… unless you have one for awhile and then exchange it .. I believe they charge you for the hydro test. Maybe it depends on the place.
No. I think you’re right. Since I always exchange I never have the same one very long.
My LHBS (which has survived in part through diversification – winemaking is bigger business for them than homebrew) doesn’t charge for testing if the tank came from them.
The truth is that I am 59 and still very much in love with beer and brewing. My beers have been coming out so good and I really take pride in making and serving my beer. For a long time it was known that homebrewers are a frugal people. Paying close to $200 for three 5# tanks of CO2 is not frugal. 
I can afford it but at some point you shake your head about things that used to seem pretty easy to do and no longer are.
My shop went out of business this year too. No other options than on-line at the moment. They did ask their CO2 supplier (local welding supply) if they could send their customers over- yes was the answer. Works well.
Not to get overly political (but the stock market tanked to today due to new tariffs), I wonder what the relationship might be between rise in commercial craft beer prices (and likely lots of stuff) and interest in homebrewing is?
I know that back in the day people brewed their own beer because it was economical. That’s a little shaky though because then there was the classic line “brewing beer because it’s cheaper is like buying a boat to save money on a fish dinner”. 
I can still make five gallons of beer for about $15 in supplies but when CO2 is this expensive then I begin to wonder if we brew to save money or just because we’re brewers.
Pittsburgh Pa. I use a welding supply store to exchange my co2. They are bery reasonable, with minor price increases over the years. There is a local hbss about 15 minutes away. ( I used to part time at a second store) I hope they continue to grow. Good inventory and prices
I kinda think that craft beers are getting so good that young people are buying as opposed to making it at home. Or they’re just too lazy or disinterested to get into our hobby.
I’m pretty much going to stick to pre-hopped syrups from mr. beer or BrewDemon. I’ll add a softpack or two of unhopped, liquid malt to pump-up the body and mouthfeel of the finished product. I do have two each one-gallon jugs of unhopped liquid malt, to which I will boil some hops in it. Once those two gallons are gone, I doubt I’ll ever use eight and nine pounds unhopped malt again. I’ll figger-out how to dryhop without infecting the batch, since I believe adding unhopped liquid malt will diminish the flavor of what will come to us five to six weeks after bottling…
I wish I had a convenient LHBS, but nothing within 30min. So I order normally online. I do have welding shop 20min away, so I can exchange a 5# CO2 cylinder for $25. Seemed kinda high, but I keep two 5gal kegs on tap, and one 5# cylinder has lasted 2 years. I do keg condition, so I save a little CO2. Thinking about saving more CO2 using some of these cheapskate approaches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B__QhyNoNIM
But there are also fewer businesses needing CO2.
I brew for the brewing.
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Really? Every single place that serves draft beer needs CO2. Every bar, restaurant, theater, brewpub, etc. needs CO2. I also brew for the brewing but also for the beer. I can’t tell you how many times I have made a beer based on a beer I can’t get. Or the concept of a beer I made but I wanted it slightly different than the commercial example. It’s a fun hobby and it’s just really awesome to have access to draft beer in your house. I can’t tell you how many times people have been over to my place for the first time and taken a selfie while tapping a beer. I take it for granted but others see it as such a novelty.
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My point is that there are a lot fewer of those places now.
I now go to a local welding shop and exchange tanks. The CO2 is beverage grade.
I’ve been ordering hops from a MI grower/broker, Hop Alliance. I buy by the pound. I’ve met the owner a few times, a good guy. The brewing freezer in my basement has hops from activities like HBC that I’m working down.
A couple of LHBS in MI can ship liquid yeast to me. I’ve been using dry yeast more often and order from Rite Brew.
I’ve been using a MI LHBS for some grain. It’s also nice to be in a club that ranges bulk buys of bags of grain.
There used to be 3 shops close by me. Now there are 0.
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2 more data points:
Koorsen (a fire extinguisher company) is $14.99 refill. Unsure of grade. I believe they have their own CO2 generator.
Holston (welding supply) is $16.00 exchange for Beverage Grade.
As a former owner of a homebrew shop that operated online I can tell you that business is down considerable in the homebrew market. I have been homebrewing for 40 years and in the business for almost 20 and I could not make it work, even online. The business has fallen and free/reduced shipping makes it almost impossible to make a profit. I think MoreBeer is still doing well, but it large enough to have buying power and it is run by people that are actual homebrewers and they care about the craft. I know what they charge, I know what they pay for shipping and I have a good idea of what they pay for things and what there expenses are and I can assure you they are not making much margin in the end. There are other good companies out there was well (Williams, etc.), but this is just an example.
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I’m so old I started out homebrewing in 1990 by ordering from a catalog. Anyone remember that? The last page of the catalog was an order form, and you would tear that out, fill it in, add up the total plus shipping, then mail it to the supplier with a check.
Over the ensuing years there have been two local stores that opened up and closed shop a few years later (one of them morphed into a successful craft brewery going strong today). Nearest homebrew stores are a hundred miles away - I try to patronize them when I am in their neighborhood but don’t make any trips specifically to go there. I probably order online from around a half dozen sites. I have noticed lately that there are a lot more items out of stock than what used to be - maybe another sign of the declining homebrew market?
I’m surprised to see how many people get their CO2 from a LHBS - I’ve never heard of such a thing. I’ve been swapping out my cylinders at a local welding supply store for 25 years now.
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I have also used online suppliers for grain, yeast and hops so I am probably part of the problem. Label Peelers and Ritebrew have worked really nicely. YVH for pellets. I could also order “supplies” like Whirfloc, acid, calcium chloride, DME, etc. but CO2 has always been local so I’m struggling a bit. I checked with a bud who lives in northern/central WI and he agreed that this place American Welding is a good bet. I go up there at least once a month so I will just bring empty cylinders with me and get them filled up there. Win-win.
I worked at a LHBS that had 10 100# CO2 tanks chained up back in the wharehouse. Us front of house employees would grab your tank and check to make sure it was in cert then go back and fill, purge and release, then fill the tank on a scale. Five minute operation. Sadly a conglomerant bought them out, and told the emp[oyees that they were no longer needed one day before they closed.
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When I went to Airgas, I mentioned that this woman who just went out of business wouldn’t bother to check dates on cylinders .. she just filled them. He said, “Could be one reason why she’s out of business”. Later, he told me that they only exchange because it takes some time to properly fill a tank. I told him that the woman also filled individual tanks when customers walked in. His eyes got big and he said, “No way! Another reason she’s out of business”. I admit that when she filled a tank, it did take awhile.
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