Looking for opinions here. I firmly believe in supporting your LHBS but
my 1.5 stores are very small. The larger one has canned kits, Brewers
Best kits, seperate LME, DME and hops, 2row barley and Wheat for
ingredients. The closer and smaller one only has Brewesr Best kits,
although she will order what I want, but I can do that online. Here is
my problem I want to support these stores but I also want more
ingredients on hand. If I keep buying there (along with others) maybe
they will get more stuff. I guess if i want to go all the way I either
have to let them order it and wait or just order it myself and wait.
Just looking for opinions?? In the mean-time I'll just sit back and
enjoy some homebrew.

Buzz

Is it more expensive to order through your LHBS than directly online?
It usually is but not always. If you get good service there (like they
suggest solutions to problems or help in other ways) I would suggest
ordering through them. Nothing in my experience beats customer service.

On the other hand, if they're rude and treat you like there's no other
place to go, order online.

Dave
www.homebrew-exchange.com

I agree with Dave.

I'm in a similar situation to you. However, the LHBS where I live are
more focused on wine making than beer making. For them, homebrewing is
only a sideline to winemaking and I don't get very good service from
them. When I ask for something specific for my brew and they don't have
it in store, I may get answer like "Why do you want this ? Just take a
kit and stop bothering". As a result, I order most of my ingredients
online and only go to the LHBS as a last option for urgent needs or for
things too big to be ship conveniently by mail.

"Lennybuzz" wrote in message oups.com...
Looking for opinions here. I firmly believe in supporting your LHBS but
my 1.5 stores are very small. The larger one has canned kits, Brewers
Best kits, seperate LME, DME and hops, 2row barley and Wheat for
ingredients. The closer and smaller one only has Brewesr Best kits,
although she will order what I want, but I can do that online. Here is
my problem I want to support these stores but I also want more
ingredients on hand. If I keep buying there (along with others) maybe
they will get more stuff. I guess if i want to go all the way I either
have to let them order it and wait or just order it myself and wait.
Just looking for opinions?? In the mean-time I'll just sit back and
enjoy some homebrew.

Buzz

I would suggest talking to them about your issues. Maybe they will improve.
If you don't tell them your problems, they won't know there are problems.

Bob

Well thanks everyone. I guess I will have to try to work with them. The
hard part for me is I never know what I wnat until Im walking out of
the store with it. There really is no LHBC here. The only one has ties
to the LHBS and they havnt met in a long time. I talket to there
contact and he said he would let me know when they meet again. Again
thanks for the opinions.

Buzz

CarlJF wrote:
I agree with Dave.

Chalk up another one. I don't see it as much of a dilemma.

I'm in a similar situation to you. However, the LHBS where I live are
more focused on wine making than beer making. For them, homebrewing is
only a sideline to winemaking and I don't get very good service from
them. When I ask for something specific for my brew and they don't have
it in store, I may get answer like "Why do you want this ? Just take a
kit and stop bothering". As a result, I order most of my ingredients
online and only go to the LHBS as a last option for urgent needs or for
things too big to be ship conveniently by mail.

I'm in the same boat, but my shop is even worse than yours.
However, more recently a big liquor store has been trying to
stock a decent breadth of homebrewing supplies, so I do pick
something up there every time I go in. Unfortunately, they
seem to have more enthusiasm than anything else, as they can
be out of stock on some items for over a month at a time.
The bottom line is that I buy from whatever source is
best (for any personal definition of "best") with no
regrets or hand-wringing.
--
Joel Plutchak "People who drink wine with barbecue deserve to be
plutchak@[...] jeered at and socially ostracized." - Mike Stewart

In rec.crafts.brewing Lennybuzz wrote:
Looking for opinions here. I firmly believe in supporting your LHBS but
my 1.5 stores are very small. The larger one has canned kits, Brewers
Best kits, seperate LME, DME and hops, 2row barley and Wheat for
ingredients. The closer and smaller one only has Brewesr Best kits,
although she will order what I want, but I can do that online. Here is
my problem I want to support these stores but I also want more
ingredients on hand. If I keep buying there (along with others) maybe
they will get more stuff. I guess if i want to go all the way I either
have to let them order it and wait or just order it myself and wait.
Just looking for opinions?? In the mean-time I'll just sit back and
enjoy some homebrew.

Buzz


The owner/operator of my LHBS is very helpful and knowledgeable which
is important, as I've only been involved in this hobby for less than a
year. That said, he doesn't always have what I want, mainly in grains
I want to test out.

The cost of shipping LME prohibits me from buying it online. I get all
my LME/DME from my LHBS and I also order hops in bulk from him (by the
pound) as he doesn't always have ozs of leaves on hand. I order
specialty grains and anything else I can't find or that is overpriced
(at the LHBS) online . That way I support my LHBS and get everything
else online.

I'm thinking of moving to 33 lb LME containers, which my LHBS has for
$62. Shipping those would be a nightmare of cost.


--------------------------------------------
John Bleichert -
The heat from below can burn your eyes out!

In rec.crafts.brewing John Bleichert wrote:
In rec.crafts.brewing Lennybuzz wrote:
Looking for opinions here. I firmly believe in supporting your LHBS but
my 1.5 stores are very small. The larger one has canned kits, Brewers
Best kits, seperate LME, DME and hops, 2row barley and Wheat for
ingredients. The closer and smaller one only has Brewesr Best kits,
although she will order what I want, but I can do that online. Here is
my problem I want to support these stores but I also want more
ingredients on hand. If I keep buying there (along with others) maybe
they will get more stuff. I guess if i want to go all the way I either
have to let them order it and wait or just order it myself and wait.
Just looking for opinions?? In the mean-time I'll just sit back and
enjoy some homebrew.

Buzz


The owner/operator of my LHBS is very helpful and knowledgeable which
is important, as I've only been involved in this hobby for less than a
year. That said, he doesn't always have what I want, mainly in grains
I want to test out.

The cost of shipping LME prohibits me from buying it online. I get all
my LME/DME from my LHBS and I also order hops in bulk from him (by the
pound) as he doesn't always have ozs of leaves on hand. I order
specialty grains and anything else I can't find or that is overpriced
(at the LHBS) online . That way I support my LHBS and get everything
else online.

I'm thinking of moving to 33 lb LME containers, which my LHBS has for
$62. Shipping those would be a nightmare of cost.



Gah!! I just noticed this was cross-posted - I *hate* that. I need to figure out how to tell tin to *only* follow-up to the "current working newsgroup"...


--------------------------------------------
John Bleichert -
The heat from below can burn your eyes out!

Lennybuzz wrote:

Well thanks everyone. I guess I will have to try to work with them.
The hard part for me is I never know what I wnat until I'm walking
out of the store with it.

You're way ahead of me. My LHBS is closed on Mondays & Tuesdays so
I never know what what I really needed until 5pm on Sunday. AND
unfortunately that is the truth.

There really is no LHBC here.

The non-existance of a LHBC is a burden I would not wish upon anyone
- not even my first wife. Where do you live? Maybe someone here
can help you.

The only one has ties to the LHBS and they havn't met in a long time.
I talked to their contact and he said he would let me know when they
meet again.

Running a LHBC is a leadership problem. The only leadership I am
willing to provide is to bring a church key with me.

Dick

Dick Adams wrote:

Lennybuzz wrote:


Looking for opinions here. I firmly believe in supporting your LHBS but
my 1.5 stores are very small. The larger one has canned kits, Brewers
Best kits, seperate LME, DME and hops, 2row barley and Wheat for
ingredients. The closer and smaller one only has Brewesr Best kits,
although she will order what I want, but I can do that online. Here is
my problem I want to support these stores but I also want more
ingredients on hand. If I keep buying there (along with others) maybe
they will get more stuff. I guess if i want to go all the way I either
have to let them order it and wait or just order it myself and wait.
Just looking for opinions?? In the mean-time I'll just sit back and
enjoy some homebrew.


I too belong to the "Support your LHBS" gang. But they are not going
to have everything you want or need. My LHBS is Maryland HomeBrew and
I'd give them a 10 for service.

I was too until they recently jacked up prices on malt extracts from
other countries.. I was paying $11.75 for a 3.3# can of Cooper's light,
and its now $13.50. I found a place about 2 1/2 hours away that is
selling 6# of LME for $5.5, and hop pellets for $.095/oz. Their shipping
will be cheap, since its not that far away..

--
Dan

CarlJF wrote:
I agree with Dave.

I'm in a similar situation to you. However, the LHBS where I live are
more focused on wine making than beer making. For them, homebrewing is
only a sideline to winemaking and I don't get very good service from
them. When I ask for something specific for my brew and they don't have
it in store, I may get answer like "Why do you want this ? Just take a
kit and stop bothering". As a result, I order most of my ingredients
online and only go to the LHBS as a last option for urgent needs or for
things too big to be ship conveniently by mail.

I guess I'm lucky.. Beer-wine.com is very helpful when I go to t he store.
They are quick to ask if I need any help looking for things or ideas. They do
both beer and wine, but do not have any preference when dealing with customers.

I think more beer brewers seem to come in the store, at least when I'm there.
The other place, modernbrewer.com is less helpful, but still make an effort.
My only issue now is price.. since the local places jacked the foreign LME
prices due to fuel increases.

--
Dan

I'll keep the overstocks in mind for you. I'm located about 20 miles
north of Pittsburgh in a small town called Tarentum. I'm about 2 miles
away from a huge mall called Pittsburgh Mills.

I hit groups up for advice because I would like to inform my customers
as well as I can if they have an issue. I've learned a lot from this
group. Thanks.

Where are you guys located? I'm planning on opening up and on-line
store but I don't think i'll be able to do that for another year. It
will get there.

CarlJF wrote:
I agree with Dave.

I'm in a similar situation to you. However, the LHBS where I live are
more focused on wine making than beer making. For them, homebrewing is
only a sideline to winemaking and I don't get very good service from
them. When I ask for something specific for my brew and they don't have
it in store, I may get answer like "Why do you want this ? Just take a
kit and stop bothering". As a result, I order most of my ingredients
online and only go to the LHBS as a last option for urgent needs or for
things too big to be ship conveniently by mail.

I was talking to my LHBS one day about this. They're of the impression
that if they hadn't begun selling winemaking equipment and kits, it
would have been very difficult to stay in business. Any hobby, they
noted, has its peaks and lows, and I guess homebrewing beer is in
somewhat of a decline...at least in numbers of people doing it now.

Dave
www.homebrew-exchange.com

Homebrew Exchange wrote:
CarlJF wrote:

I agree with Dave.

I'm in a similar situation to you. However, the LHBS where I live are
more focused on wine making than beer making. For them, homebrewing is
only a sideline to winemaking and I don't get very good service from
them. When I ask for something specific for my brew and they don't have
it in store, I may get answer like "Why do you want this ? Just take a
kit and stop bothering". As a result, I order most of my ingredients
online and only go to the LHBS as a last option for urgent needs or for
things too big to be ship conveniently by mail.


I was talking to my LHBS one day about this. They're of the impression
that if they hadn't begun selling winemaking equipment and kits, it
would have been very difficult to stay in business. Any hobby, they
noted, has its peaks and lows, and I guess homebrewing beer is in
somewhat of a decline...at least in numbers of people doing it now.

Really? Yea think so? I thought it was on the rise.

--
Dan

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:44:39 -0500, Dan Logcher
wrote:

Homebrew Exchange wrote:
CarlJF wrote:

I agree with Dave.

I'm in a similar situation to you. However, the LHBS where I live are
more focused on wine making than beer making. For them, homebrewing is
only a sideline to winemaking and I don't get very good service from
them. When I ask for something specific for my brew and they don't have
it in store, I may get answer like "Why do you want this ? Just take a
kit and stop bothering". As a result, I order most of my ingredients
online and only go to the LHBS as a last option for urgent needs or for
things too big to be ship conveniently by mail.


I was talking to my LHBS one day about this. They're of the impression
that if they hadn't begun selling winemaking equipment and kits, it
would have been very difficult to stay in business. Any hobby, they
noted, has its peaks and lows, and I guess homebrewing beer is in
somewhat of a decline...at least in numbers of people doing it now.

Really? Yea think so? I thought it was on the rise.

Problem is that many homebrewers are turning to the internet for
purchasing. They'll still go to the LHBS for advice or questions, but
they'll by online to save a few bucks.


Phil
======
visit the New York City Homebrewers Guild website:
http://www.hbd.org/nychg