Washington, DC Brewers Beware!!!

[WrongCoastBrewery]

Agreed. I find it ironic that a person posts questions on this forum about what an acronym stands for, water cooler composition, brass fittings, or I just started to read a post about a brewstand set-up and the first response was "It will never work." Apparently supposed to be a joke. But Derek is rude? I lurk here most every day because there is a lot of useful information, but if I have a question I would much rather ask Derek and get a straight answer than have to read through several rude replies on here.

Im sorry to here that you have had bad experiences here. I do believe many of us have not. In my experience, he has been wrong about many things. One being that White Labs is not as good as Wyeast. Another being about the reusable hose clamps for kegging systems. On that one, he stated that the red ones used for the gas lines would work on the 3/16" beer line. Wrong, they dont. I look back at this post and many reviews online and all of them say Derek is a d-bag. But hey, each person is entitled to his own opinion.

 

[budbo]

Originally Posted by skinydipper View Post
Agreed. I find it ironic that a person posts questions on this forum about what an acronym stands for, water cooler composition, brass fittings, or I just started to read a post about a brewstand set-up and the first response was "It will never work." Apparently supposed to be a joke. But Derek is rude? I lurk here most every day because there is a lot of useful information, but if I have a question I would much rather ask Derek and get a straight answer than have to read through several rude replies on here.

As one who lives about the same distance (1.5-2hrs depending on traffic) from pretty much all the shops discussed here, I appreciate the reviews (good or Bad). I personally like MDHB but it is still cheaper for me to Order on line at Brewmaster's Warehouse and get $6.99 shipping (which is cheaper than the gas to get to any of the "local" shops). If I am going to make the drive, I'd rather spend my money where they are polite.

As far as not liking to read through replies here, that is your loss as a brewer, you will brew the way "Derek" does and never develop your own style. Home Brewing is far from an exact science, and everyone has their own opinions and ways of doing things. I personally learned much from getting a number of answers to questions when I started coming here. It gave me new ideas on how to do things, and helped me develop "my way" of brewing. I come here and ask when I want to try something new, sometimes I go with advice from other experienced brewers, sometimes the Noobs come up with gems that work for me. Before coming here, I learned from a friend and the owner of my LHBS, by the time I left Nebraska, I was teaching them things I had learned from this board.

 

[stevedasleeve]

Really? You dont "get" why people write reviews? Ever used Yelp or read a review on a movie or product? I love it how a negative review is viewed as a "dis" by people who dont like it. My guess is that you dont accept other peoples opinions because they are wrong. But whatever man, you keep shopping there. That way you stay out of the better stores and dont crap them up.

"I found Derek to be a serious d-bag"
"If anyone else opened up a shop in the DC metro area and actually ran it how a LHBS should be ran, they would tan his hide."
"Like I said before, avoid him at all cost."
"Why in the world would you go to a craphole like MLHBS."

You didn't post a review, you posted a rant. You seem to be terribly pissed of because he sold you a refurbished keg and it wasn't up to snuff and because you didn't get "educated" opinions about yeast and his personality is not to your liking right? And he apologized for the keg but, what, didn't apologize nicely enough?

IMHO you sabotage a business - by that I mean post in public forums "AVOID myLHBS in Falls Church, VA" and the like - for serious legit reasons not because you don't like the persons character. Seriously man it is really just a matter of putting on his shoes for a second. Do you truly think it is fair to cause him to lose business, in this economy, because of these things?

I only post in response to this because I have been there and to all the LHBS in the area and found his prices to be more fair than the others around here and decently equipped and stocked. Save your ire for Exxon and MacDonalds, not small local businesses.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

"I found Derek to be a serious d-bag"
"If anyone else opened up a shop in the DC metro area and actually ran it how a LHBS should be ran, they would tan his hide."
"Like I said before, avoid him at all cost."
"Why in the world would you go to a craphole like MLHBS."

You didn't post a review, you posted a rant. You seem to be terribly pissed of because he sold you a refurbished keg and it wasn't up to snuff and because you didn't get "educated" opinions about yeast and his personality is not to your liking right? And he apologized for the keg but, what, didn't apologize nicely enough?

IMHO you sabotage a business - by that I mean post in public forums "AVOID myLHBS in Falls Church, VA" and the like - for serious legit reasons not because you don't like the persons character. Seriously man it is really just a matter of putting on his shoes for a second. Do you truly think it is fair to cause him to lose business, in this economy, because of these things?

I only post in response to this because I have been there and to all the LHBS in the area and found his prices to be more fair than the others around here and decently equipped and stocked. Save your ire for Exxon and MacDonalds, not small local businesses.

Just because he is a small local business, I am supposed to cut him slack. If anything, they should work harder because they do have to compete with bigger conglomerates. What I really find funny is that you split hairs and say that certain adjectives are harsher than others therefore it is a rant. Most negative reviews could be classified as rants. Am I sabotaging his business? Hardly my friend. Sabotage would more like me opening that shop in the same complex as his, calling it something like My Local Homebrew Supply, and then charging half of what he does. Now that is sabotage.

And furthermore, at what point do consumers owe anything to a business, let alone a small business that has crappy customer service and debatable prices? Just because the economy is bad doesnt mean that I have to shop there. I go where my dollar goes the farthest. Even people like my girlfriend and various non-brewing friends that have been there agree his store is small and his customer service makes it a poor business. Granted I can forgive the space concerns. Well, maybe not. Annapolis Homebrew is a small business in the homebrewing market. They are expanding. Hmmmm. Makes you wonder why Derek is still in the same craphole of a building. Like I said before, everyone who doesn't have a problem with his "charm", keep shopping there and keep taking his crap. Saves the better places for homebrewers who actually care if their hobby grows. When you wake up and realize the place isnt that good, come find me and I will tell you where the good places are. Better yet, read the entire post and you will find out that info.

 

[stevedasleeve]

Yeah whatever. Happy holidays.

 

[ptakers]

I have to weigh in on the side of myLHBS. I've been there many times and Derek has always been nice and professional. Never had a complaint.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

Yeah whatever. Happy holidays.

LOL. Same to you bud. I see your rebuttal is at the level I suspected it to be at.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

I have to weigh in on the side of myLHBS. I've been there many times and Derek has always been nice and professional. Never had a complaint.

I find this so hard to believe. I have been there 4-5 times. Never have I seen this. When do you shop there? I have been there during the week and on the weekends. So I am not sure if it matters.

 

[JauntyJames]

It could just be that he doesn't like you. Not having met you, I have no idea why that might be the case, but your presence is a common thread in all your experiences with him. Now, that in and of itself is bad customer service; you treat any paying customer the same regardless of personal feelings if you want them to come back. So don't go back. Just be the better man and don't try to take away his business. Live and let live.

There was an article in the Washington Post about a month ago about homebrewing, and it featured myLHBS. It'll probably send a good bit of business their way.

 

[Bmorebrew]

Guess I'm not really going to add a whole lot to this thread, but I do want to voice my support for MDHB. I've been brewing AG for a year now and the people there are great. I've spent a lot of time discussing things with them and asking lots of questions. When I step into the store they always ask if they can help with anything - aside from a few bulk orders of things like hops over the internet, this place receives all my business. I love to support them because they know how its done.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

It could just be that he doesn't like you. Not having met you, I have no idea why that might be the case, but your presence is a common thread in all your experiences with him. Now, that in and of itself is bad customer service; you treat any paying customer the same regardless of personal feelings if you want them to come back. So don't go back. Just be the better man and don't try to take away his business. Live and let live.

There was an article in the Washington Post about a month ago about homebrewing, and it featured myLHBS. It'll probably send a good bit of business their way.

Really? That is your arguement? That he doesnt like me? My presense would be because I shopped there. How would my presense be the catylist to poor goods and service? Oh right, he doesnt like me so he gave me the crappy ones. He must not like a lot of people since there is a fair bit of similiar negative opinions. And for the record, I have stopped shopping there. In fact, I took it upon myself to fix the kegs without having to deal with him.

Next point. So because I feel his shop is crappy, I should just ignore him and his shop. I shouldn't review it or warn people of the potential bad customer service. Opinions like that keep the bad businesses in business. Yet again, this post was a negative review and opinion that brewers in the DC area should shop elsewhere. The fact that the last two people who have posted here, other than myself, took offense to my reviews only shows narrow mindiness. Don't like a negative review so you attack the person and try to bring them down. So far I have been accused of sabotage, taking business away, and attacking his way of life. Im sorry, but if I sucked at my job as much as I feel he has, I would get fired. But I don't so I have a good job that I excel at. He could too. I have so far stated my opinion of his service and stated specific facts that have supported my opinions. I have asked for the other side of the arguement only to get "he is nice to me" and no facts to support that. I even asked a recent poster to tell me when he shopped there so I could better understand the owner and the shop. Is it because he gets stressed easily? Or is it because he has specific days that he must deal with other daily business tasks? Not one answer. See, thats what people who are open to both sides of the arguement do. They try to understand the other side of it. I strongly feel my arguement has merit and hence will stand by it. But it doesnt stop me from being open to other opinions. So, my review stands and if you dont like it, Im sorry. You can continue to shop there and I have stopped shopping there.

Plus, just because he is small business, doesn't mean that consumers owe him anything.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

Guess I'm not really going to add a whole lot to this thread, but I do want to voice my support for MDHB. I've been brewing AG for a year now and the people there are great. I've spent a lot of time discussing things with them and asking lots of questions. When I step into the store they always ask if they can help with anything - aside from a few bulk orders of things like hops over the internet, this place receives all my business. I love to support them because they know how its done.

From what I have learned, both MDHB and AHB are some of the best shops around. Unfortunately for me, MDHB is too far in comparision to AHB or I would shop there. I have only heard great things about MDHB and will make it up there one day.

 

[bowiefan]

Wow, a flame war on the brew boards! For what it's worth, I chimed in earlier but I'll offer up a little more detail... I was brought to MLHBS by a friend that lives near it, and was also the guy that got me into brewing. I have been to the store twice, both times the only person working was the owner (identified as such by my friend.) The first time I was in search of a few different specialty grains all of which were in stock. However, all of the grains were only available in premeasured and precrushed bags, not vac sealed btw which would have made it at least partially ok. I bought it anyhow as he told me they are packaged fresh a few times a week and I was brewing after work. When I got home I discovered that one of the grains (believe it was crystal 80) was moldy and had to be thrown out. I brewed anyway and after checking my efficiency found I was down 15% from my normal batch on a beer I brew regularly, nothing had changed but what I bought from MLHBS. Also, the prices on the grains were a uniform 10% higher than what they cost at MHBW. The second trip was just to get a new racking cane and some tubing which I got. However there were 2 or 3 other customers in the store at the time. One of the other customers was new to all grain and was asking to have a recipe filled, was told to just get bags of prepackaged grain off the shelf and that crushing was out of the question as they were too busy. I also overheard him give advice to another customer while I was in line, whichi remember thinking was patently false. While I can understand people going there if it is brewday and you something "right this second",I will never again darken his doorstep with my shadow.

Oh and my friend, who had done all his shopping there since the day Jay's closed, now drives all the way to AHB for anything.

 

[skinydipper]

Im sorry to here that you have had bad experiences here. I do believe many of us have not. In my experience, he has been wrong about many things. One being that White Labs is not as good as Wyeast. Another being about the reusable hose clamps for kegging systems. On that one, he stated that the red ones used for the gas lines would work on the 3/16" beer line. Wrong, they dont. I look back at this post and many reviews online and all of them say Derek is a d-bag. But hey, each person is entitled to his own opinion.

I'm not saying I have a bad experience here, I just get tired of needing to read several non-answer smart assed replies to find the answer to the OP's question. Dragging this thread out for five pages does not prove that your opinion of Derek is accurate, but enhances my opinion of your "review". His niche store does not fit your niche needs, we get it, but calling him a d-bag accomplishes what for you?

And I will tell you this much, if I owned a store and you walked in with the same attitude you have in this thread I would have to say that I wouldn't give a crap if you never darkened my door again. It's Derek's store, he is free to run it the way he feels fit. If it doesn't meet your needs, just state so and leave it at that.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

I dont mean for this to be a flame war. I intended it to be a review for people so they could know of the poor service. However, some have taken offense and thats where it starts. Like the old saying goes, one person tells ten when the service is poor. Ultimately, its up to the consumers out there to make the decision to shop there or not.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

I'm not saying I have a bad experience here, I just get tired of needing to read several non-answer smart assed replies to find the answer to the OP's question. Dragging this thread out for five pages does not prove that your opinion of Derek is accurate, but enhances my opinion of your "review". His niche store does not fit your niche needs, we get it, but calling him a d-bag accomplishes what for you?

And I will tell you this much, if I owned a store and you walked in with the same attitude you have in this thread I would have to say that I wouldn't give a crap if you never darkened my door again. It's Derek's store, he is free to run it the way he feels fit. If it doesn't meet your needs, just state so and leave it at that.

Not once have I called him a d-bag personally. Many others have and the one reference I made to the term was from other people. I dont know if he is a d-bag. I do know he, IMO, is not good at customer service. I am amazed that my "niche" is something he doesn't have as you say. My niche is just plain ol' good customer service. Furthermore, there was no question in the OP, just an opinion. The smart ass comments were from outside posters. Where I take offense are to the posts that are narrowminded and accusing the negative reviews of being sabotage and such. If you dont like my opinion, then dont listen to it. Just move on after you have stated yours.

 

[bumstigedy]

I have shopped at MYLHBS several times with no issues. I come in with my shopping list ready and dont really ask many questions other than where things are. I get all my questions answered from the Internet (e.g. this forum)
My other sources for brewing information are brewstrong podcasts and books.

The main reasons I shop at this store are that it is the closest one to me and that they have refrigerated liquid yeast. Ordering liquid yeast by mail in the summer doesn't work too well.

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

I have shopped at MYLHBS several times with no issues. I come in with my shopping list ready and dont really ask many questions other than where things are. I get all my questions answered from the Internet (e.g. this forum)
My other sources for brewing information are brewstrong podcasts and books.

The main reasons I shop at this store are that it is the closest one to me and that they have refrigerated liquid yeast. Ordering liquid yeast by mail in the summer doesn't work too well.

I will agree it is a convienient place for things like yeast. But it is truly sad that you feel more comfortable turning to the internet than a LHBS. It speaks volumes to the credibility of HBT and the lack there of for myLHBS.

 

[budbo]

From what I have learned, both MDHB and AHB are some of the best shops around. Unfortunately for me, MDHB is too far in comparision to AHB or I would shop there. I have only heard great things about MDHB and will make it up there one day.

What part of DC? Just take 95 instead of 50 Columbia shouldn't be that much farther. From SOMD it is exactly 1 mile farther to MDHB than AHB, unfortunately AHB is still 67 miles away

 

[ptakers]

I find this so hard to believe. I have been there 4-5 times. Never have I seen this. When do you shop there? I have been there during the week and on the weekends. So I am not sure if it matters.

I finally find my way back to this thread - sorry it took so long.

I've been there during the middle of the week and on the weekends. When it's busy and when it's dead. Each and every time, I've found that dealing with Derek has been average at worst, pleasant most of the time.

I've even been kind of chafed at some of the advice I was given - I decided to biuld my own mash tun from a 10gal cooler - and Derek had a very strong opinion that it was a poor idea and that you should always mash in a kettle over heat in order to maintain temperature. A solid opinion, one I certainly don't agree with, so I just got what I needed and moved on.

I'm not going to pretend that he doesn't rub a lot of people the wrong way - even my local brewing pals have all had bad experiences - maybe I'm due for one - but I don't think I've ever been to an establishement of any sort where the manager/owner has been perfect to everyone every time.

My experiences have been all positive, so I would never recommend someone not go to his store. Even if I'd been chafed once or twice, it's not up to me to decide how your experience is going ot turn out.

FWIW, I live about 10 minutes from Jay's Brewing in Clifton - Mr. Nice Guy - but I'll never go there again because I've been out there twice in the middle of the day to get something in a hurry and both times his shop has been closed when it was supoosed to be open.

I'm not, however, gonna start a thread and rant that no one should ever go to Jay's.

 

[Sheldon]

FWIW, the drive to Clifton is 1000 times more relaxing than going to Falls Church. Maybe he should hire someone to be there when he is supposed to be open. I had to wait for him one time to open, and another local homebrewer had the same experience recently as well. Maybe we should open one more convenient to our area, and complete my dreams by making is a brewpub as well

 

[DrunkleJon]

Seeing that myLHBS is 5-10 min away from me, and not to mention on my way home from the metro I find it convenient to stop by and pick up a part or two. From my first visit on the guys behind the counter have been perfectly civil and not downright rude to me every time I have been there. I like many of the others who have commented positively about them have what I want in mind before I go and expect to get what I want and start brewing. I may have to check out the store in clifton and compare, but for convenience sake will probably stop by the falls church one when I need a last minute something.

On the other hand for prices I really don't mind the wait when it comes to ordering grains.