thumbs up to austin homewbrew supply

[metaltim]

The hops are $1.99 an ounce. Not $3. I will look into bulk hops. What size?

only others i've seen are in 4oz. and 8oz. chunks. FHBS has awesome hops prices, usually $3-$4 for 4 oz, but they are very limited in equipment/supplies/ingredients outside of hops. So i only get hops from them. if AHS had bulk hops, i would have likely bought them all from you guys, along with a handful of batches to get the $100 free shipping.

Of course, in Nov. I bought about 4.5 lbs. of hops (for ~ $80, shipped), so I won't be needing them for a while! But others would surely appreciate it. They had willamette for $2.65/4oz!

I realize the extra costs associated with packaging in 1 oz. bags. I've been to LHBS, and the whole time i was there, noticed the guy in the corner bagging them up. making $8-$10 an hour, scooping from big bucket, weighing, then vacuum sealing... all for 1 oz. It's no wonder an oz. costs what it does. However, takes the same amount of time to bag up a 4oz. bag, (or 8oz. bag) so that labor and packaging cost is divided by 4 or 8 (roughly).
Bulk hops combined with a $3 ziplock vacuum freezer bag thingamajig at HEB.. and hops is where I've saved the most recently.

But hey, like i said, that my only gripe with AHS, and an easy fix likely on their part! gotta love ordering in the afternoon and having it on my doorstep in houston the next morning

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Unfortunately, on hops, no matter what I price them at someone will always be cheaper. There are a lot of places that sell them at my cost. But there are bags, labor, labels, etc. on top of that. The price of grain just went up and the prices of hops will go up shortly. I will do my best to hold the prices down while materials, labor and the cost of the hops go up, while maintaining the free shipping offer.

We had one person order $450 worth of merchandise but the cost of the items, shipping, shipping materials, labor, etc was over $500. Sometimes the free shipping deal only works out for the customer. Its all good. Happy to keep brewers happy.

Forrest

 

[Fish4666]

Unfortunately, on hops, no matter what I price them at someone will always be cheaper. There are a lot of places that sell them at my cost. But there are bags, labor, labels, etc. on top of that. The price of grain just went up and the prices of hops will go up shortly. I will do my best to hold the prices down while materials, labor and the cost of the hops go up, while maintaining the free shipping offer.

We had one person order $450 worth of merchandise but the cost of the items, shipping, shipping materials, labor, etc was over $500. Sometimes the free shipping deal only works out for the customer. Its all good. Happy to keep brewers happy.

Forrest

I work for two small businesses and I can only relate to what you just said. There will always be someone cheaper. Since you guys took care of me when the hygrometer you shipped me was broken I will surely continue to buy product from you.

 

[metaltim]

I work for two small businesses and I can only relate to what you just said. There will always be someone cheaper. Since you guys took care of me when the hygrometer you shipped me was broken I will surely continue to buy product from you.

Yeh I don't think I meant to say in my post they should be cheaper than another place.. Remember I just thought they should sell in bulk hops. Of course I don't know, but I surely guess if Forrest and Co. packaged up 4 oz. bags of hops, they could sell them less for the price of four 1 oz. packages.

and that's all i suggested, sell them in bulk, and lower the unit cost. With two big names out there doing so (one of them with a big presence on this board), I just think only offering 1 oz. bags may hurt your hops sales at some.

 

[scsi]

I need to say I love AHS. No gripes at all. Every member of the staff is very, very friendly. I'm lucky to live very close to the shop, and it's sort of between my house and work. My wallet thinks its a curse, though. I've been there three times this week alone.

The shop is big, clean, well organized. I like it better than their old one, which was farther away from me.


Anyways, customer for life here. I wonder what I can go buy today!!

 

[CTS]

I wish that the shipping to Canada was not so dam expensive. But I think I found a way around it!! there is a Parcel Service just 1 mile inside the US border. Probably be a 3hr round trip for me but I can get free shipping to there and will only cost me maybe $20 in gas. Gotta get those Sam Adams and Blue Moon clones!!!

 

[Turk10mm]

We had one person order $450 worth of merchandise but the cost of the items, shipping, shipping materials, labor, etc was over $500. Sometimes the free shipping deal only works out for the customer. Its all good. Happy to keep brewers happy.

I have a feeling this was me. about a month ago. I had about 9 boxes show up, all packed so well that you'd think they were shipping china to me. I looked at the packaging when it arrived and actually wondered how much that actually cost to do.

If it was me, Forrest, you'll get it back from me in time. I promise! Thanks

 

[metaltim]

speaking of the flat rate shipping.. of course it's a great idea.. but honestly, I'd rather see actual shipping up to say $100, then free or flat after that.
Can't think of how many times I need an item under $10, so I have to scrounge around locally for it. (Or find a place that doesn't the flat shipping business). Would be great if I could get a a pair of 1/4" FFL swivel nuts, and pay the $2 shipping that it costs to throw them in a padded envelope and mail em.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I have a feeling this was me. about a month ago. I had about 9 boxes show up, all packed so well that you'd think they were shipping china to me. I looked at the packaging when it arrived and actually wondered how much that actually cost to do.

If it was me, Forrest, you'll get it back from me in time. I promise! Thanks

You can rest easy, it was a guy in Cali. Its all good. Thanks for your business.

Forrest

 

[crlova2]

I have to agree with the consensus on the board that AHS is great and until recently I have placed almost all of my orders since I started brewing from them. However, lately I have been making very hoppy IPA's or pale ales and even with places that have 15-17 dollars shipping I can get a better deal else where solely because of lower hop prices and grain prices in semi bulk buying. If AHS would start selling semi-bulk or bulk hops I doubt I would ever shop around anywhere else. Other than that I have never had an issue with them and sometimes I will even call for brewing advice and the person on the phone is always happy to help.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I have to agree with the consensus on the board that AHS is great and until recently I have placed almost all of my orders since I started brewing from them. However, lately I have been making very hoppy IPA's or pale ales and even with places that have 15-17 dollars shipping I can get a better deal else where solely because of lower hop prices and grain prices in semi bulk buying. If AHS would start selling semi-bulk or bulk hops I doubt I would ever shop around anywhere else. Other than that I have never had an issue with them and sometimes I will even call for brewing advice and the person on the phone is always happy to help.

I am working on having more bulk items. Thanks for the input.

Forrest

 

[BoxofRain]

I have a package being delivered tonight! I might be able to get some brewing done this weekend as well!