Relocating to Omaha

[Westphalen]

Very close (around the corner-ish) from Fermenters Supply is Cornhusker Beverage (and Bridal). Which you would not know is a HBS. Nice employees. Selection is not stellar but they have the essentials when you're in a bind.

http :// www.cornhuskerbeverage.com/home_brew.htm

I'd love to start a HBS out West (170th and Center area). Looking into it.

 

[Westphalen]

Most Hy-Vee grocery stores have a great selection, however go the the Hy-Vee on 144th and Stony Brook, and ask for Richard or KJ. Richard is a pro brewer, and KJ managed Beertopia in the past.

^This

 

[Revvy]

Very close (around the corner-ish) from Fermenters Supply is Cornhusker Beverage (and Bridal). Which you would not know is a HBS. Nice employees. Selection is not stellar but they have the essentials when you're in a bind.

http :// www.cornhuskerbeverage.com/home_brew.htm

I'd love to start a HBS out West (170th and Center area). Looking into it.

WTF?!?!? Brewing and Bridal supplies?!?!?!?!?

 

[camiller]

WTF?!?!? Brewing and Bridal supplies?!?!?!?!?

And liquor store!

Started* as a liquor store, added homebrew, then beverage catering for wedding receptions corporate parties etc. Then added wedding invitations as a natural extension to the beverage catering business. Largest wedding invitation retailer in a 7-state area. one year when Omaha issued 3000 marriage licenses Cornhusker sold 1500 invitation orders.


* Actually the parent company history (Willow Springs) goes back further than that. Started as a distillery pre-prohibition! Then a soft drink bottler for many decades, there is still a bottling line in the back warehouse. They bottled Goody Pop up until about 15 years ago.

 

[camiller]

Very close (around the corner-ish) from Fermenters Supply is Cornhusker Beverage (and Bridal). Which you would not know is a HBS. Nice employees. Selection is not stellar but they have the essentials when you're in a bind.

http :// www.cornhuskerbeverage.com/home_brew.htm

I'd love to start a HBS out West (170th and Center area). Looking into it.

What are we lacking? I do 90% of the ordering, if there is something truly lacking I'll talk it over with Jim and see what we can do

Edit: Oh, and that website is horribly out of date, doesn't tie directly in with our Quickbooks point of sale/inventory system, has to be manually updated and only shows maybe 30% of what we carry. and the online store has been down frequently because the hosting provider sucks. (In fact it is down now.)

 

[MHUSS]

I think it would be great if there was a HBS out west. Omaha is in desperate need of a good quality HBS.

 

[I_B_Mongo]

I can't speak about any HBS in Omaha, but I can second the awesome beer scene up there! We took a vacation up there last year. I made sure to hit up both Upstream and Beertopia. I got to meet the Head Brewer at Upstream. He was a great guy and very informative. I dropped of a bottle of one of my homebrews, and he tried it with his assistant and e-mailed me back his thoughts. Next day went to Beertopia while the wife and kid napped. They were really cool too. They were sampling a bottle of the just released Rogue JohnJohn, and poured me a taste too. Probably didn't hurt that I dropped about $120 on different bottles, but nonetheless, they were all really cool and offered a few suggestions after seeing what I was buying.
Enjoy and good luck!

 

[Westphalen]

What are we lacking? I do 90% of the ordering, if there is something truly lacking I'll talk it over with Jim and see what we can do

Edit: Oh, and that website is horribly out of date, doesn't tie directly in with our Quickbooks point of sale/inventory system, has to be manually updated and only shows maybe 30% of what we carry. and the online store has been down frequently because the hosting provider sucks. (In fact it is down now.)

I appreciate the fact that we even have a HBS in Omaha so I'm not trying to bash you. I love you guys! I'm just saying compared to a place like Northern Brewer or Midwest Supplies...you can't just roll in and get whatever grain/malt your heart desires. I know you can and will order it.

And, yes, ordering from the online store basically is not going to happen. You have to roll up and grab your gear in person.

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

I appreciate the fact that we even have a HBS in Omaha so I'm not trying to bash you. I love you guys! I'm just saying compared to a place like Northern Brewer or Midwest Supplies...you can't just roll in and get whatever grain/malt your heart desires. I know you can and will order it.

I was at both of the LHBSs today. I was surprised at how much of the liquid yeast was gone from Cornhusker from one week to the next. I didn't find the yeast I wanted at Cornhusker Beverage Mart today, and went around the corner to find it on hand at Fermenter's Supply in the refrigerator. In August, I appreciate not having to worry about it having it arrive hot and dead. It is convenient to have them within a block of each other, though they are not convenient to my home.

Neither place is going to compete with NB, Midwest, or others in that tier without a much more aggressive (or at least functional) web presence. That said, I appreciate being able to drive there and grab stuff without planning a week ahead or paying prodigious shipping costs. Running a business, their inventory is presumably constrained by limited profit margins and limited volume. I try to buy locally, even if it costs me a little more, to do my part to ensure that they stick around.

 

[sendkyleanemail]

Any of you Omaha folks have a grain mill I could use for a day or two?

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

I'd be happy to have you bring grain to my house to mill. It's a Monster 3 roller mounted on a good size table. Send me a PM and we can make arrangements.

 

[camiller]

I was at both of the LHBSs today. I was surprised at how much of the liquid yeast was gone from Cornhusker from one week to the next. I didn't find the yeast I wanted at Cornhusker Beverage Mart today, and went around the corner to find it on hand at Fermenter's Supply in the refrigerator. In August, I appreciate not having to worry about it having it arrive hot and dead. It is convenient to have them within a block of each other, though they are not convenient to my home.

Neither place is going to compete with NB, Midwest, or others in that tier without a much more aggressive (or at least functional) web presence. That said, I appreciate being able to drive there and grab stuff without planning a week ahead or paying prodigious shipping costs. Running a business, their inventory is presumably constrained by limited profit margins and limited volume. I try to buy locally, even if it costs me a little more, to do my part to ensure that they stick around.

I have to admit, it is kind of weird for our yeast supply to drop so fast! The previous week I thought I had enough stock and enough additional inbound to handle demand (and for a typical week I would have). I think that as the extreme temperatures of the last few weeks eased a bit everybody decided to brew!.

 

[rellot]

+1 on Upstream, Crescent Moon, Beertopia, etc.

I agree, Friendly Frank takes some getting used to and his prices are high, but when you need something in a pinch, it is good to have him. His selection is a lot better that Cornhuskers.

On a side note I've noticed on this, there are a bunch of us in West O. Maybe we should all get together. I haven't gone to any local clubs because of the distance. I would host it in my garage if people are interested.

 

[sendkyleanemail]

Are there are SOBs around midtown?

 

[rellot]

Are there are SOBs around midtown?

?

 

[atgunning]

There are SOB's everywhere. Several live in midtown, most live in West Omaha. Only a few of us actually live in the South O/Bellevue area. We will be at the crescent moon on Wednesday for the Belgian Beer Society meeting around 5:30ish, feel free to drop in and hang out with a large group of beer nerds.

 

[rellot]

by SOB do you mean son of a . . ., or is this special beer nerd terminology that somehow I am unaware of?

 

[atgunning]

by SOB do you mean son of a . . ., or is this special beer nerd terminology that somehow I am unaware of?

South Omaha Brewers - SOB's

You can join the email discussion group at [email protected]

 

[rellot]

oh, good.

I was just commenting that there aren't any groups that meet out here in West O. Now that I have completely taken this thread off topic.

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

http://nebraskabeer.blogspot.com/2010/10/re-born-brewing-club-in-omaha.html

Is this still going in West O?

 

[atgunning]

http://nebraskabeer.blogspot.com/2010/10/re-born-brewing-club-in-omaha.html

Is this still going in West O?

As far as I know it is, but I haven't heard much about it. I met one of them at the Huber Haus a few months ago, so I guess they are still around.

 

[camiller]

http://nebraskabeer.blogspot.com/2010/10/re-born-brewing-club-in-omaha.html

Is this still going in West O?

Yeah, I mentioned them in post 24. The German American Society is on 120th street between L Street and Center on the east side of the street. I have met at least one of their members (probably more but only one that identified himself as a member).