Morebeer or Austin Homebrew?

[1234]

I haven't shopped with either of the stores, I have shopped from Northern and had a good experience. I buy exclusively from rebelbrewer.com, as his shop is 5-10 minutes from my house. If you are looking for great service they are for you. The owner, Tom, will go out of his way to ensure that you have a great customer experience. He also makes some really good beer.

If you can't decide who to buy from exclusively then by from all of them and figure out who you liked the best. I personally don't buy kits from anybody. I seek advice from Tom and he helps me out, or I look at a clone recipe and tweak it to my tastes.

 

[shoemaker27]

I have to agree with the previous posts and back to the reason why I posted this question in the first place.....

I have ordered a few kits from Morebeer and although the beer isn't finished yet, the samples were great. But, I ordered a few more kits recently, and it took them quite a few days to send me a confirmation and ship them out, something I wasn't happy with.

I think I'll try austin this time and brewmasters the next.

 

[carbon111]

Austin Homebrew has been consistent as well as fast with their flat rate shipping to me up here in Washington State. The kit selection is vast and the quality really top-notch! I couldn't be happier!

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Nurmey there were some real problems, Forest would probably admit to it as he has in most of those worthless threads. He seems like good guy.

I am a good guy. We have 2 shifts now and a lot of extra help. All year we have been getting close to 99% of all orders out the same day.

The threads that complained were a long time ago during a sale. We had a one day sale that was so successful that we received 2 weeks worth of orders in one day. That would cause any store to be a little behind. I am sure you understand.

Forrest

 

[Yooper]

I ordered this past Thursday from AHS, and got a shipping confirmation later the same day.

I've had very good luck with the kits from them, and the kits from Northernbrewer.com, althought NB is much more limited in their selection. The "clone" kits from AHS are great.

I buy almost all of my brewing supplies from brewmaster's warehouse or austin home brew now. There isn't a store local to me, so I shop almost exclusively online. I've bought from all of the major online stores in the past- morebeer, midwest, Williams Brewing, Leener's, etc, and now stick with AHS and Brewmaster's warehouse. Great customer service from both of them, and great products at good prices.

 

[DD2000GT]

I was one that complained about AHS a few months back when shipping took over a week from order date. I just ordered two batches DURING their Texas 10% off sale and get shipping confirmation the next day. The beer kits came the next day via UPS and I even got a second confirmation - they did not have the Coopers carb. drops in stock but shipped my order, then shipped the carb drops the next day. TWO shipments, no additional cost, so I could get my brewing kits earlier. Ok, I am man enough to admit when things improve, and they have. Good for AHS to recognize a sore spot with customers and fix it.

Now, the not-so-good news. I wanted to get a digital scale as well so I could measure oz since I have over a pound of fresh hops and I need to measure them out accurately. Their scale was $35 and the same scale was $30 at Northern Brewer. I called up AHS before placing my order to see if they would match that price. The guy who answered the phone basically blew me off and said he couldn't make that call, a manager would. I said so.... can I speak to the manager... He huffed and said "we are real busy today, we are having a sale." I told him I KNEW they were having a sale - that is why I am buying two kits and wanted to include the scale in the order. He huffed and said hold on... A minute later the manager (name withheld) picked up the phone and I asked him the same thing. He sounded put off and asked if the other place had flat rate shipping like they did (not really sure why that matters). I said yes, same price as yours - he said he could "investigate" it and if it was true he would match the price but would not give me the 10% off for the sale....

First off, $5 is not the end of the world. But, to be treated like I was basically made me say screw it. Not sure WHY they would not match the price of a competitor AND give me the sale price as well rather than risk loosing a customer from poor customer service. It kinda makes me feel they are hedging their losses from flat rate shipping by marking up their products - which ultimately means we all pay for that guy who uses their "flat" rate shipping for a 50 lb. bag or two of grain for $7.99.

Oh and the scale - I found the exact same on on Amazon for $25 PLUS free shipping AND no tax...

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Sorry about the issue with the scale. This is the first I had heard about it. I am curious why you didn't have Northern Brewer match the Amazon price with free shipping?

The best thing to do is shop for the best price. I don't know of a homebrew store that has an across the board price matching policy. There are many items where we will match any price. There are some items we can't. Just bring it to my attention and I will do the best I can.

I had one customer that wanted me to match a local competitor on a list of items. One of the items the competitors price was $20 more than mine. He didn't want me to match that price as well.

No homebrew store has the best price on everything. If you compare the total delivered price, we should have the best price for your order.

If I would have known about this I would have taken care of it.

Feel free to contact me at: [email protected]

DD2000GT: PM me with mailing info and shirt size and I will send a care package of goodies.

Forrest

 

[Donner]

I buy almost all of my brewing supplies from brewmaster's warehouse or austin home brew now. There isn't a store local to me, so I shop almost exclusively online. I've bought from all of the major online stores in the past- morebeer, midwest, Williams Brewing, Leener's, etc, and now stick with AHS and Brewmaster's warehouse. Great customer service from both of them, and great products at good prices.

I'm with Yooper. I don't really have a store near me, so everything is done online. I tend to chime in and plug BMW any time i can for the simple reason that Ed has always done right by me. I like the fact that i can PM or Email Ed with questions or concerns and i always hear back from him right away. He has gone out of his way several times to help me out and because i live close to a fedex hub, i get all my stuff from him next day. I don't know if all the shops did this, but i got an email a few days ago about the nottingham recall from Ed. He is offering his customers the option of sending the yeast to him and he will deal with the recall while honoring the replacement + one packet deal from notthingham.

I also want to plug AHS. Forrest has also helped me out several times, including steering me towards a cheaper price for a 10 gallon pot that they were selling. When i ordered a better bottle from forrest last xmas it went out quick and was a very positive shopping experience.

I've never dealt with morebeer. Not for any reason other than geography. I know dealing with suppliers that are close to where i live will help ensure fast arrival and that yeast wont be exposed to the heat of travel for too long. But really, having the ability to talk to Ed and Forrest directly makes all the difference for me.

 

[Donner]

Sorry about the issue with the scale. This is the first I had heard about it. I am curious why you didn't have Northern Brewer match the Amazon price with free shipping?

The best thing to do is shop for the best price. I don't know of a homebrew store that has an across the board price matching policy. There are many items where we will match any price. There are some items we can't. Just bring it to my attention and I will do the best I can.

I had one customer that wanted me to match a local competitor on a list of items. One of the items the competitors price was $20 more than mine. He didn't want me to match that price as well.

No homebrew store has the best price on everything. If you compare the total delivered price, we should have the best price for your order.

If I would have known about this I would have taken care of it.

Feel free to contact me at: [email protected]

DD2000GT: PM me with mailing info and shirt size and I will send a care package of goodies.

Forrest

this is a good example of what i was saying. Though he doesn't have to, Forrest is willing to help and try to make things right, even though the person with the problem didn't ask for it.

Ed once left some dry yeast out of an order of mine. He bent over backwards to get it to me, but since i didn't need it right away i said he should snail mail it to me. Well, USPS lost it, so Ed again went out of his way to fedex it to me (he also included a pack of liquid pacman yeast for the hassle).

for those of us without LHBS' dealing with Forrest and Ed is great and really makes us feel like someone is accountable and cares about us.

 

[pretzelb]

On second thought - no comment.

 

[DD2000GT]

Sorry about the issue with the scale. This is the first I had heard about it. I am curious why you didn't have Northern Brewer match the Amazon price with free shipping?...

The big reason was because I wanted to give the business to you guys. I have been down to your store and visited with the staff (of course, on a slower day) and really like what you are doing for the home brewing community. Like I said in my post, $5 was not the end of the world, but I figured since I was already ordering a couple of AG kits I would throw it in the order. I still ordered the kits, but was a little threw off by the response.

I don't mind throwing kudos when it is earned, but like all businesses - it is the customer who keeps the doors open. Reminds me of a story I learned when I was studying the business of customer service:

Pickle Principle - how it all began

No company is perfect like you say - the difference is the ones that try to change what is broken and excel at what works. Keep up the good work - and give em the pickle!

 

[Ragutis]

I'm a big fan of Brewmasters warehouse. Great prices and the brew builder is indeed ingenious. I've put all my favorite recipes in there and with the 10% discount shipping is nearly free.

 

[HenryHill]

More Beer sucks.

 

[The Pol]

More Beer sucks.

Everyone knows you are just bitter Henry...

 

[zman]

I have yet to order from Austin because I can get many things locally. However, am tempted to get some AG kits from Austin. I bought a Immersion Chiller from More Beer and it is awesome. I love the fact that they have the hose connections on their models and I believe I can remove them if need be. I got my Barley Crusher from Brewmasters Warehouse. I got is within a week of ordering it and I am in Colorado.

 

[Malticulous]

I'm a big fan of Brewmasters warehouse. Great prices and the brew builder is indeed ingenious. I've put all my favorite recipes in there and with the 10% discount shipping is nearly free.

I wish my recipes worked out so well. How about some of those recipes--I really need some nearly free beer right now.

 

[Malticulous]

More Beer sucks.

Is that the best you could come up with? Could even I ask why? I mean they have been over and beyond for me with my orders. There are pretty much my only LHBS and homebrew club. I'd like an explanation not just a lazy post (if you have any?) If that is the real feelings of this place...** sucks.

I think all of the pot shot threads I've seen here should have been close or deleted before at least 30 days and no products shipped. Like AHS has said "they don't just go away" even though nobody ever got ripped off. The only rip off is leaving this kind of crap on the web.

 

[Bobby_M]

I tried Morebeer for two orders and both came with stuff broken or missing. Drinking and shipping don't go together I suppose. I find no reason to order from them when there are more "careful" vendors closer to me.

 

[Malticulous]

What did you order Bobby?
I ordered some liquid yeast form them and after 24 house the gravity had not dropped. I emailed them late that day and got a email right back. They said they would send me another one. Two days latter I got new vile and a 1/4 lb of DME.

I feel kind of bad about it because the starter took off the next day and made some great beers.

 

[Ragutis]

I wish my recipes worked out so well. How about some of those recipes--I really need some nearly free beer right now.

Not sure what you mean by nearly free beer. I said the shipping was nearly free with the brew builder discount Ed has advertised. (BBBYO)
Here is my recipe page if you want to check them out.
Wildwood Brewery // Brewmasters Warehouse

 

[Malticulous]

Sorry, I misread your post.
I've used that too and got 10% off. I keep enough specialty malts around that I didn't enter a real recipe though. I wish there was an option for uncrushed grain instead of having to email them.

 

[tpseabird]

+1 for Austin Homebrew! Turn around on orders is super fast; of course I'm only four hours away, but my items have shipped the same day every time.

 

[BillTheSlink]

Just remember if you order liquid yeast, even the thermometers are bigger in Texas . I got an order from AHB a few weeks ago; the kit was excelent, but my yeast was dead. AHB gave me a refund on the yeast, but had I not had I vial of Kolsch around I would have been a dead duck. As it was I had to pitch without a starter and had serious lag. I am lucky, I have a LHBS. I'll buy kits from Ed, AHB, or Midwest, but get my yeast locally. The local guy doesn't have all grain kits. When I can build my own I guess I do all local, except for here and there stuff. AHB needs to sneak around and find out where Mid West gets those insulated pouches and boxes at and they would be good to go.

 

[stevea1210]

One thing n one has mentioned yet is that BMW and AHS offer partial pounds when you buy grain. This isn't an issue when buying a kit. IF you are buying a self built recipe, partial punds are VERY important to me.

Most other stores don't offer that. Caveat - they didn't last I looked, but haven't checked in many months, so some may have changed. One of my LHBS doesn't offer that, and I won't buy ingredients from them.

In case you don't understand what I am talking about...If you need 2 oz of choclate malt for a recipe, ahs and bmw will sell you 2 oz's. Most of the others will make you buy a full pound in that situation.

That will lose my business instantly for ingredients.

 

[BillTheSlink]

One thing n one has mentioned yet is that BMW and AHS offer partial pounds when you buy grain. This isn't an issue when buying a kit. IF you are buying a self built recipe, partial punds are VERY important to me.

Most other stores don't offer that. Caveat - they didn't last I looked, but haven't checked in many months, so some may have changed. One of my LHBS doesn't offer that, and I won't buy ingredients from them.

In case you don't understand what I am talking about...If you need 2 oz of choclate malt for a recipe, ahs and bmw will sell you 2 oz's. Most of the others will make you buy a full pound in that situation.

That will lose my business instantly for ingredients.

I'll agree with you 100% on that one. My LHBS has all the grain in big garbage can like things and you take out and mill and weigh only what you want. If you need help running the mill he'll help you, but it's like an old time store where you get however many beans or pieces of candy you want, just self serve.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

AHB needs to sneak around and find out where Mid West gets those insulated pouches and boxes at and they would be good to go.

We looked into the insulated bags but they make the problem worse. While they keep the yeast a little cooler while the ice pack is cold, once the ice pack is thawed, the yeast is now in an oven. The isulated bag get really warm inside. Much hotter than if the bag wasn't there. I warned Midwest about this and they said they were doing fine with them. Oh well.

My store name is abbreviated the most but it is always something different. AHB is Annapolis Homebrew. People use AHS, AHBS, AHB, and others to mean Austin Homebrew Supply. Please do me and newbies a favor and just say Austin Homebrew instead of abbreviating. Mentioning our full name (a link is even better) moves us up the search engines. When newbies search Google for AHS the won't find anything related to homebrew. Maybe American Home Shield insurance.

Thanks for understanding
Forrest

 

[BillTheSlink]

We looked into the insulated bags but they make the problem worse. While they keep the yeast a little cooler while the ice pack is cold, once the ice pack is thawed, the yeast is now in an oven. The isulated bag get really warm inside. Much hotter than if the bag wasn't there. I warned Midwest about this and they said they were doing fine with them. Oh well.

My store name is abbreviated the most but it is always something different. AHB is Annapolis Homebrew. People use AHS, AHBS, AHB, and others to mean Austin Homebrew Supply. Please do me and newbies a favor and just say Austin Homebrew instead of abbreviating. Mentioning our full name (a link is even better) moves us up the search engines. When newbies search Google for AHS the won't find anything related to homebrew. Maybe American Home Shield insurance.

Thanks for understanding
Forrest

Thanks for the info on the bags and I will be sure to use your full store name from now on. I can't wait to taste my Little Kings Cream ale, but the crush was just fine and your instructions were the best I've seen so far. Since this was my first all grain and was doing fly sparging like your instructions, this was a big help.

 

[Donner]

Sorry, I misread your post.
I've used that too and got 10% off. I keep enough specialty malts around that I didn't enter a real recipe though. I wish there was an option for uncrushed grain instead of having to email them.

can't remember if there is a button in the new brew builder but i think you just leave a message saying no crush in the comments field now and you are good. enjoy.

 

[SPLASTiK]

MoreBeer has some inventory issues but otherwise they've been great customer service wise to me. Once they were out of 2oz packs of a hop variety and offered to send me a 4oz pack for the same price. Another time the lid on a 5 pound tub of PBW cracked and spilled a bunch in the package. They shipped a new one out the next day for free.

I'd probably experiment with some other retailers if they had USPS shipping calculators to Alaska on their websites. It's kind of a hassle to e-mail them and ask for a USPS shipping quote which is something I like to know before I place an order or for future purchase planning. No way in hell am I'm going to pay UPS/Fed Ex shipping here, cheapest UPS shipping option from AHS for 5# order of malt is $38 and USPS would be less than half that (though I don't order malt online for shipping cost reasons, but say a 5 pound order of anything else is spendy).

 

[Shoemaker]

I just ordered from Austin homebrew yesterday and they sent me a confirmation a few hours later that my package is all packed and ready to go! Wow!