PLEASE let the Northern Brewer buy-out be a hoax!

[shakesbeer100]

Does anyone actually shop at Northern Brewer?

 

[JonM]

It's my LHBS. Always fully stocked, friendly helpful staff, frequent special events, like a meet and greet with Jonathan Lucroy, etc. I'm a very satisfied customer.

 

[MaryB]

NB does NOT ship full sacks of grain for the $7.99 flat rate!

NB delivered 50 lbs of Rahr 2-row to my door last week for $38 ($7.99 shipping). I am 1,200 miles away.

2-row from LHBS... $55 for Briess.

 

[MaryB]

Well they are in MN and so am I so shipping is relatively cheap so YES. I have had excellent service from them, always answered a question right away, prices are reasonable on many things(their kegs are way over priced!)...

Could I order from someone on the east or west coast? Sure but shipping will be double on bulk sacks of grain so why would I go that route when NB bulk grain prices are pretty dang low.

Does anyone actually shop at Northern Brewer?

 

[worlddivides]

Out of interest, I checked the shipping costs on NB for 20 pounds of 2-row barley for my current address (in Northern California) and for my new address (in Southeast Michigan) where I'll be moving in about a week and a half.

Both had $7.99 flat rate shipping, but it had the estimated shipping date as 1-2 weeks from now (the estimates were different for the two zip codes).

For California, it had the "Need It Now" rate as $27.00 shipping. For Michigan, it had the "Need It Now" rate as $15.00. It also had the Need It Now shipping dates as a lot sooner for Michigan than for California.

So, yes, the cost of shipping (and when it will arrive) drastically changes depending on where you live.

And, yes, if you want to, you can buy 20 pounds of grain (maybe 30, 40, or 50 too) with only $7.99 shipping. However, it may take you 2 or 3 weeks to get it.

 

[kh54s10]

Out of interest, I checked the shipping costs on NB for 20 pounds of 2-row barley for my current address (in Northern California) and for my new address (in Southeast Michigan) where I'll be moving in about a week and a half.

Both had $7.99 flat rate shipping, but it had the estimated shipping date as 1-2 weeks from now (the estimates were different for the two zip codes).

For California, it had the "Need It Now" rate as $27.00 shipping. For Michigan, it had the "Need It Now" rate as $15.00. It also had the Need It Now shipping dates as a lot sooner for Michigan than for California.

So, yes, the cost of shipping (and when it will arrive) drastically changes depending on where you live.

And, yes, if you want to, you can buy 20 pounds of grain (maybe 30, 40, or 50 too) with only $7.99 shipping. However, it may take you 2 or 3 weeks to get it.

A fifty pound sack is not included in flat rate shipping.

I looked into it yesterday and this is what shipping would cost to me in Rhode Island:

I Can Wait Saver (Arrives between 10/14/16 - 10/19/16) = $36.46
Need It Now Ground (Arrives by: 10/13/16) = $41.18
UPS Three-Day Select (Arrives by: 10/12/16) = $120.31
UPS Second Day Air (Arrives by: 10/11/16) = $202.80
UPS Next Day Air (Arrives by: 10/10/16) = $280.87

 

[Yeastieboy]

A fifty pound sack is not included in flat rate shipping.



I looked into it yesterday and this is what shipping would cost to me in Rhode Island:



I Can Wait Saver (Arrives between 10/14/16 - 10/19/16) = $36.46

Need It Now Ground (Arrives by: 10/13/16) = $41.18

UPS Three-Day Select (Arrives by: 10/12/16) = $120.31

UPS Second Day Air (Arrives by: 10/11/16) = $202.80

UPS Next Day Air (Arrives by: 10/10/16) = $280.87

I got 50 lbs flat rate last week. It must depend where it's going. I'm in TX. Straight down I-35 from NB.... 1200 miles.

 

[Chino_Brews]

OK, so Northern Brewer is my LHBS. I drive up, and they've changed to signage to a tasteful red and white motif, which is the only noticeable change since the takeover. The only malts left in the grain area were 6-row, 2-row, and flaked rice, so I picked up a sack of each. I noticed that they're clearancing all the yeast in the store so they can make room for Wyeast 2007, which will be the only yeast they will carry on a going forward basis. The 2007 was made just a few days ago; it's so fresh it's hard to resist! So a few changes since the AB Inbev takeover, but nothing to get too worked up about, I think. "I, for one, welcome our new corporate overlords," he says, as he sips a smooth, beechwood-aged fizzy lager.

 

[8rnw8]

^I thought he was serious at first...

I think that means I've had one too many?

 

[ericbw]

^I thought he was serious at first...

I think that means I've had one too many?

Got me, too.

 

[jabba11]

I've never been able to find low cost shipping on bulk grain and my LHBS is about 30 miles away and has an iffy supply. I've found my best solution is to buy 10 lb bags of grain from MoreBeer. I can buy (5) 10 lb bags for $52.95. I can always find another $6.05 of stuff to hit their free shipping at $59. A 50 lb bag of Briess 2 row is $57.58 shipped to my house. It is actually cheaper for me to buy the grain broken down into 10 lb bags - and based on what other items I need, I may not buy an entire 50 lbs (or I may go the other way and buy 60 lbs).

. I sure wouldn't mind the flat rate guys are talking about but that must have been a mistake somewhere as its always posted as bulk grain doesn't qualify. if I buy 10 pounds of 2 row at 1.79 a pound (NB) plus 7.99 shipping that's 25.89. x5 equals more than double the 53 odd bucks it takes for me to get it here. Even if I go to more beer right now its still 65 a bag for50 pounds of 2 row to my house at 1.29 a pound (that's buying it by the pound) a sack from them is 37.99 plus shipping as it doesn't qualify for free shipping. A sack to my house from them is 55 bucks

 

[worlddivides]

A fifty pound sack is not included in flat rate shipping.

I looked into it yesterday and this is what shipping would cost to me in Rhode Island:

I Can Wait Saver (Arrives between 10/14/16 - 10/19/16) = $36.46
Need It Now Ground (Arrives by: 10/13/16) = $41.18
UPS Three-Day Select (Arrives by: 10/12/16) = $120.31
UPS Second Day Air (Arrives by: 10/11/16) = $202.80
UPS Next Day Air (Arrives by: 10/10/16) = $280.87

Since I got $7.99 flat shipping for 20 pounds of 2-row to both Northern California and Michigan, I changed it to 50 pounds of the same grain.

At 50 pounds, it changed from $7.99 flat shipping to free shipping ($0.00) and, strangely enough, has an arrival date of 10/17 - 10/20 (which is sooner than I got for 20 pounds). The Need It Now Ground for California is $45.83 and $26.97 for Michigan.

That said, that was 1 pound x 50 (since I couldn't find the 50 pound bulk sack for that grain type on Northern Brewer's website), so it came out to be very expensive. I'm guessing they only offer the 50 pound bulk grain sack for a very small number of grain brands/types.

On MoreBeer, the 50 pound bulk option was easy to find and, thus, cost A LOT less. As expected, though, MoreBeer does not offer free shipping or flat-rate shipping on grain. The shipping to Northern California for 50 pounds of grain was $10.50 (probably because the Californian warehouse is very close to where I live now) and $13.05 for southeast Michigan (probably because their other warehouse is in Pennsylvania, which is pretty close to Michigan).

Anyway, very interesting stuff.

 

[kh54s10]

Since I got $7.99 flat shipping for 20 pounds of 2-row to both Northern California and Michigan, I changed it to 50 pounds of the same grain.

At 50 pounds, it changed from $7.99 flat shipping to free shipping ($0.00) and, strangely enough, has an arrival date of 10/17 - 10/20 (which is sooner than I got for 20 pounds). The Need It Now Ground for California is $45.83 and $26.97 for Michigan.

That said, that was 1 pound x 50 (since I couldn't find the 50 pound bulk sack for that grain type on Northern Brewer's website), so it came out to be very expensive. I'm guessing they only offer the 50 pound bulk grain sack for a very small number of grain brands/types.

On MoreBeer, the 50 pound bulk option was easy to find and, thus, cost A LOT less. As expected, though, MoreBeer does not offer free shipping or flat-rate shipping on grain. The shipping to Northern California for 50 pounds of grain was $10.50 (probably because the Californian warehouse is very close to where I live now) and $13.05 for southeast Michigan (probably because their other warehouse is in Pennsylvania, which is pretty close to Michigan).

Anyway, very interesting stuff.

So, if you order 50 pounds of a certain grain, you might get the flat rate shipping. But, you might also get 50 one pound bags or 5 ten pound bags or 2 twenty and a ten pound bag??????

You are right there are only some grains that they offer in 50 lb sacks.

I buy 10 lb specials from: http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/ But I have yet to find a source that is reasonable for shipping of full sacks.

 

[worlddivides]

So, if you order 50 pounds of a certain grain, you might get the flat rate shipping. But, you might also get 50 one pound bags or 5 ten pound bags or 2 twenty and a ten pound bag??????

You are right there are only some grains that they offer in 50 lb sacks.

I buy 10 lb specials from: http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/ But I have yet to find a source that is reasonable for shipping of full sacks.

Yeah, I have no idea how Northern Brewer handles that. I have purchased things from a few other sites that were sold in a certain unit and I did that unit x10 or whatever and I got them altogether (in a single package or sack), but I'm not sure how Northern Brewer handles that.

It could be that they do ship them in 50 one pound bags or 5 ten pound bags or 2 twenty and 1 ten pound bags. Regardless of how they ship it, it seems that for the vast majority of grain on Northern Brewer, they don't give you a bulk discount for buying more. They charge you according to the 1 pound rate.

And, as such, even if you got free shipping, it would be WAYYYY cheaper to buy that same grain from MoreBeer (or somewhere else) assuming they give you the bulk discount for that grain.

I'll say that I've seen insanely expensive shipping costs and "semi-reasonable" shipping costs, but I haven't seen any that I really thought was a good deal. Part of it, I think is just that 50 pounds, for example, is a pretty damn heavy thing to ship, so it's just inevitable that it's going to cost money. Even if you DO get the $7.99 flat shipping from Northern Brewer, the time it takes to ship and arrive doesn't seem too reasonable.

 

[UndeadFred]

Mail ordering grain is a no-go for most people. Even Rite-Brew and Speedee (which is usually dirt cheap to do and faster than the blazes) is more expensive than my already expensive LHBS by a couple of bucks.. or the same with tax actually... Join a club and get in on a group buy, or try to sweet talk a microbrewery into letting you tag on a bag or three. The last option is when you take a long trip, see if there is a LHBS that has $35-40 bags.. many do.. and pick it up on the way back.. I've done all three. My LHBS prices just lower than Rite-Brew plus shipping, but he knows his market. He USED to be $10 more... not now...

If I was going up to Minneapolis (which I try to avoid most of the time) and I needed a sack of something, I would without hesitation buy it from NB...

 

[chopandbrew]

So awesome! Don't forget the Beechwood Chips, yo!

 

[foam_top]

I hope I'm not being a "tin-foil hat" type of person but who's to say InBev is going to stop here. They have been inching all over craft beer market for years, while at the same time insulting craft beer. The message is clear to me, they're not buying out because they enjoy the craft, they're doing it to shut us out.

If this rumor is true I am totally bummed.

 

[munche]

So a random guy says his random unnamed buddy told him that a homebrew company was bought out, and that is credible and solid enough information for 11 pages of fretting and speculation and "good, I never liked 'em anyways!"

Yikes.

 

[andvari7]

Since nobody has been able to confirm this, I am going to assume that it was a false alarm.

 

[cwmagui]

I don't know what website you looked at but Breiss 2 row from NB is $35 + shipping, typically around $20 MoreBeer is about the same + shipping. I live in MN so shipping to me from NB is cheaper than anywhere else...

I just looked for 50 lbs of Briess 2-row:

Northern Brewer: $74.50 + Shipping:
I Can Wait Flat Rate (Arrives between 10/17/16 - 10/20/16) = $7.99
Need It Now Ground (Arrives by: 10/14/16) = $31.84
UPS Second Day Air (Arrives by: 10/13/16) = $122.81
UPS Next Day Air (Arrives by: 10/12/16) = $246.31

MoreBeer: $37.99 + FedEx Home Delivery - $13.05
Get it on Wednesday Oct 12th (the only option . And by the way, that's overnight)

 

[Gduck]

I feel bad for people without local homebrew stores. My shop carries just about everything at around or less than the cost of the online retailers and there is obviously no shipping. Bulk hops direct from suppliers and fixed priced items (ssbrewtech etc) that a lhbs can't get any margin on, are all I buy online.


I also love the people who fuss about InBev but forgo their local shop to buy at online retailers.

Sadly I have a local home-brew shop, but its prices are so high it's cheaper to order online even with shipping. I pretty much only use them as an emergency "oh s*&t, I'm out of this" place. I'd love to support local, but I'm not going to pay a big premium just to do it.

 

[Grannyknot]

Best thing about this thread is that HBT emailed me that this was a must read thread.

 

[plankbr]

Have any of you called your local brewery and just asked if they can sell you a bag from time to time? I have with much success and get them for $37. Win-win!

 

[NickTheGreat]

Best thing about this thread is that HBT emailed me that this was a must read thread.

Same here . . . I guess it worked

 

[JasonU]

Same here . . . I guess it worked

Darn click bait!

 

[suprchunk]

Same tactics as their buddy homebrewing.com

 

[justalien]

Why on Earth would InBev want to buy relatively tiny online homebrew stores? The only thing this post proves is people will believe anything.

This is silliness.

 

[Kwitty]

Not to derail the derail, but has anyone figured out if Northern brewer made a deal with the devil?

 

[Mishraile]

Not to derail the derail, but has anyone figured out if Northern brewer made a deal with the devil?

Their website states that it is still a family owned, local business, and Farley remains the President and CEO.

Rumor likely not true.

 

[Pedro-]

Best thing about this thread is that HBT emailed me that this was a must read thread.

Same here . . . I guess it worked

Darn click bait!

Big brewers are taking over. This ONE TRICK will save your HB Supply Shop!

<----- didn't expect to be a clickbait fool from HBT.