Northern Brewer Price hike

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Hockeyhunter99

Hockeyhunter99

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Just got the newest NB catalog today. noticed a conciderable price hike. anyone else notice this?? i understand a price increase but it just so happens to coincide with the opening of the new shop in Minneapolis??? sounds like business is booming enough to build a new place but at the expence of the homebrewer. anyone notice an increase at the other sites? i don't usually shop around because NB has been a good source (besides the LHBS) but my usual brews are going to cost me even more.

Any suggested sites for a product just as good?
 
I noticed it too. I went to order a digital temperature controller yesterday and the price had gone up from $79.99 to $83.99 since last week. The wort chiller I bought a month ago at $62.99 is now $69.99. Glad I bought that when I did.
I haven't noticed a similar increase at the other suppliers where I shop, but who knows - it may be coming. That's too bad. Not being a rich dude, I have to watch my expenditures, and go where I get the best bang for the buck. Looks like my LHBS will be getting more of my business. Fortunately, I have one that seems to be well-stocked.
 
Man, I hate to hear this. I use them for all my brewing needs because they beat the crap out of my LHBS prices.
 
Clann said:
Man, I hate to hear this. I use them for all my brewing needs because they beat the crap out of my LHBS prices.
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+1 They still do as well. Comparing prices I can still get a recipe kit cheaper. But I do like our LHBS so I will still stop by and help on brew days and get ingredients from time to time. This economy just plain sucks!

Brew on!:mug:
 
You wanna tell Mr Benanke to turn that printing press off otherwise this thing will keep happening as input prices need passing onto consumers.

Sad thing is, in theory we should have more deflation (ie. stuff getting cheaper) due to increases in economies of scale and technology to improve production efficiency and capacity. Maynard Keynes was a bit of a ****** really.
 
ChillWill said:
You wanna tell Mr Benanke to turn that printing press off otherwise this thing will keep happening as input prices need passing onto consumers.

Sad thing is, in theory we should have more deflation (ie. stuff getting cheaper) due to increases in economies of scale and technology to improve production efficiency and capacity. Maynard Keynes was a bit of a ****** really.
Click to expand...

Third year econ student?
 
Dude, prices are going up everywhere, at the grocery store, the home improvement shops, EVERYWHERE. Not much we can do about it.
 
osagedr said:
Third year econ student?
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Nope, just spent far too much time reading up on economics in 2009/10 before I got into brewing. Despite living in the UK, I've read a lot of Peter Schiff's books and found it to be very interesting and informative (also a lot of it applies to the UK).
 
Inflation has been going on for years - when workers demand more money it comes full circle. Then there is the rising price of fuel to get the supplies anywhere, even just to make the supplies.

If the prices didn't rise, the company would become insolvent.

Just hope your income rises accordingly.

B
 
Don't get me wrong. i have always used NB for my kits. and LOVED them. it just sucks that it will cost me more. but what can a guy do? not like anybody listens to the consumer anymore.
 
I order just about everything from NB, so this does sting a little bit. I noticed the extract kit prices went up. Checking into it further, the LME went up explaining most of the the difference. I just ordered supplies for 4 partial mash conversion kits before the hike, so great timing. The malted grain prices looked mostly unchanged, so further reason for me to make the jump to BIAB all grain for my winter brewing. Shouldn't be much of a net increase in my prices then. Just need to find an economical grain mill now.

Did anyone look at dry yeast prices? Danstar Windsor and Nott used to be what, $1.60 and now retail for $4.50. WOW!

Also their used ball lock kegs are not in the catalog, but still show on the website for 39.99. Pretty good deal with the 10% off and 7.99 total shipping. Still some good value from this store, especially given their very low shipping costs.
 
solbes said:
Did anyone look at dry yeast prices? Danstar Windsor and Nott used to be what, $1.60 and now retail for $4.50. WOW!
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That's because Danstar changed their handling and packaging procedures after the issues with the bad Nottingham yeast a while back.
 
IffyG said:
That's because Danstar changed their handling and packaging procedures after the issues with the bad Nottingham yeast a while back.
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What was wrong with the Nott? My first batch last December used Nott and was the only one with some weird off flavors. Probably my fault, but just checking.
 
Thanks for the links. Nope not my issue, mine started vigorously in 8 hours. I'll chalk up the off flavors to typical first time brewing mistakes.
 
+1 on noticing the price hikes. I started brewing with NB, and they've been solid all the way through. I hate to abandon them, but they are swiftly becoming less competitive with the other online shops and even with my LHBS, especially since I have started crafting my own recipes and want to get away from wasting money on whole pounds of specialty grain and 3/6 pound units of LME. I will probably still get my liquid yeast and my base malts form them, as well as adjuncts, if only to support a brand that's done well by me.
 
You would think with the money they saved by making their catalog half as thick with no descriptions of just about everything in it they would be saving a little money and could pass it on.
 
They pay their employees a fair wage, their prices are still very competitive and they have really decent shipping charges. Also their kits are actually well thought out and within style guidelines if given. My only gripe is I don't live closer :p
 
Nobody likes to see prices rise. But I'd rather pay more for something that works and lasts, than buy something that I quickly outgrow, or just doesn't work like I thought it would. I spent more than I thought I should on a quality SS kettle. That turned out to be a bargain. I use it for every brew. It's the stuff I bought -- perhaps because it was a bargain -- and don't use that bothers me.

If I were just starting out I'd think hard about doing extract and PM brewing for much longer than I did. Sure extract costs a little more. But you can make really good beer with extract, and it requires less equipment. I could list dozens of items that seemed expensive, but weren't. And a lot of things that were just the opposite.
 
Ya, I noticed it. Thankfully it's not as bad as it could be. A lot of the basic equipment I'm just going to buy from the LHBS because it's cheaper (as much as $5 each on better bottles) for the most part. I'll likely continue to get most of my ingredients from them because they do more volume, and some of the advanced equipment (i.e. Refractometer) is still cheaper through them.
 
BetterSense said:
Good thing our wages are also going up or we would really start to be left behind...right?
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HaHaHaHaHahahahahahahaahahaaaaaaa!!!!!!

ROTFLMAO!!! Even peed a little!!!!!! Wages going up! Hahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!

That's a good one. :D
 
I was browsing through their site last night and noticed the increase as well. I just purchased some things last week before the increase..lucky. also bought a wort chiller last month..can't remember but I swore it was less than 60
 
fxdrider said:
HaHaHaHaHahahahahahahaahahaaaaaaa!!!!!!

ROTFLMAO!!! Even peed a little!!!!!! Wages going up! Hahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!

That's a good one. :D
Click to expand...

It's been 3 years since my company last gave out raises. They never laid anyone off during the recession, but nobody's paycheck got any bigger. I sure could use a raise this coming year!!!
 
Looks like they are at it again, kits went up in price. damn pretty soon i can buy a case of budweiser for the same price i pay for a kit. its not cheap to brew anymore. :(
 
lol,,, never mind,, they changed the site a little.. they now added priming sugar and the yeast automatically. if you de-select them, kit prices are normal. whew!!! u scared me there NB. :)
 
grimzella said:
lol,,, never mind,, they changed the site a little.. they now added priming sugar and the yeast automatically. if you de-select them, kit prices are normal. whew!!! u scared me there NB. :)
Click to expand...

Probably tired of customers complaining that their kits showed up with no yeast and no dextrose...
 
but they did change their shipping. No more $7.99 flat rate. there is an explaination on the website. just a heads up to people
 
I used to buy some stuff from them until I realized they(for most stuff) were on the high end of online retailer pricing.
 
I buy everything from AHS now. I always spend $100, so I get $5 shipping and I live in north Texas so I always get it next day.
 

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