you've always wanted--probably not as much markup there.

From what I've noticed, the markup really applies when you buy extract kits, liquid extracts, specialty ingredients, and even hops. Bulk grains however are a great deal. I recently bought a 55lb bag each of Maris Otter and 2-Row for around 85c per lb. That's a pretty big savings over a few brews.

 

[Thehopguy]

my LHBS is also the Home Brew Mart in Linda Vista. And I agree, prices are ridiculous. When I was pricing wort chillers and some other things I noticed there was almost a 30-40% price increase. Even after I pay shipping, I still save money ordering online. However I do like to buy yeast and get my grains and mill them at the LHBS.

 

[mrgstiffler]

I have 6-7 LHBS within driving distance. They all vary in terms of stock, prices, knowledge and cleanliness. I go to specific stores depending on what I'm looking for.

 

[jwright]

Count me in on that too.

By the way, I feel like a homebrew shop could make a killing in Montgomery County. There are tons of brewers and no local store.

We had one - downtown Gburg, across the street from what is now Growlers. This was probably 10 yrs ago. It didn't last too long. Maybe two years if I remember. That was nice. That was when I first started brewing. I did love going "shopping" and killing an hour - ahhh, the good old days.

Now I spend 15 min with the BrewBuilder and I get a great crush, fresh product, nicely priced, always instock and right to my door. Not quite the same, but worth the trade off in my opinion.

Jason

 

[redone29]

Here in Columbus, Ohio we have a few shops. I was doing most of my shopping at the closest one to me but this past weekend I found a new one about 30 minutes away which i'll be switching to. The price difference and staff knowledge will be worth the extra driving. After talking to the owner he told me he based his prices off the internet prices since it was his main competitor. An example of the price difference between the two shops: same capper was 7 dollars cheaper than what I had just paid the week before. I noticed a big difference in some of the other supplies I had recently bought as well. To make the drive even more worthwhile they have a very large selection of craft brews.

 

[BWN]

I try and support my lhbs but the prices are way to high. 2.50 a lb for grains unmilled, 4.50 an oz. for hops, 10.50 for smack packs. I go there if I need something in a hurry but that is it.

 

[bottlebomber]

I try and support my lhbs but the prices are way to high. 2.50 a lb for grains unmilled, 4.50 an oz. for hops, 10.50 for smack packs. I go there if I need something in a hurry but that is it.

That's insane. I've never heard of such highway robbery... may they go out of business and be purchased by someone who does honest business

 

[tpitman]

My LHBS is about 5 miles from my house. They strongly urge you to order online because the store is small and it's not set up to walk around in. Frankly, I don't know how the guy keeps track of where stuff is himself, but for the size of the place, he's got pretty much everything you need shy of high-end equipment like conicals. No upcharge for milling your grain. And his prices are really competitive with the larger online shops, so everything I own thus far I've gotten through him. I'd like it better if he had it set up to where you could walk around and "feel" stuff, but he's got a system that works, and unless there's something I need that he doesn't have, it would be tough for me to justify "cheating" on him. Not to mention the convenience of placing a quick order at the last minute.

 

[SarahMatt]

Try sampling beers while ordering online, or having the MoreBeer staff put together a customized recipe for you, then helping you refine it with each iteration.QUOTE]
Yep, that's it.
I also usually find other homebrewers hanging out with their beers to try as well. They've also told me where/when I can get cheaper online (if I have the patience to wait); they're about 3 miles away. Being new to this, its helpful to have someone taste a beer and tell me what was wrong or could be better.
But, with all that being said, I'll still buy some stuff online.
To each their own,
Sarah.

 

[copyright1997]

I try and support my lhbs but the prices are way to high. 2.50 a lb for grains unmilled, 4.50 an oz. for hops, 10.50 for smack packs. I go there if I need something in a hurry but that is it.

You should definitely participate in the Syracuse group buy. 2 Row under $0.60/pound, pilsen $0.63/pound, Thomas Fawcett Maris Otter $0.85/pound (all in prices). Try putting an ad in CL or find a local club and car pool and you are on your way. I just started doing AG in late August and having these kinds of prices has made it a lot easier to be willing to go for it! I just did (yesterday) a 4 gallon batch of a Victory Hop Devil clone and beersmith estimates I used $13.70 in ingredients. (That's with reusing yeast, which I just tried for the first time.) I'm also lucky enough to have a nice lhbs close by, so I try to buy anything they are reasonably competitive on there.

 

[Jsamp]

Sadly there is no true lhbs in my area. The 2 closes things we have are local wine makers that sell kits (wine/beer), dme, lme and some specialty grains. Before I got a grain mill I would only use them for buckets, airlocks, sometimes hops and such now I get a few pounds of specialty malt from them. They have a very limited beer yeast selection but they do have Nottingham. They had it at $2.40 a pack so I grabbed the last 7 they had while I was there. I've been buying my base malt and hops in bulk online.

 

[frydogbrews]

we have one dedicated store a few miles away, but not only are they waaaay overpriced, they are staffed by pompous buffoons. another store is half garden supply and half brew store, nice, friendly people, rarely see other brewers there, mainly people go there to purchase things for the "special garden" in their basement. overpriced, but the staff makes up for it. 45 minutes from me though, so i don't go there but a few times a year. then we have a liquor store with little things like kits, carboys, a few ingredients and such. i go there all the time because its close and a great place when i run out of priming sugar or caps or something. probably buy 80% of my stuff from midwest and have always been happy with them.

 

[deremer]

I just found a LHBS that is not to far out of my way. I priced a recipe online and then at the store. The shop was only one dollar more. When I took every things to the register I sighed up for their "club" and received an extra 10% off, so the recipe was $2 cheaper. I also got a few small item that were priced well. I did notice the 10 gallon rubber maid mash tun was $165 though.

 

[TromboneGuy]

There's one store that I know of here in Wichita, but unless someone here is organizing a group buy, their prices are actually better than I can get online for bulk grain. $55 for 50lbs of two-row is about break-even with the shipped cost from Northern Brewer. $75 for 55lbs of Maris Otter (Munton's) is WAY cheaper than the $89 it would cost me shipped.