homebrewstuff.com, Boise

[r2eng]

Bag of 2-row and bag of Pilsner for $81... Way cool!

Nice guy, great selection, and saved about $15 a bag over the other LHBS's.

Close to home, opens at 9am, cool!

 

[dwarven_stout]

I wish Marcus wasn't such an effing long drive for me. I like the store, but I've only made it out there a couple of times.

 

[chumpsteak]

I get almost all of my stuff there. Great guy and great store.

 

[larrystephens]

I needed a few parts and found them on Amazon. The stuff was shipped on time and I am waiting for it to arrive.

 

[larrystephens]

Will buy from again, a little confused why the prices are different at their website and on Amazon.

 

[kincade]

Will buy from again, a little confused why the prices are different at their website and on Amazon.

Because amazon has very specific requirements on what shipping charges can be. Most retailers have to adjust their charges to make a profit.

 

[krenshaw]

was looking to purchase some items on homebrewstuff.com .. sounds like they would be recommended from here.. my assumption would be that buying from their site rather than amazon would probably be a better deal since they don't have to give any cut to amazon.. is that correct?

 

[thadius856]

Found these guys through Amazon. Occasionally I'll check if Amazon carries basic brewing items so I can get them cheap and with Prime shipping. This time, HomeBrewStuff.com carried it on Amazon. Since I was already placing an order with Amazon, I threw two of these in my cart.

Pricing was reasonable, but not great, beating out the big mail order sites. ($13.63 + $3.85 S/H ea, vs $14.99 at Northern, vs $14.49 at Midwest, vs $9.50 w/ free shipping at eBay) I figured I'd buy it through HomeBrewStuff because certainly it'd come faster than with the hokey shipping that usually comes free with eBay items. I was wrong. Seller used the absolute worst shipping method available.

The items fold up in plastic baggies to a fairly small size. Two Brew Haulers occupy the space of about 3-4 packs of Wyeast stacked on top of each other. For roughly the same price, the shipper could have sent them USPS Priority or Flat Rate. There was no mention of the shipping method on the product page, which could have avoided this experience.


Timeline:
20 Dec 12 (Thu) 18:36 - Placed order via Amazon.com
21 Dec 12 (Fri) 13:50 - Received shipment notification.
22 Dec 12 (Sat) xx:xx - Tracked package. Discovered shipping method was UPS Mail Innovations, AKA Spawn of Satan Shipping. Tracking history is blank.
26 Dec 12 (Wed) xx:xx - Package mysteriously gets first tracking history entry at West Valley City, UT. All history prior unknown.
28 Dec 12 (Fri) xx:xx - UPS transfers package to USPS in Sacramento, CA.
29 Dec 12 (Sat) xx:xx - USPS transfer to West Sacramento sorting hub.
31 Dec 12 (Mon) xx:xx - Placed in my mail box.

Overall it was a smooth transaction. I hate the shipping method that was chosen, but cannot fault the seller otherwise. nestar: nestar: nestar: nestar: /5. Would do business with again, but only if I could know beforehand that UPS Mail Innovation or FedEx Express Saver shipping was not used.

 

[jammin]

I buy bags of 2 row there for $37 locally... Great Western though.


The staff is super cool

 

[Hopper77]

Ordered a stainless weldless ball valve this morning. Also needed a dip tube with compression fittings. I ordered of eBay and their page said they combine shipping and to look at their web page. So I went and found a dip tube to order but had to order the compression fittings separately which I thought was a little weird they don't offer a package deal on dip tube and necessary compression fittings. So their website wasn't working on my phone so I sent an email telling them what I needed and asked them to email me when they opened. Drew emailed me and told me to call and ask for Tyler who would be able to help me. So I called and asked for Tyler. Tyler couldn't help me and gave me back to drew who in turn gave me back to Tyler who after a bit of a run around told me that he doesn't control eBay and I wouldn't be able to get the combined shipping and would have to order the dip tube and fittings separately. So after 8 minutes or so on the phone I hung up and ordered the parts I needed from bargainfittings.com instead. Cheaper shipping and they seem to make it to my house in a day or two. I've ordered from homebrewstuff.com before and usually made out pretty good but don't think I will again. It's a good site with fair prices just not for me

 

[kh54s10]

I ordered a 2 keg picnic tap system through Amazon.com. The package arrived and looked in good condition, but on opening I found that the pressure gauge for the keg was crushed. I emailed that night at midnight. Early the next morning I got an email saying that a new and upgraded regulator would be sent and a call tag would be included. It arrived a couple days later via Priority Mail. I was really pleased with the rest of the equipment, the kegs came quite clean and even pressurized. The new regulator was installed in a few minutes and I am presently enjoying my first kegged beer. Montgomery Scott's Wee Heavy.

Overall - very satisfied.

 

[L1truckie]

Found an immersion chiller on eBay dirt cheap with free shipping through these guys. Cheap enough to pull the trigger and take a gamble on a company I'd never used or knew much about. Shipping stated 6-10 days.
On the 5th day with no email/contact from them ref my order being shipped I started to think it was going to end up being a bad deal. So I decided to call them and get the scoop. The guy I talked to spoke to me more like a good beer drinking buddy than customer service He definitely put my mind at ease! He promptly looked up my order, told me they had a sold a lot of those and had a guy making them as we speak, and mine would be shipped out that afternoon. Sure enough I received an email that it was shipped/ready for pick up and I received it on the 10 th day.

Bottom line, I thought these guys were top notch after my initial fear (which I brought on myself), I will def order from these guys again :rockin:

I recently checked out the website and saw you can buy grain by the ounce and see the malt analysis sheet....pretty cool

 

[Sippin37]

These guys replaced the first Thermowell I ordered from with another one free of charge. The first one was taking in liquid from the bottom. So once I received the second Thermowell I put it in a hydrometer test jar full of water overnight and the next morning this Thermowell was also full of water. So they are not doing a great job of completely crimping and soldering the bottom of their Thermowells. Be careful because they are one of the suppliers selling these on Amazon.com.

A quick fix that I used is just to throw some food safe silicone on the bottom. But I am still a little upset that they never replied to my email after receiving the second faulty Thermowell. I was simply asking them what they recommend I do, but never received a response. I'd give my experience a 2.5/5 only because I was able to fix myself.

 

[sfgoat]

I used to order from them pretty frequently but on my last order from them they didn't ship the Vienna that I ordered. I got everything else from the order and emailed them a few times but never got a response. Not a huge deal as I'm aware mistakes happen but the lack.of communication was irritating enough to deter me from using them. I may again in the future but for now they left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[axmdr40]

I ordered some Perlicks and shanks off of homebrewstuff's amazon frontpage. I realized after shipment that I ordered the incorrect shanks and called them up to arrange the return/exchange. They shipped the new shanks the same day and refunded the money from the original shanks I purchased very quickly! I will use them again!

 

[RazorUK]

They are my LHBS and I have nothing but good experiences there. I get most of my stuff there, because they are a couple of miles from home!

Marcus and co are great and will customise stuff for you if you can't find exactly what you are looking for.

 

[hunter_le five]

Ordered some kettles from these guys recently. I was a little worried about the quality, given how much cheaper their kettles are than most other vendors, but I was surprised the see that the kettles/fittings they sent were very heavy duty and solidly built.

The order was processed quickly and the package arrived in less than a week from placing the order using the free shipping option.

Everything was smooth and I have no complaints, so I would not hesitate to order from this outfit again.