Where did all the home brew stores go?

[203PH]

I live in Fairfield CT and brew 10 gallon all grain batches on a 3 kettle system. I used to buy my 50# bags from a HBS in Monroe CT about 45 minutes away. That shop closed. A shop in New Rochelle NY closed. Another shop in Westchester closed. Bitters and Eaters in Brooklyn in now closed.

My question is twofold. With the amazing equipment for brewing seemingly booming, from all-in-one systems, to stainless steel fermentation vessels accessible to home brewers, why are LHBS shuttering? I need to source 50-55# bags and can't seem to get it locally. Shipping isn't an economical options. Dora's anyone know where I can source grain without driving 3+ hours round trip?

 

[firerat]

It's a sign of the times. Brick and mortar stores of all kinds are struggling to keep up with online vendors.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Sag Mir Wo Die Blumen Sind

 

[SacSudz]

We’re all guilty of closing them by buying online.

 

[WouldBeBrewmaster]

It’s kind of like asking how Rome fell…

As others have said, LHBSs have all the same issues other brick and mortar retailers have.

Other than that the biggest issue is the decline in interest in the hobby since the early 2010s peak.

Affordable all-in-one systems probably aren’t great for the shops either. The margins on grain malt are tighter than with malt extract. To compete with the big online retailers, shops have to carry a wide range of malts. With so many small breweries it’s easier than ever to have a brewery buy malt wholesale for homebrewers or do group buys with clubs.

All of the information online people are less apt to go to a shop and ask questions, go to a class, or buy brewing books. With an infinite amount of recipes online, brewers are less apt to buy shop recipe kits.

I also think the huge number of breweries has had an impact on the hobby and the shops. There are approximately 9500 breweries in the US now. Think of how many of people who left the hobby to start or work at those breweries. These probably aren’t the people who do 1-2 batches a year, but the most avid homebrewers.

 

[IslandLizard]

[...] anyone know where I can source grain without driving 3+ hours round trip?

You may still need to drive, but make it worth the trip by stocking up for a year, or longer.

AFAIK, grain in their original sacks will stay fresh for at least a year and likely much longer. They can be deep frozen to extend storage time past that.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Dora's anyone know where I can source grain without driving 3+ hours round trip?

If you have a relationship or connection with a local brewery, you might be able to get grains from them. A few times I have gotten bags at half the price I would have to pay retail. If you have a local club, you might be able to work up a bulk purchase. Also, there might be some craft maltsters in your area. If so, they might sell individual bags or would sell a pallet to a club.

Some of the online retailers have reasonable prices and shipping for smaller sized grain bags (say 5 or 10 lbs). The shop where I mostly purchased bulk grain closed last year. I have some other local options that are less convenient for me. I might shift to more frequent orders of 10 lb bags of grain.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

My Local LBS owner said the rent of his building doubled, sales were way down, he had to lay off his staff, this happened during coved, many had the same issue, shipping costs raised, couldn't keep up with big online companies and so on

 

[MaxStout]

This has been discussed in several threads recently, but the disappearance of LHBSs could be due to several factors:
1. Competition from online retailers.
2. Thinner profit margins for many brewing supplies.
3. A significant decrease in homebrewing interest in the past 10-15 years.
4. Changing tastes and preferences for other beverages.
5. A trend toward reduced alcohol intake.
6. People being tighter with their money.

 

[Snuffy]

Maybe we could all volunteer to work at our LHBS one day a week for free.
Or for trade. I'd unload a truck for grain.

 

[MaxStout]

If you want to save some $$ from online retailers, check out several. Open a browser tab for each. Populate the shopping cart for each one, with shipping. See which is cheapest overall. You might find that the lowest one per pound ends up not being the best cost once shipping is added. And vice-versa.

I second the idea of asking a local brewer if they would piggyback a few sacks of grain for you.

 

[Willy]

If you want to save some $$ from online retailers, check out several. Open a browser tab for each. Populate the shopping cart for each one, with shipping. See which is cheapest overall. You might find that the lowest one per pound ends up not being the best cost once shipping is added. And vice-versa.

I second the idea of asking a local brewer if they would piggyback a few sacks of grain for you.

Another option - see if you have a malt house nearby. I have one about an hour away and they have wonderful malts grown locally. For you in CT, there's a Thrall Family Malt (Windor, CT) and a Rooster Malt(Bethel CT)

 

[Bobby_M]

It's an extremely niche business with low profit margins. If the population density is high enough to support the local walk in store, the rent is also too high in those areas. If it weren't for the diversity of my business, I'd be out too. I manufacture equipment, I do TIG welds on brewing equipment and anything else that happens to get dragged in, and then the normal mailorder/ecommerce side that is a little less overhead. Oh, and personally spending about 55 hours a week here instead of paying more staff is also helping.

 

[Cameronl]

Join a homebrew club. They will often do group buys.
Near Fairfield we've got The Underground Brewers (2nd oldest HB Club in the US!) and Brew Haven.

 

[Steveruch]

You may still need to drive, but make it worth the trip by stocking up for a year, or longer.

AFAIK, grain in their original sacks will stay fresh for at least a year and likely much longer. They can be deep frozen to extend storage time past that.

Last year I got a 55 lb bag of Crisp #19 floor malted maris otter for $60 in a group buy with my local homebrew club. The best by date was two years after the bag was filled.

 

[fluketamer]

 

[mashdar]

OP, you should check out Bobby's shop (brewhardware.com) for ~40lb grain purchases. The UPS shipping for me roughly $23 typically, and his per-lb prices are extremely competitive. Not 55# LHBS cheap, but ~$2.25/lb shipped for Weyernann Barke and ~$1.70/lb for US 2-row.

The shipping jumps up just above 40# ish, but I try not to get right to the line in case the box or something pops it over.

 

[203PH]

If you have a relationship or connection with a local brewery, you might be able to get grains from them. A few times I have gotten bags at half the price I would have to pay retail. If you have a local club, you might be able to work up a bulk purchase. Also, there might be some craft maltsters in your area. If so, they might sell individual bags or would sell a pallet to a club.

Some of the online retailers have reasonable prices and shipping for smaller sized grain bags (say 5 or 10 lbs). The shop where I mostly purchased bulk grain closed last year. I have some other local options that are less convenient for me. I might shift to more frequent orders of 10 lb bags of grain.

OP, you should check out Bobby's shop (brewhardware.com) for ~40lb grain purchases. The UPS shipping for me roughly $23 typically, and his per-lb prices are extremely competitive. Not 55# LHBS cheap, but ~$2.25/lb shipped for Weyernann Barke and ~$1.70/lb for US 2-row.

The shipping jumps up just above 40# ish, but I try not to get right to the line in case the box or something pops it over.

Bobby is great and I order from him regularly. He is 90 minutes from me. Most likely will end up making the trip and buy 200# at a clip.

 

[203PH]

Last year I got a 55 lb bag of Crisp #19 floor malted maris otter for $60 in a group buy with my local homebrew club. The best by date was two years after the bag was filled.

I have looked for a group by me but can't seem to find a recent one. I will keep looking.

 

[jdauria]

In the same boat myself in Mass...the Homebrew Emporium closed all shops in their chain except their upstate NY one, so the shop that was 7 minutes from my house is no more. There is only one full size homebrew shop left in Eastern Mass and it would be a 2 hour+ round trip ride as it's north of Boston.

I am just finishing up the two sacks I bought before the shop closed two years ago (only brew 2.5 gallon batches), but for the most part have resorted to ordering grain per recipe from online shops in Michigan and PA, but with the idea that one of these days I will get down to a malthouse that's like an hour from me called Stone Path and pick up some sacks. Since they have a partnership with Irek's, they have German malts that they malt to Irek's specifications and sell under the Stone Path name. But before I ever got there, I said heck with it and ordered a sack of Barke Pilsner from BrewHardware in NJ, I have started using BrewHardware to order all the other grain I need, per recipe for about six months now.

I believe it CT the only two shops left are Coastal Brewing Supply in New London and Zok's in Willimantic.

 

[bike2brew]

It's an extremely niche business with low profit margins. If the population density is high enough to support the local walk in store, the rent is also too high in those areas. If it weren't for the diversity of my business, I'd be out too. I manufacture equipment, I do TIG welds on brewing equipment and anything else that happens to get dragged in, and then the normal mailorder/ecommerce side that is a little less overhead. Oh, and personally spending about 55 hours a week here instead of paying more staff is also helping.

Sounds more like a lifestyle commitment than a job. Glad that you are able to make it work.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

My wife's a quilter and the samething has happened with her hobby, only a fraction of the stores are still around.

 

[Spartan1979]

A couple of years ago we had two LHBS, now we have none. The first was actually in a hardware store and closed when they lost their lease during the pandemic. The second closed last year. They opened a brewery in the shop four years ago and decided the remaining space was better utilized as more seating for the brewery.

There's still another shop about 30 minutes away. They also opened a brewery in the shop. Since then, the homebrew space has shrunk and it's no longer what it once was. Homebrewing takes a secondary role.

 

[rlrohan]

Unless you have very deep pockets or provide something unique it is going to be very hard to survive as a business.
I remember when Walmart started. They came into an area and could sell cheaper because they had the strength to buy in large lots and demand a better price from the venders. Many mom and pop stores closed because they couldn't compete. The same thing happened when Home Depot, Menards, Lowes and other home centers came in. Can't hardly find a small local hardware store anymore.
Combine that with changes in the overall popularity of brewing as a hobby, which seems to be declining a bit, and you start seeing the weaker stores close.
Also look at how many craft brewers that have closed up shop. This could come from the love of a hobby but lack of good business sense also.

I don't like seeing all of the small businesses close but it appears to just be the cycle of economics that we can't do much about. We can try to support the local shops instead of shopping online at the bigger and possibly cheaper ones but in most cases money talks.

 

[Pehlman17]

There are luckily three LHBS’ still open near me, but each one has now added a bar with about a dozen draft offerings for on-premise service as well as a wall of refrigerators for off-premise beer sales. They all started as strictly brew shops but had to basically become glorified bottle shops/tasting rooms to keep the doors open. The homebrew shop parts of the stores are basically stripped down and just occupy one little corner of the place.