Home Brew Store

[Confedpirate]

Today I went into a home brew store in Omaha called Ferment supply and the owner is a total A-hole talks down to like your nothing. What is up with people do think they sit on there high horse look down on people. I figure people to be somewhat friendly trying to get people in to brewing!

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Find another LHBS. Guys at the one by me are awesome. Always answer questions and never talk down.

 

[Confedpirate]

the problem is there isnt any other store

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

That's a shame. I wish I could commiserate but both of the LHBS around me are great. Maybe you should seek out places online. I'll always recommend my LHBS to everyone who wants a good resource. You can email them questions or call, and they offer (with limitations) free shipping over 75 dollars and good shipping costs otherwise

www.love2brew.com

Or you can try going back to your LHBS, maybe the guy just had a bad day and will be better another day.

 

[25518]

I've only been in brew stores. Both owners. Awesome. Employees. Awesome. I befriened one. Him & I get along pretty good. Me fiancee, she be happy. Havn't brewed yet.

 

[25518]

the problem is there isnt any other store

That's probably why. And I belielve it in Omaha, that is the only one.

 

[stevehardt]

There are some very good, very helpful online stores.

I, for one, would rather pay some extra shipping costs than patronize someone with an attitude

 

[vNmd]

I, for one, would rather pay some extra shipping costs than patronize someone with an attitude

Ditto!

Also online stores can be huge and their prices lower than the brick and mortar stores. The online stores have shipping, but the local shops have taxes and less quantity and selection. I try to do a comparison on the things I buy. Sometimes it is fairly close. I do try to use the local shop because they are good to deal with otherwise I would be online when ever possible.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Ditto!

Also online stores can be huge and their prices lower than the brick and mortar stores. The online stores have shipping, but the local shops have taxes and less quantity and selection. I try to do a comparison on the things I buy. Sometimes it is fairly close. I do try to use the local shop because they are good to deal with otherwise I would be online when ever possible.

I always go to my LHBS because even if their prices are a smidge higher than say MoreBeer or AustinBrew (and 99% of the time they're not really) the input I've gotten from them is worth much more than the money i've paid there. Also I'd rather go there on brewday and get fresh crushed grains then order grains that are at a minimum crushed 3 days before I received them.

 

[hehawbrew]

My lhbs is great with exception of one guy. He ruins the whole experience for me. I'm new to brewing and do 1,2,or 3 gallon AG batches. He actually told me I was wasting my time and need to do 5 gallon. I was like, " word up dood, I want to but need more $ for more equipment". I now have the means to do 5 gallon, but, there's no need for him to be a jerk.

All the other guys are great, have loads of advice, and go out of there way to help and educate me.

Start your own store man! Put that guy of business with kindness!

 

[doornumber3]

my lhbs is awesome....I know alot of things that i purchase are 10.00 less on line, but I have no problem paying it. They are helpful, friendly and are brewers that love it. If you get an attitude from your guy, don't go and order on line.....

 

[Confedpirate]

That day I tried to give LHBS a try an I've been using Northern Brewer they have been good to me its a 1 day turnaround cant beat that. LHBS I've decided not to use him. If people ask about I'll tell them he is trash.

 

[Confedpirate]

Well found a different store Omaha Beverage and Bridal. They have grain most other things I was looking at kettles and guy comes up toe ask if I would want some kegs that were left of a 3 keg system, sure the kegs were cut open already and hole cut for attachments there were 2 of them I ask how much they said 45 each so came home with 2 kettles

 

[DrunkleJon]

Ditto!

Also online stores can be huge and their prices lower than the brick and mortar stores. The online stores have shipping, but the local shops have taxes and less quantity and selection. I try to do a comparison on the things I buy. Sometimes it is fairly close. I do try to use the local shop because they are good to deal with otherwise I would be online when ever possible.

But isnt there still a bill going through to add sales taxes to online orders? I also like to go to my LHBS for ingredients. I havent yet gotten in on a group grain buy, figure I will get fresher yeast at the LHBS than online, and kind of enjoy the comraderie of it all. Most equipment stuff I buy online or make.

Nice score on those keggles.

 

[rklinck]

I hope you guys are not judging a place based on one visit. Granted, my LHBS stores have been great every time. But, EVERYONE has a bad day from time to time. If you give up on a LHBS based on one bad experience, you might be giving up too quickly. (reminds me of people who will not fly an airline because of one bad trip -- it will eventually happen with every airline).

 

[Confedpirate]

I hope you guys are not judging a place based on one visit. Granted, my LHBS stores have been great every time. But, EVERYONE has a bad day from time to time. If you give up on a LHBS based on one bad experience, you might be giving up too quickly. (reminds me of people who will not fly an airline because of one bad trip -- it will eventually happen with every airline).

Before I went there I look him up on the internet he already 4 or 5 bad reviews from other people so this isn't just one bad experience

 

[Schumed]

That's probably why. And I belielve it in Omaha, that is the only one.

Damn only one in Omaha....sounds like an opportunity to me.....Kansas City areas has a seventh LHBS opening....yes seven!!!!

 

[dzlater]

I was talking to the owner of one of the stores I frequent and he was telling me how the "new thing" is brewing 1 gallon batches. He said when folks come in with a 1 gallon recipe that was scaled down from a 5 gallon recipe and it calls for something like: .02 lbs (10 grams or .3 oz.) of chocolate malt its a real pain in the ass. So I might suggest if you need .02 lbs of chocolate malt, just buy at least .25 lb. You'll wind up using it eventually anyway.
Another shop owner was telling me how it's a pain when people come in with "Jamil Recipes" that have weird quantitiies of grain. "why can't they just at least round them to the nearest oz?"
Just some food for thought

 

[kombat]

I'd rather go [to the LHBS] on brewday and get fresh crushed grains then order grains that are at a minimum crushed 3 days before I received them.

The problem I have with my LHBS is when I go there on brew day with my recipe and they don't have what I need.

Me: "OK, I need a pound of Crystal 10L."

LHBS: "We've got Crystal 40 - it'll be a little darker but shouldn't change the flavor much."

Me: "Uh, OK I guess, um I need 2 oz each of Amarillo, Simco, and Warrior."

LHBS: "We've got Galena, that's a great bittering hop. And Cascade should make a good substitute for the Amarillo and Simco."

Me: "Sheesh. OK, uh, last but not least I need the Wyeast Rogue Pacman yeast."

LHBS: "You're joking, right? Here's a packet of US-05, it'll do the trick."

The result would still be a decent IPA, but it's going to be completely different from the beer in the recipe. If I want to brew a recipe exactly, I have no choice but to order online to ensure I don't have to compromise with substitutes.

 

[Schumed]

The problem I have with my LHBS is when I go there on brew day with my recipe and they don't have what I need.

Me: "OK, I need a pound of Crystal 10L."

LHBS: "We've got Crystal 40 - it'll be a little darker but shouldn't change the flavor much."

Me: "Uh, OK I guess, um I need 2 oz each of Amarillo, Simco, and Warrior."

LHBS: "We've got Galena, that's a great bittering hop. And Cascade should make a good substitute for the Amarillo and Simco."

Me: "Sheesh. OK, uh, last but not least I need the Wyeast Rogue Pacman yeast."

LHBS: "You're joking, right? Here's a packet of US-05, it'll do the trick."

The result would still be a decent IPA, but it's going to be completely different from the beer in the recipe. If I want to brew a recipe exactly, I have no choice but to order online to ensure I don't have to compromise with substitutes.

^This is why I buy bulk

 

[kombat]

^This is why I buy bulk

You'd buy bulk Crystal 10L?

I have a dozen 6.5 gallon buckets with GammaSeal lids storing grains, but it's mostly 2-row, Maris Otter, Bohemian Pilsener (2 buckets each), and the rest are "specialty" malts I use often (Carafoam, Caraamber, Vienna, etc.), and even those, I only bought half-sacks.

I simply don't have enough space to buy EVERY possible malt I could ever need in bulk. Does anyone? Do you really buy 25kg sacks of Crystal 10L through 120L, plus roasted malt, chocolate malt, Munich, Caramunich, Thomas Fawcett Amber, and everything else? There are some malts it just doesn't make economic sense to buy in bulk, and for those, I (for a brief period, anyway) relied on my LHBS. After getting burned, I learned my lesson and order such malts online now, a couple pounds at a time, as needed for upcoming recipes I'm brewing.

 

[Schumed]

You'd buy bulk Crystal 10L?

I have a dozen 6.5 gallon buckets with GammaSeal lids storing grains, but it's mostly 2-row, Maris Otter, Bohemian Pilsener (2 buckets each), and the rest are "specialty" malts I use often (Carafoam, Caraamber, Vienna, etc.), and even those, I only bought half-sacks.

I simply don't have enough space to buy EVERY possible malt I could ever need in bulk. Does anyone? Do you really buy 25kg sacks of Crystal 10L through 120L, plus roasted malt, chocolate malt, Munich, Caramunich, Thomas Fawcett Amber, and everything else? There are some malts it just doesn't make economic sense to buy in bulk, and for those, I (for a brief period, anyway) relied on my LHBS. After getting burned, I learned my lesson and order such malts online now, a couple pounds at a time, as needed for upcoming recipes I'm brewing.

for crystals and other similiar malts...we will do a split with a few guys....so you go home with at 12.5lbs...that will last a long time

 

[fuzzy2133]

The problem I have with my LHBS is when I go there on brew day with my recipe and they don't have what I need.

Me: "OK, I need a pound of Crystal 10L."

LHBS: "We've got Crystal 40 - it'll be a little darker but shouldn't change the flavor much."

Me: "Uh, OK I guess, um I need 2 oz each of Amarillo, Simco, and Warrior."

LHBS: "We've got Galena, that's a great bittering hop. And Cascade should make a good substitute for the Amarillo and Simco."

Me: "Sheesh. OK, uh, last but not least I need the Wyeast Rogue Pacman yeast."

LHBS: "You're joking, right? Here's a packet of US-05, it'll do the trick."

The result would still be a decent IPA, but it's going to be completely different from the beer in the recipe. If I want to brew a recipe exactly, I have no choice but to order online to ensure I don't have to compromise with substitutes.

With the LHBS I primarily use if I call them with what I want they usually it is in stock. If not they will order what they do not have. I have learned to check on Tuesday if I am trying to brew on the weekend so I can get it all by Friday.

The other shop I has one person that needs to stay in the back room milling grain. I went in with my two kids (very well behaved and under control) one day with a good list of what I needed and he seemed to be irritated with kids being in the store.

 

[northernltz]

Sounds to me like the local brew store wants to go out of business. I would wait for the store closing sale and buy all you need at discounts. In the mean time, buy online. Quality stuff is all around online.

Kurt

 

[tsimo33]

I went to the one in Omaha that you are talking about. I will never go back. I had same experience as you. I now go to the one in Lincoln. It's a little bit of a drive but I can usually find an excuse to make the trip for other reasons as well and the guy there is extremely helpful and answers any questions you may have.

 

[BinghamtonEd]

I just got into brewing but our LHBS is awesome. They're a microbrewery and make some amazing beers as well. To quote one of the owners "I make my money on my beer, not on my home brewing supplies." They'd rather get someone into brewing and have them bring back beers to sample/trade than to get someone into brewing to gouge on prices. Their growler prices are a little bit high, but not unreasonable. Every time I've gone in I've been in there for at least 45 minutes just sampling and shooting the breeze and learning about brewing. I came up with an IPA recipe and yesterday he checked it over and helped me fine tune it, but didn't rewrite it, just tweaked an amount/time here or there. Didn't have any more Cascade pellets in stock, so he tossed a few ounces from his supply in a bag and threw them in no charge, just wants me to bring in a bottle of the finished product when its ready to sample. Ground up my Crystal grains for me while I hung out. Last week he had an infected beer, so he took me in back to show me what it looked/smelled like.

On top of it all, almost all of his prices are at, or even a few cents below, what I would pay online. I'd still buy there even if it meant I spent an extra $5-10 per batch, I probably drink that much in samples lol.

 

[damashiuchi]

glad i'm not the only one with a crappy LHBS ... way overpriced ($2.75/# for 2-row!) and the guy who owns it is kind of an a-hole ... he goes to my church as well, and he even scoffs at me when i try to say hello to him there!

I'll still occasionally grab yeast from there to make sure it's fresh, but otherwise MoreBeer and Hops Direct are my LHBS now!

 

[kitchenbeer]

But isnt there still a bill going through to add sales taxes to online orders?

If they have a presence in the state you live you already need to pay tax.
Amazon, Williams brewing and a couple hop places charge sales tax here.
Online +shipping +tax is still cheaper for me than local +gas +tax, never mind the hassle of local not having exactly what I need. Even if the new bill passes
I won't be shopping local.