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Saints1313

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I know this forum has some sponsers, so im not trying to take anything away from them, but where are the best online places as far as price and quality. ive seen better bottles range anywhere from 18 bucks to 25 bucks depending on the site. Just kinda curious the best sites for eqt, fresh ingredients, kits, etc?
 
Different places have different deals on things, but the biggest effect is probably shipping. That's the easiest place to try to save money. Usually it's $7 or so, even if you only order one packet of yeast. :(
 
I'd definitely recommend looking at Austin Homebrew, they've got free shipping over $100 and flat-rate under that. Good selection of equipment, and their prices are very competitive. I make a lot of beers with higher hop amounts and don't like paying $2/ounce, but unless you start buying pounds at a time, that's as good as it gets.
 
Northern Brewer with weekly specials and $7.99 shipping
Brewmasters Warehouse with $6.99 flat rate shipping and Brewing Network discount code
Morebeer, typically if I'm ordering over $59 to get free shipping.

Nikobrew.com for hops. $5 flat rate shipping and Brewing Network discount code.

I basically look at all of them, build the order and see which one gives me the best price. BMW and NB will typically get the order to me faster than Morebeer, so a couple dollars difference is worth it if I'm in a hurry.
 
Justibone said:
Different places have different deals on things, but the biggest effect is probably shipping. That's the easiest place to try to save money. Usually it's $7 or so, even if you only order one packet of yeast. :(
Click to expand...

Different places pices things differently. You need to build your order and check the shipping charge, and compare each one.

I have found Rebel Brewer to be the cheapest for each of my orders, although they don't limit the shipping charge. Their grains are a lot cheaper than other places, so I build up my order with a lot of grains which makes them a lot cheaper than other places overall. It depends on what you want as to which will be the best place.
 
I love northern brewer's catalogue, and I tend to buy quite a bit from them as a result.

I buy most of my winemaking stuff from midwest supplies. I think they have the best selection of the things I want for wine.

I buy many of my supplies from brewmasterswarehouse.com and austinhomebrew.com- depending on what I'm ordering. I get corks in bulk from AHS, and any beer kits I might want, while I buy most of my grains and yeast from brewmasterswarehouse.

Prices ends up about the same- three of them have flat rate shipping, while Midwest charges actual shipping.

I love it that my orders come fastest from Brewmaster's Warehouse. I can order on Friday, and FedEx may deliver on Monday or Tuesday. It's definitely the fastest, and I love the customer service.
 
I like Midwest Supplies. Do I ***** about their shipping? Yes, beacause I think it's the highest of any of the online supply stores. Am I like boycott angry? Hell no! You get what you pay for (but I don't have to like it damnit LOL). But that being said, I still order from them because they really do a good job IMHO. They messed up on packing one of my kits and the grain bag burst in the box during shipping. I told them about it and they made it right w/o questioning. Another couple of great places to do business is Austins Home Brew Supply and Williams Brewing.
 
Austin's will fix any issues that come up. If you are anything less than happy, even after you call them, I know that they check these forums. Just look for a guy named Forest (maybe Forrest?) and he'll do what it takes to make sure you're taken care of fairly.
 
Saints1313 said:
I know this forum has some sponsers, so im not trying to take anything away from them, but where are the best online places as far as price and quality. ive seen better bottles range anywhere from 18 bucks to 25 bucks depending on the site. Just kinda curious the best sites for eqt, fresh ingredients, kits, etc?
Click to expand...

There is no one best site for everything. If you are seeking out the best value, you are going to need to do some comparison shopping. That being said, I usually end up using AHS for mail order and Rebel Brewer as my LHBS.
 
In my experience, no site has everything I need. My favorites are Northern Brewer and Austin Homebrew for different reasons. They both have flat rate shipping.
 
JewBrew said:
http://homebrewery.com/

will ship USPS (think stamps compared to paying $7 for Fedex). they are great for ordering small odds and ends.
Click to expand...

How good is their yeast turnover? I recently ordered from a different retailer and got 7 month old liquid yeast.


Yeah try looking at a lot of different places. My guess is that Northern Brewers and AHS are going to be your best bet. I would also check Midwest but my guess is that your shipping to Texas might push them over the other 2.
 
http://homebrewery.com/

will ship USPS (think stamps compared to paying $7 for Fedex). they are great for ordering small odds and ends.



just checked them out.... they were completely out of leaf hops..started to leave the site and thought, lets check their pellet hops. 2oz ranged around $5 and 1lb was as high as $40...I will never buy from them
 
Saints1313 said:
I know this forum has some sponsers, so im not trying to take anything away from them, but where are the best online places as far as price and quality. ive seen better bottles range anywhere from 18 bucks to 25 bucks depending on the site. Just kinda curious the best sites for eqt, fresh ingredients, kits, etc?
Click to expand...

All the prices are very competitive online (grains differ somewhat). And variety differs a bit from online company to online company. You'll likely find online prices are the same at your LHBS if item is in stock. So I agree with the other poster: it's really going to come to your geographic area and shipping.

I'm new to homebrewing but I've ordered grains/hops/yeast online from both Northern Brewing and Rebel Brewer (my LHBS didn't have what I needed for these brews). Both companies shipped out my items next day, items were expertly packed, and shipping costs were identical. I was impressed by both companies and I'll be re-ordering from both companies.

Incidentally, my wife loves wine and she wants me to make a batch after New Year's...I was blown away with the wine kit selection from Northern Brewer.

Good luck!

DY
 
Steelers77 said:
Wow, no one mentioned us?
Click to expand...

Being from New England, it's hard with that "Steelers" handle you have :)

Actually, I've been eyeing the Perlicks on your site for a while. Just waiting for things to settle down before pursuing things further.
 
I'm brand new to brewing, actually haven't even brewed a batch yet. I'm in the process of gathering all my equipment, so I've been doing online research as well.

No one in the Lower 48 should ever ***** about shipping, I live in Alaska. Better yet, Fairbanks, AK. Your $7 FedEx shipping equals about $49 for me.
My solution is to only do business with companies that ship USPS.

I recently placed an order with Williams Brewing because they gave me the best deal on shipping. I ordered some Tap A Draft bottles and the dispenser, plus some other small stuff. My order total was about $82 and they charged me $15 to ship. Not bad for Alaska standards.
 
bstacy1974 said:
I'm brand new to brewing, actually haven't even brewed a batch yet. I'm in the process of gathering all my equipment, so I've been doing online research as well.

No one in the Lower 48 should ever ***** about shipping, I live in Alaska. Better yet, Fairbanks, AK. Your $7 FedEx shipping equals about $49 for me.
My solution is to only do business with companies that ship USPS.

I recently placed an order with Williams Brewing because they gave me the best deal on shipping. I ordered some Tap A Draft bottles and the dispenser, plus some other small stuff. My order total was about $82 and they charged me $15 to ship. Not bad for Alaska standards.
Click to expand...

how much money does your state GIVE you for a citizen??? $1281 for 2010. im sure that makes up for some of it.
 
I live a ways off the beaten path and order stuff online often.....AHS and northern brewer have been good to do business with. I like to order 100 bucks worth at a time to save 8 in shipping. Its not like it sits around much!:drunk:
 
rpappi said:
how much money does your state GIVE you for a citizen??? $1281 for 2010. im sure that makes up for some of it.
Click to expand...

Too bad all that money goes toward my fuel bill so I can have a warm house when it's -40F outside. Plus I'd like to send my kids to college so rather than piss away their dividend, I invest it in a college savings fund.
 
Sorry to bump this thread, but is it common for Midwest to take 3 days or longer to ship? I placed an order Tuesday at around 1pm EST and I still have no shipping confirmation or tracking number, been three days now and everything ordered was in stock. I emailed them this morning and haven't heard back yet, but I know they're also an hour behind me. One of my biggest peeves is companies that take forever to ship. So please let me know if this is the norm with them, if so I'll order from elsewhere.


Rev.
 
So it's now late Friday evening and still no tracking number, no update as to whether my order shipped or not, and no response to my customer service email. Can anyone else comment on their shipping? Are they one of those companies that just ships and never provides tracking info? (I have a cigar company that does that even though they claim to send a tracking I've never got one). Or do they usually take half a week or more to ship?


Rev.
 
I just ordered from them for the first time...ordered on jan 6th, sent out jan 10th and received the 12th. They didn't give me tracking info until the 10th..(because they hadn't even packaged) wtf!!!? I saved a lot on my specialty grains but the shipping was a drag. If you need something faster go with NB.
 
It can take a couple or more days for stuff to get out of the Midwest warehouse. My last order, literally I think, included about 10 assorted grains they had packaged in plastic bags w/twist ties. Unfortunately they had been marked with not a Sharpie permanent marker, but what I can only assume was a dry erase marker. Bags were totally smudged and unreadable after rubbing together in shipping.

Customer service told me that had never happened before and "sorry about that".
 
thats BS!!! it must happen often. I just ordered 9 diff 5# specialty grains, and they were smudged up, but they zip tied my bags, I would rather got the heavy duty bread ties. I also got a nylon hop bag and it has a 3 or 4 inch tear along the sewn seam, don,t know what happen, maybe something I did during boil, maybe it was made cheap IDK, but that was a pricey bag to have that on first use....
 
Unfortunately I have had order hiccups more often than smooth transactions with all venders mentioned here, chalking it up to "hard to find good help". Whether it is not measuring out line to the right lengths, missing items, not shipping on time, not sending tracking #'s, wrong items etc etc the list goes on.

Overall I have found I always go back to Northern Brewer and Brewmasterswarehouse. They seem to get it right most often. Seems like BMW has had some growing pains but they always seem to make it right and I get the impression they are fully invested with us here at HBT.

I recently shopped for a new 6g better bottle with the racking adapter and ez flow valve assembly..Mid West was cheapest, could not find the all the parts/images at BMW so ended up using NB because after the shipping charges at Midwest they were least expensive.
 
Generally when using online sites over my LHBS (Homebrewing.org), I gravitate toward Northern Brewer and Austin Homebrew. Both have fantastic service and competitive prices. Midwest Homebrew Supply has also been on my browsing list as well.
 
Hey thanks so much guys for the feedback! It's definitely good to know this seems to be the norm with Midwest. I think I'll try another supplier next. As I said, one thing I require as a consumer is quick shipping and good communication. Thanks again.


Rev.
 
Justibone said:
Sorry, never heard of you. :(
Click to expand...

For those of you who have not heard of us, we have been a vendor on HBT for about a year. We are a small company that kinda started on accident but we embraced it and have been steadily growing over the last year. When we started this endeavor we just sold hops but have increased our inventory 10 fold and now offer most basic home brewing supplies.

So come check us out

Farmhousebrewingsupply.com

Cheers,

John
 
Rev2010 said:
So it's now late Friday evening and still no tracking number, no update as to whether my order shipped or not, and no response to my customer service email. Can anyone else comment on their shipping? Are they one of those companies that just ships and never provides tracking info? (I have a cigar company that does that even though they claim to send a tracking I've never got one). Or do they usually take half a week or more to ship?


Rev.
Click to expand...

What did they say when you called them? When I had an item missing, I called them and they answered the phone on the second ring. They sent my missing item FedEx and I had it the next day so I could brew! If you haven't called them, you haven't given them a chance.
 
Yooper said:
If you haven't called them, you haven't given them a chance.
Click to expand...

I haven't called them, I emailed their support address. That said I disagree that I need to call them to give them a chance being they're an online retailer. They should ship quickly without me having to follow up with them. It's been 4 days now with no word on my order, is that really a reasonable business transaction? Most companies I deal with ship within 24 hours and provide a tracking number. Some ship in 24 and never provide a tracking number but when it arrives 2-3 days later I don't care too much since it got to me quickly. If I have to call them to "check on them" I don't consider that a great way of handling business. Come Tuesday (being Monday's a holiday) if I still don't hear from them I will call them and express my displeasure. Of course at that point it won't matter much because I will do business elsewhere.


Rev.
 
Rev2010 said:
I haven't called them, I emailed their support address. That said I disagree that I need to call them to give them a chance being they're an online retailer. They should ship quickly without me having to follow up with them. It's been 4 days now with no word on my order, is that really a reasonable business transaction? Most companies I deal with ship within 24 hours and provide a tracking number. Some ship in 24 and never provide a tracking number but when it arrives 2-3 days later I don't care too much since it got to me quickly. If I have to call them to "check on them" I don't consider that a great way of handling business. Come Tuesday (being Monday's a holiday) if I still don't hear from them I will call them and express my displeasure. Of course at that point it won't matter much because I will do business elsewhere.


Rev.
Click to expand...


That's up to you. My point was that they are a bricks and mortar "real" store as well, and they have good customer service. Maybe their website lost your order, maybe they already sent it out, maybe they are just slacking on the order. I don't know, but they are open even on weekends, and you could call right now and get your answer instead of stewing and being mad.
 
Rev2010 said:
I haven't called them, I emailed their support address. That said I disagree that I need to call them to give them a chance being they're an online retailer. They should ship quickly without me having to follow up with them. It's been 4 days now with no word on my order, is that really a reasonable business transaction? Most companies I deal with ship within 24 hours and provide a tracking number. Some ship in 24 and never provide a tracking number but when it arrives 2-3 days later I don't care too much since it got to me quickly. If I have to call them to "check on them" I don't consider that a great way of handling business. Come Tuesday (being Monday's a holiday) if I still don't hear from them I will call them and express my displeasure. Of course at that point it won't matter much because I will do business elsewhere.


Rev.
Click to expand...

I've ordered from midwest a lot over the last 10 years and I have rarely had shipping delays (usually only around holidays). I have had the items arrive before I received the tracking number though. I would agree with Yooper that you should call if you believe there is a problem. I live in Iowa and get my stuff in 3-4 days, it may take a little longer since you are in New Jersey.
 
Yooper said:
you could call right now and get your answer instead of stewing and being mad.
Click to expand...

Nah I'm not fuming mad. If I were I'd have inserted one of these -> :mad: heh.

I ordered bottles and sanitizer for my next brew. But, I can't start my next brew yet anyway because I won't order my yeast yet with the temps being under freezing for several days in a row (just to be safe), so it's not critical it get here immediately. I just don't like when businesses do this. Take your order, charge your card, and then ship whenever the heck they get around to it. Just not a good way to do business IMO.

As for brick and mortar stores... sigh... there are none right around me. I've checked, there are ZERO brewing supply stores in Manhattan that I could find. There is one in Brooklyn, and I used to live there, but now it's way too much a pain to travel out there especially being I'm in Bayonne NJ now. Come to think of it though... I haven't checked for any homebrew supply stores near my house, only my workplace! Hmm, I'll look that up next. Thanks for helping me to think of that! :mug:


Rev.
 
This is an interesting thread. When some like to go to endless lengths to save $1 but then complain when they do not do back flips. Interesting.

B
 
Yooper, I called them. The shipment indeed when out the day after ordering, expecting delivery Wednesday. That's good to know. Still sucks they don't send a tracking (got it over the phone) and never responded to my email, but that's fine as long as I know they shipped my order out quickly.


Rev.
 

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