local brew shop

[beersk]

A new shop opened up about 10 miles from me about a month ago. I’ve compared prices and if I factor in shipping for online purchases, the prices come out to be pretty close, if not slightly more if I buy from the local homebrew shop. I’m fine with that, but the shop doesn’t quite have all that I want for bulk grains. Kind of disappointing, but I suppose I can make exceptions…
Otherwise, I joined a homebrew club this year and ordered a whole bunch of grains through the group buy. So I guess that’s where I’ll get my bulk grains from now on.

[fejjgw (Jeff M)]

Remember how there used to be book stores all over the place, then amazon came along and people started shopping on amazon to save 50 cents?  Now the book stores are mostly gone and the ability to drop by and browse through books has mostly gone the way of the dodo.  Homebrew shops are the same thing, if you dont support local, they are going to disappear, then when your yeast gets killed by some fluke and you need a new one, your not gonna be able to drop by and grab a replacement because they closed.

Support local IMO.  Most HBS give back locally in some way, shape or form.

[jonhughey_att.net (HoosierBrew)]

Remember how there used to be book stores all over the place, then amazon came along and people started shopping on amazon to save 50 cents?  Now the book stores are mostly gone and the ability to drop by and browse through books has mostly gone the way of the dodo.  Homebrew shops are the same thing, if you dont support local, they are going to disappear, then when your yeast gets killed by some fluke and you need a new one, your not gonna be able to drop by and grab a replacement because they closed.

Support local IMO.  Most HBS give back locally in some way, shape or form.

+1

[jrdunne (Joe Sr.)]

Remember how there used to be book stores all over the place, then amazon came along and people started shopping on amazon to save 50 cents?  Now the book stores are mostly gone and the ability to drop by and browse through books has mostly gone the way of the dodo.  Homebrew shops are the same thing, if you dont support local, they are going to disappear, then when your yeast gets killed by some fluke and you need a new one, your not gonna be able to drop by and grab a replacement because they closed.

Support local IMO.  Most HBS give back locally in some way, shape or form.

+1

Absolutely.  My LHBS is near enough that I can run out and back on brew day if I have to.  You cannot put a price on that, IMO.

And they donate to local fundraisers.

[reverseapachemaster]

@mtnrockhopper

@reverseapachemaster

$41? That’s incredibly expensive. At those kind of prices the shop better offer a lot more than just a local place to buy grain. Otherwise they are going to find a lot of customers buy one or two batches there and then go online.

For a double IPA? Doesn’t seem that unreasonable, but you really can’t say that unless you know exactly what was purchased.

I read that to be just his grain costs. I don’t know why I thought he would have just bought grain.

I guess you guys are right, the price really isn’t out of line. I brew a lot of small batches, have been brewing smaller beers recently and buy in bulk where I can, so I guess I don’t have a good idea of what people are regularly paying for five gallon batches.

[stpug]

@jimmykx250

9Lbs 2row
2LBS caramel/crystal 20L
2Lb white wheat
1LB victory
5oz cascade hops
1 pack white labs WLP001

$14.40 9Lbs 2row
$3.60 2LBS caramel/crystal 20L
$3.60 2Lb white wheat
$2.00 1LB victory
$10.00 5oz cascade hops
$7.50 1 pack white labs WLP001

Total: ~40.60+tax (~$41-42 after tax) from LHB shops near me.

I think your LHBS prices are fair considering you’re not buying in bulk. In bulk (base and hops) you could easily get that down to ~$30.

If you reuse the yeast several times (and do bulk) then you could count the yeast as 1/4 the cost and call your final total would be about $25.

If you modified the grainbill with less crystal, less wheat, and less victory (1/2 of each of those), and replaced with base, then that’s another couple bucks savings making your total (bulk costs, reused yeast, modified grainbill) in the ballpark of ~$20-$22. All of the sudden, you’re about half the cost for this batch.

At least this is how I think about it.

[yso191]

Also ask if they offer a discount for members of your local Homebrew club or the AHA.  I get 10% off at both stores here in Yakima - that saves me a lot of money over the course of a year.

[fejjgw (Jeff M)]

@yso191

Also ask if they offer a discount for members of your local Homebrew club or the AHA.  I get 10% off at both stores here in Yakima - that saves me a lot of money over the course of a year.

+1.  Most Business owners will match quote(+ shipping) the big chain stores just to keep your business. It never hurts to ask, then you can make your own decision.

[klickitat_jim]

Buying your base malt and hops in bulk would help. A pound of cascade should be about 10 and 55 pounds of 2 row about 40.

[tschmidlin]

@klickitat_jim

Buying your base malt and hops in bulk would help. A pound of cascade should be about 10 and 55 pounds of 2 row about 40.

Maybe on your side of the Cascades Jim, but not around here.  More like $16 for the hops and $60+ for a 50 lb bag of domestic 2-row on this side.

[morticaixavier]

@tschmidlin

@klickitat_jim

Buying your base malt and hops in bulk would help. A pound of cascade should be about 10 and 55 pounds of 2 row about 40.

Maybe on your side of the Cascades Jim, but not around here.  More like $16 for the hops and $60+ for a 50 lb bag of domestic 2-row on this side.

just try going organic! then your talking ~ 25 for the hops and 80 for the grain.

[beersk]

@morticaixavier

@tschmidlin

@klickitat_jim

Buying your base malt and hops in bulk would help. A pound of cascade should be about 10 and 55 pounds of 2 row about 40.

Maybe on your side of the Cascades Jim, but not around here.  More like $16 for the hops and $60+ for a 50 lb bag of domestic 2-row on this side.

just try going organic! then your talking ~ 25 for the hops and 80 for the grain.

Yikes…no way I could afford to brew if I brewed only organic.

[morticaixavier]

@beersk

@morticaixavier

@tschmidlin

@klickitat_jim

Buying your base malt and hops in bulk would help. A pound of cascade should be about 10 and 55 pounds of 2 row about 40.

Maybe on your side of the Cascades Jim, but not around here.  More like $16 for the hops and $60+ for a 50 lb bag of domestic 2-row on this side.

just try going organic! then your talking ~ 25 for the hops and 80 for the grain.

Yikes…no way I could afford to brew if I brewed only organic.

that’s probably a little high on domestic cascades, but continental malt can be wicked expensive. I’ve seen MO for over 100 bucks for a sack.

[klickitat_jim]

Spoiled I guess.  My LHBS is 90 miles from Yakima, 90 miles from Great Western, and 30 miles from Wyeast.

[thirsty_monk]

@tschmidlin

@klickitat_jim

Buying your base malt and hops in bulk would help. A pound of cascade should be about 10 and 55 pounds of 2 row about 40.

Maybe on your side of the Cascades Jim, but not around here.  More like $16 for the hops and $60+ for a 50 lb bag of domestic 2-row on this side.

Ahh how quickly we forget $30 for 1lb of hops a few years ago. My hops run about $7-8lb now. Yes I need to buy at least 11lbs and there is shipping on top.