Online Buying Rather Than Local

[EthanH]

A little off topic, but my LHBS is Austin Homebrew and I still order online...from Austin Homebrew. It feels a little bourgeois and lazy, but the way I look at it, 2 hours of my Saturday is worth more to me than the $7.99 for shipping.

EDITED TO ADD: AHBS is all the way across town from me.

 

[BrewerinBR]

I prefer to support local businesses if I can, the closest store to me is only open in the afternoon even on Saturday...they do sell online and I have ordered online ... mostly I order online from the closest store and drive there (about 20 minute ride through the country) and pick up stuff (they always have it ready for me so its normally a quick run in and then out). I buy in bulk as much as possible so shipping multiple 50lb and 20lb bags is not cost effective. I like the owner he is great guy as are of the other employees. We have often exchanged brews just for fun and feedback. Also if I need something special they will order it with out any extra charge.

About 60 miles away is a great LHBS but I can only get there occasionally.

 

[KeninMN]

Joining a homebrew club is the best thing that I've ever done in regards to homebrewing, other than deciding to start homebrewing. I highly recommend finding a local homebrew club and going to a meeting to see if you like it.

I should clarify: I'm not in an official club, but a fair number of my coworkers are home brewers, so in a sense it's a de-facto club. (In fact, it was one of my coworkers who got me interested in home brewing, and was an invaluable resource after I made the plunge.) We swap information, harvested yeast and finished brews on a regular basis...

 

[monkeyman1000]

I move to a new town every 3 to 6 months for work but have been lucky to find a local shop nearby in almost every place. One of those places was just a small area in an Ace hardware but with a surprisingly good selection. Currently I am in Eureka, CA and the LHBS here is fantastic. The owners let me taste grains to get a better understanding of them and they have tasted my beers to give me feedback. I also like the idea of supporting the local stores. I have ordered from online stores too when a local shop was too far away ( Joshua Tree, CA for example) and had good experiences, especially with NB. My buddy in SoCal orders from them exclusively and is always getting good deals. For me though, there is nothing like that face to face interaction.

 

[SmokingGunn]

Once I switched, my beers were much nicer due to fresher and properly handled products. I have never had a problem with anything purchased from Morebeer, and I have been buying from them for almost 6 years.

Thanks for the tip. I've been buying nearly all of my supplies/ingredients from Northern Brewer. While I've been pleased with their quality (ie, no problems), I bounced on over to MoreBeer's website and I like their pricing AND FREE SHIPPING!

 

[kombat]

Generally larger online shops have plenty of product turnover, so their ingredients are very likely very fresh. It then comes down to the price plus shipping vs price plus gas money plus value of my time...

FIFY

I order the vast majority of my ingredients and equipment online, not only because of the vastly better selection, but because I value my time. My LHBS is a good 20 minute drive from my home. That's 40 minutes round trip, plus whatever time I spend in the store. I'd much rather order what I need from my iPad while I'm watching Game of Thrones and have it magically show up on my doorstep 2 days later than try to find an hour of my weekend (the store closes at 4:30 on weekdays - too early for me to get there after work) when I could be brewing instead.

 

[MarPaul]

Much like my cigars, I find I make most of my brewing purchases online but do occassionally drop by my local retailer just out of a sense of wanting to support them or when I want something right away.

 

[GCPHomebrew]

I agree with bobbailey. Morebeer free shipping fresh quality ingredients. Cheapest prices I have found. I buy 4 kits, lots of dry yeast lots of half pound hops, and several 10lb bags of grain every other month. That's two years now. Very satisfied customer. A brew shop can't compete with online selection.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[SoCoHomebrew]

i hear there is a shop in south Austin now.

 

[Weezy]

I'm very fortunate. I have morebeer for fast free shipping from Pittsburgh to Pittsburgh. I also have a LHBS walking distance from work and another 4 miles from home. I try to patronize the LHBS first. If they don't have it I'll order online. (just never brew on a Sunday...the LHBS is closed Sunday and Monday)

 

[Bamsdealer]

Ingredients yeast and little odds and ends are usually bought at the lhbs. Bulk grain is especially cheap there. Bulk hops, equipment and hard to find stuff usually gets ordered

 

[Bobcatbrewing42]

I order some of my stuff online. It comes very quickly, is cheaper if you buy enough to get free shipping and probably is fresher than the local store because of high turnover. Milled grain in sealed bags is good for a long time. You still need to support your local brew store though. You don't want them to fail.

 

[rhys333]

Ingredients yeast and little odds and ends are usually bought at the lhbs. Bulk grain is especially cheap there. Bulk hops, equipment and hard to find stuff usually gets ordered

+1, I do the same. I buy online for equipment and stable ingredients, LHBS for liquid yeast, bulk grain, odds and ends. I like getting deals, but supporting local businesses as well. I pay almost double buying yeast locally, but its fresh and still cheap considering I'll reuse it many times over.

 

[The_Bishop]

I *know* my local HBS has high turnover - I occasionally help him re-stock the grain!

 

[Limestone_Cowboy]

First rule of homebrew.. we buy local unless absolutely necessary.

 

[Oginme]

Last year I split the order between on-line and local purchases. This year, I have the storage room for bulk grains, so I am buying all my grains and yeast locally, since he is very competitive on bulk purchases of grain, and hops through the internet for the bulk pricing my LHBS cannot afford to give. This puts the ratio closer to 75% to 80% local purchase and the rest through the on-line supply houses. As much as possible, I try to purchase locally (about 40 minutes away) so that they are there when I really need something.

 

[brokebucket]

First rule of homebrew.. we buy local unless absolutely necessary.

First rule of homebrew: Brew beer at home.

 

[FiddlersGreen87]

I've pretty much stopped using my LHBS, way too much attitude and their prices are ridiculous.

100% Agree.

I had a "LHBS" when I lived in Hawaii. It was the only one on the Island, and I hated going to it. Every time I went there I felt like I was walking into this man's cave to give him my money even though I felt I was a huge inconvenience or below his "all-knowing" personality. I will admit I was and still am more than ignorant in many areas, but I was and still am eager to learn. He showed no interest in developing the hobby he "loved." On top of that, his prices were no where near competitive. 65$ for a 6gal Glass Carboy is a 25$ mark up. His Better Bottle carboys were around 50-55$.

I would even spend a little extra to buy from a LBHS if I felt like I was a welcomed individual and they appreciated my business. In fact, I get this exact feeling using NorCal Brewing, Adventures in Homebrewing, and MidWest Brewing, and they're all on the other side of the country from me.

Capitalism rules all, and if you can't provide something to make me okay with paying a bit more to support your local endeavor, then you haven't earned my repeat business.

At the end of the day, my only LHBS experience has been a negative one. I would always try another because I know they're not all the same, but for now there's nothing local inside of 2 hours so Online it is for me.

 

[MrSnacks]

My problem is my LHBS is Northern Brewer/Midwest and I've more or less refused to shop from them anymore given their shady business practices. There are also no other brew stores in town obviously because they're such a behemoth.

 

[chawn]

My LHBS told me that extract brewing is the only way to go! I didn't argue with him because I'm relatively new to brewing.

 

[Hello]

I shop locally when I can. There are deals online that are great and I grab those sometimes, but I love my LHBS. There is one 2 miles from me that I do not favor, I go 11 miles out of my way to another HBS because they're much more knowledgeable, they do not feed me answers for the sake of feeding me answers when they're only guessing, they seem to value me as a customer, and they do try to keep their prices competitive with online retailers. They cannot compare in kettle, chillers, etc prices, but they know this.

I throw my money to online retailers when I need to. Kegconnection will likely be my one-stop shop for keg needs if they have what I need. Northernbrewer is where I get random stuff and Yakima Valley Hops and I are buddies. I have had no issues with quality when buying online.

Online may be cheaper but I do appreciate supporting my LHBS and I don't mind heading out that way for a recipe and some good beer (they're attached to a brewery).

 

[rhys333]

My problem is my LHBS is Northern Brewer/Midwest and I've more or less refused to shop from them anymore given their shady business practices.

What's the concern with them?

 

[kombat]

What's the concern with them?

They (Midwest) had a security breach which exposed customers' credit card numbers to hackers, then when asked about it, denied it happened for months, then finally admitted that yes, indeed they had been hacked months earlier and we should all get new credit cards.

 

[MrSnacks]

They (Midwest) had a security breach which exposed customers' credit card numbers to hackers, then when asked about it, denied it happened for months, then finally admitted that yes, indeed they had been hacked months earlier and we should all get new credit cards.

They're also selling dangerous products and won't take them off the shelf.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/big-mouth-bubblers-dangerously-thin-486222/

 

[rhys333]

That's unfortunate. I use Ontario Beer Kegs for my online stuff. Super efficient and good pricing. I underatand they either don't or rarely ship to the US though.

 

[Darwin18]

I used to be strictly online (Northern Brewer, Brewmasters Warehouse, etc.) because I had a few bad experiences at a LHBS on the other side of town. After talking around to other local homebrewers my experience was not unusual. I do pretty much stick to the a newer LHBS (Atlantic) for grains, hops, and yeast. My family is always giving me gift cards to Northern Brewer for Christmas or birthdays so I usually order cleaners, sanitizers, and water chemistry stuff from them. I try to avoid anything that can be damaged if UPS leaves it out in a hot warehouse for a few days.

Having a supportive LBS is a 2 way street. If the dude at your LBS is a jerk, it may be that he's frustrated that he started a business in an area that he loves and everybody and his uncle is buying their stuff online. Even if he's a tool, go there anyway. Take the time to get to know him. Share some of your best brews with him. When I lived in Northern Virginia, I used to bring a growler of what ever I had on tap to my LBS. Of course, I didn't feel bad about asking him to order something funky. When I did, I was certain to bring a sample by so that he could taste it. When I moved, I had a couple of half finished kegs that I couldn't transport because I was going to be in a hotel for 3 weeks, so I swapped them for a couple of empty NEW kegs. Try that with an online retailer.

A business owner who is a "tool" and treats their customers poorly doesn't deserve my or anyone else's business. LHBS are customer service oriented. If your LHBS owner / manager doesn't like dealing with customers then they should have opened an online only service. When I have a poor customer service interaction I don't return with my money instead I tell everyone I know about it so they don't have the same poor customer service experience. It's 2014 - you do not need to put up with terrible customer service or poor stock selection for this hobby.

 

[Arrheinous]

Ritebrew did a great job in making sure the yeast survived transport when I ordered during their last pre-order sale.

Buying the ice pack and doing fast shipping during the weekday (don't let it sit at the PO for a weekend) is key.

 

[Skarekrough]

When money's tight it's hard to beat a better price and when you're dealing with a Mom and Pop BrewShop I always feel bad asking them to pricematch.

In the past I've bought online. Mostly when I was doing extract kits it's hard to beat the specials and deals.

The only thing I think I buy online is hops, and I tend to do that only in bulk.

 

[podz]

I order online even though my LHBS is 15 minutes away.

Lower prices (even free shipping with large enough order) and less attitude.

Yeah, nobody wants attitude from a brew shop. Despite the lack of competition here in Finland, the guy at my LHBS is amazingly knowledgeable, helpful and doesn't try to push extra stuff on me just for the hell of it. I tell him, for example, which style of beer I want to make, how I want it to taste, what ABV I want, etc. He will tell me what I need to buy to make it the way he would do it, but doesn't care at all if I change his recommendations for something cheaper or just different. I like him.

I don't buy yeast via mail anymore.

But every shop you buy it from does.

 

[evrose]

Quote:
Originally Posted by LandoLincoln View Post
I don't buy yeast via mail anymore.


But every shop you buy it from does.

Unless you work 2 miles from White Labs. Like me.