The best online home brew supply retailer?

[Austinhomebrew]

Just a quick compare of a couple things I want to order:

Midwest - 55 pounds Marris Otter:
$44.95 + $20.52 shipping
Total = $65.47 or $1.19 per pound.

Austin Home Brew - 40 pounds of Marris Otter
$53.99 + $5.99 shipping
Total = $59.98 or $1.36 per pound.

*******

On the other hand...when it comes to hardware:

Midwest - Ventmatic Faucet:
$42.95 + $6.34 shipping
Total = $49.29.

Austin Home Brew - Ventmatic Faucet:
$39.49 + $0.00 shipping (free shipping if only product in cart)
Total = $39.49.

Please note that we have a flat rate of $5.99 shipping so to compare 1 item at a time with $5.99 shipping on each item is misleading.

If you want to attach the $5.99 shipping to the Marris Otter then you have to point out that shipping is free on the rest of your items on that order. Midwest does not do this. We should have the best overall delivered price as long as you order more than one thing at a time.

 

[heertsy]

Let me praise Northern Brewer. Living in Iowa, they will ship from their store in MN the same day, and i get things the very next day.

That being said, they are also EXTREMELY helpful and honest when it comes to anything. Have a problem?? They will take care of it no matter what it is.

They are also about as cheap as anyone as far as equipment goes.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I agree Northern Brewer is a great place to buy supplies. People should buy from the store that gives them the best overall experience depending on that persons situation.

I was born and raised in Iowa City. Greetings to a fellow Iowan.

Forrest
Austin Homebrew Supply

 

[FlynnAle]

I have shopped at all of them...being in Texas I hate the sales tax at AHS though the service was great and they switched out chrome faucets on a tower for ventimatics for no charge other than the difference in price. NB has been good but 3 days shipping to texas is a bit long...I mostly use high gravity brew in Tulsa, OK. They ship fexex ground which gets to me in a day. They don't have the largest selection but Desiree is really nice and I can order at 4:30PM and still get it the next day.

 

[Bearcat Brewmeister]

Northern Brewer is a good shop. I have ordered my mail and stopped in when I was in town (thanks for the tip on Town Hall brewery - great IPA). I don't need them often since Listermann's is my local shop, but when I need stuff I can't get here, NB is my first choice.

 

[Ryanh1801]

Forest, Just wondering are your bulk grains the same price in store? Just wondering if it would be worth a trip down there to get a few bags.

 

[sphericalcamel]

I started out homebrewing with a kit from http://www.thehomebrewery.com/ and it was pretty good, got a few more and was happy. All of them were dry yeast. Shipping took a bit of time since I live in CA. Overall I was happy with them.

My main supplier is MoreBeer (http://morebeer.com) since they are close to me and ground shipping arrives 2 days after I place the order.

I just ordered some kits from AHS and was quite happy with the wit. I'm currently cooling a trippel from them too. The recipe selection for kit brewing is excellent.

I haven't had any bad experiences at any of these stores.

 

[DeathBrewer]

i usually order from morebeer cuz it gets here in one day and they have everything.

my LHBS is Oak Barrel, however...cuz they're the biggity bomb. they don't have all the equipment i need, tho.

 

[libs]

Another vote for AHS. Just got my first kit last friday and it is bubbling away.

 

[beerdad]

I have only used Austin Homebrew and have been very satsfied so far. They had no problem with a couple of last minute add ons after my original order was already processed. On my last order I mistakingly ordered 2 items I didn't need. After a one minute phone call my order was promptly corrected and I got a refund for the items I didn't need.

 

[jerly]

I generally use AHS when I order online. My experience has been great with them but I do have one complaint. I don't like the rush order option. I don't see why there is an option to pay more money to get them to process your order faster. I did it once and I'm not so sure that I got my order faster than any of my others. So on one hand I can't complain, but on the other, I felt I got shammed. It just seems to be a way to stick it to the consumer.

That aside, I think AHS is great and have been very happy with my purchases there. The recipe kits have all been great, and I've never had any problems with leaky lme or broken items.

 

[beerdad]

That is also the one thing I don't like about AHS. The $9.99 option to cut everyone else in the line reminds of those darn fastpass or flashpass things you get at the amusement park.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Thanks for your input. The reason we have the expedite service is in case you need to have your order faster. We put your order in front of the 75-100 orders ahead of yours. We put orders together in the order we receive them in order to be fair no matter how small the order.

The main reason we put the expedite service is that we would receive at least one call a day where someone would want to cut in line (for free) to make their order ship faster. They wouldn't understand why it wasn't fair to cut in line.
I am happy to report that we rarely get an order expedited and people have stopped asking to cut in line.

It is really a deterrent for people to cut in line, not a bribe in order to cut in line. We figured the only way to get people to stop asking us to be unfair to other customers was to attach money to it. It has worked. It wasn't a trick for us to make more money because we will get an expedited order about once a month. It just keeps everything running smoothly and no one gets upset. It seems to work for More Beer as well because they offer the same expedite service.

Forrest
Austin Homebrew Suppply

 

[olllllo]

We use the rush fee in the software industry as a deterrent.
It doesn't buy us any extra developers or give us any extra resources whatsoever.

It only works (for us) when the client DOESN'T exercise that option.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

Hey you can't forget about the weekly prizes from AHB either!

I won $20 from them a few months ago.....pretty cool if you ask me

 

[Bobby_M]

Hey, if shipping companies can offer expedite service, why not any other business? My company has a process that is stated as a 30 day maximum turnaround We offer a 48 hour service for a premium price.

 

[Beerrific]

So I was reading the latest edition of BYO ans saw an add for Asheville Brewers Supply. That is fairly close to me so I though I would take a look. Great website. They have really good prices on bulk grain. And their shipping rates are fantastic.

Never been there but if you live on this side of the country, it might be a good option to look into.

 

[Bills Brew]

I have had good results from MoreBeer for the last year and a half. Orders complete and arrive about 4 days. I've only compared prices between them and AHS and I've found that Morebeer's prices are lower: Liquid yeast about $1 less. extract kits a few dollars less on top of free shipping. Plus their catalog is awesome! AHS does have larger selection of extract kits.

However; it seems Morebeer has been having some inventory problems lately. A lot of the Belgian Ales, Pilsner, and Kolsch kits have been "unavailable until the end of August or mid September" since mid JULY! A while back they were having inventory problems with, of all things, dry yeast. So, I just placed my first order with AHS.

 

[beerdad]

Yes AHS is top notch. I didn't mean to sound like I don't love them when I complained about the $9.99 for expedited service. I complain a lot so if that is my only complaint with AHS it is high praise.

 

[libs]

Thanks again to AHS for keeping up on this site and letting us know what's going on. They will defiantly get more of my non-rushed business in the future. After all, brewing is largely about being patient.

 

[beerdad]

I love Austin Homebrew Supply. I was looking for a 32 ounce bottle of starsan and they didn't list it on their website. I was going to purchase it elsewhere but I figured I would email them first and ask if they could get it. They promptly emailed me back letting me know they do have it and not listing it was an oversight. They fixed it on their website and sent me a link all on SUNDAY! Thanks AHS!

 

[jdcoffman]

I LOVE Austin Homebrew! Not that there is anything wrong with any of the big boys I've ordered from, AHS has just always been there for me ;-)