Good online brew supply place?

[Joerg]

For years I bought from Midwest Supplies, now part of Northern Brew.
They always had free shipping above $150 and every few weeks they had a
10-20% off sale. That's usually when I bought around 10 brew kits at a time.

Fast forward -> COVID -> no more free shipping, no more sales. Shipping
almost kills the online advantage.

Does anyone know a good place for extract kits with good prices and free
shipping when ordering a lot?

We also have a local brew shop but it's quite expensive. I buy some
things there but not whole kits. I often go to their brewpub or their
pub in town though with some friends (well, when they open again some
day, that is ...).

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

[Baloonon]

I like morebeer.com although I don't know about their selection of extract
kits. They have free shipping for orders less than $100 -- I want to say
$69? You can look it up.

austinhomebrew.com is another well regarded supplier. They also have
reasonable shipping on larger orders. Lots of kits, although I'm not sure
again about extract.

You might think about bulk ordering extract online and creating or looking
up recipes, and then buying the rest from your local store. Tinkering with
recipes can be part of the fun of brewing.

[DaiTengu]

To: Joerg
Re: Good online brew supply place?
By: Joerg to rec.crafts.brewing on Mon Jun 08 2020 01:42 pm

Jo> For years I bought from Midwest Supplies, now part of Northern Brew.
Jo> They always had free shipping above $150 and every few weeks they had a
Jo> 10-20% off sale. That's usually when I bought around 10 brew kits at a
Jo> time.

Jo> Fast forward -> COVID -> no more free shipping, no more sales. Shipping
Jo> almost kills the online advantage.

Jo> Does anyone know a good place for extract kits with good prices and free
Jo> shipping when ordering a lot?


I live near www.ritebrew.com. They don't do free shippint, but they do offer a shipping discount on larger orders.

DaiTengu

... I got some powdered water, but I don't know what to add.
--- Synchronet 3.18a-Linux NewsLink 1.113
* War Ensemble BBS - Appleton, WI - telnet://warensemble.com

[Joerg]

On 2020-06-14 19:19, Baloonon wrote:
> Joerg <ne...@analogconsultants.com> wrote:
>
>> For years I bought from Midwest Supplies, now part of Northern Brew.
>> They always had free shipping above $150 and every few weeks they had
>> a 10-20% off sale. That's usually when I bought around 10 brew kits at
>> a time.
>>
>> Fast forward -> COVID -> no more free shipping, no more sales.
>> Shipping almost kills the online advantage.
>>
>> Does anyone know a good place for extract kits with good prices and
>> free shipping when ordering a lot?
>>
>> We also have a local brew shop but it's quite expensive. I buy some
>> things there but not whole kits. I often go to their brewpub or their
>> pub in town though with some friends (well, when they open again some
>> day, that is ...).
>
> I like morebeer.com although I don't know about their selection of extract
> kits. They have free shipping for orders less than $100 -- I want to say
> $69? You can look it up.
>
> austinhomebrew.com is another well regarded supplier. They also have
> reasonable shipping on larger orders. Lots of kits, although I'm not sure
> again about extract.
>

Yes, I had eyed those two as well. Their prices seem generally a bit
higher. Maybe we just have to swallow that even homebrew costs more
post-COVID.

Thanks for confirming, it's always good when another brewer vets a place
before ordering.

> You might think about bulk ordering extract online and creating or looking
> up recipes, and then buying the rest from your local store. Tinkering with
> recipes can be part of the fun of brewing.
>

I do that sometimes and nearly all the recipe kits I buy get modified
here. Some a little, some more, for example because my wife doesn't like
beer with an IBU much above 50.

So far I haven't found a reasonably priced source for malt extract.
Mostly I need Pilsener and Gold.

Yesterday I brewed batches #183 and #184. A Wheat beer and a strong IPA.

[Joerg]

On 2020-06-16 11:33, DaiTengu wrote:
> To: Joerg Re: Good online brew supply place? By: Joerg to
> rec.crafts.brewing on Mon Jun 08 2020 01:42 pm
>
> Jo> For years I bought from Midwest Supplies, now part of Northern
> Brew. Jo> They always had free shipping above $150 and every few
> weeks they had a Jo> 10-20% off sale. That's usually when I bought
> around 10 brew kits at a Jo> time.
>
> Jo> Fast forward -> COVID -> no more free shipping, no more sales.
> Shipping Jo> almost kills the online advantage.
>
> Jo> Does anyone know a good place for extract kits with good prices
> and free Jo> shipping when ordering a lot?
>
>
> I live near www.ritebrew.com. They don't do free shippint, but they
> do offer a shipping discount on larger orders.
>

Thanks, I saw them but $10 off doesn't make much of a dent. When I
priced a post-COVID order for a test at Midwest, shipping added about
$10 per kit. That's like a 20-40% increase from pre-COVID.

> DaiTengu
>
> ... I got some powdered water, but I don't know what to add. ---

Hops, maybe? :-)

> Synchronet 3.18a-Linux NewsLink 1.113 * War Ensemble BBS - Appleton,
> WI - telnet://warensemble.com
>

[Baloonon]

Joerg <ne...@analogconsultants.com> wrote:

> On 2020-06-14 19:19, Baloonon wrote:

>> I like morebeer.com although I don't know about their selection of
>> extract kits. They have free shipping for orders less than $100 -- I
>> want to say $69? You can look it up.
>>
>> austinhomebrew.com is another well regarded supplier. They also have
>> reasonable shipping on larger orders. Lots of kits, although I'm not
>> sure again about extract.
>
> Yes, I had eyed those two as well. Their prices seem generally a bit
> higher. Maybe we just have to swallow that even homebrew costs more
> post-COVID.
>
> Thanks for confirming, it's always good when another brewer vets a
> place before ordering.

I think the tradeoff for free shipping is higher prices on raw ingredients,
with the biggest benefit being when you're buying grain.

One thing I like about morebeer.com is that their shipments tend to arrive
quickly where I live.

>> You might think about bulk ordering extract online and creating or
>> looking up recipes, and then buying the rest from your local store.
>> Tinkering with recipes can be part of the fun of brewing.
>>
>
> I do that sometimes and nearly all the recipe kits I buy get modified
> here. Some a little, some more, for example because my wife doesn't
> like beer with an IBU much above 50.
>
> So far I haven't found a reasonably priced source for malt extract.
> Mostly I need Pilsener and Gold.

Back when I used extract I bought from someone who sold only DME in bulk. I
can't remember who it was anymore, but it may be worth searching for them,
if they still exist.

[Joerg]

On 2020-06-17 13:05, Baloonon wrote:
> Joerg <ne...@analogconsultants.com> wrote:
>
>> On 2020-06-14 19:19, Baloonon wrote:
>
>>> I like morebeer.com although I don't know about their selection of
>>> extract kits. They have free shipping for orders less than $100 -- I
>>> want to say $69? You can look it up.
>>>
>>> austinhomebrew.com is another well regarded supplier. They also have
>>> reasonable shipping on larger orders. Lots of kits, although I'm not
>>> sure again about extract.
>>
>> Yes, I had eyed those two as well. Their prices seem generally a bit
>> higher. Maybe we just have to swallow that even homebrew costs more
>> post-COVID.
>>
>> Thanks for confirming, it's always good when another brewer vets a
>> place before ordering.
>
> I think the tradeoff for free shipping is higher prices on raw ingredients,
> with the biggest benefit being when you're buying grain.
>

AFAIR Midwest always excluded sacks of grain and similar bulk items from
free shipping. Probably the same if you bought a 1000 gallon conical
fermenter and a crane had to be called in to lower it through the roof :-)

> One thing I like about morebeer.com is that their shipments tend to arrive
> quickly where I live.
>

That was the same with Midwest. Whenever it took a few days longer than
usual they sent me a little discount coupon but I never used those. It's
no big deal if stuff arrives a week later, at least not to me. I always
have 6-10 recipe kits still on hand when re-ordering. Except now I am
down to four. Got to order soon.

>>> You might think about bulk ordering extract online and creating or
>>> looking up recipes, and then buying the rest from your local store.
>>> Tinkering with recipes can be part of the fun of brewing.
>>>
>>
>> I do that sometimes and nearly all the recipe kits I buy get modified
>> here. Some a little, some more, for example because my wife doesn't
>> like beer with an IBU much above 50.
>>
>> So far I haven't found a reasonably priced source for malt extract.
>> Mostly I need Pilsener and Gold.
>
> Back when I used extract I bought from someone who sold only DME in bulk. I
> can't remember who it was anymore, but it may be worth searching for them,
> if they still exist.
>

DME or LME makes no difference if the price is right.

What has gone up a lot over the last year aside from shipping is yeast.
It weird, a small pouch of yeast of less than 1/2oz for brewing can set
you back five bucks but I just bought a whole pound of baker's yeast
(instant action yeast, the fancy stuff from France) for all of $18.
That'll last us almost a year.

[Baloonon]

Joerg <ne...@analogconsultants.com> wrote :

> DME or LME makes no difference if the price is right.

My homebrewing shop will special order 50 pound sacks of grain for a
relatively small markup, so one other thing to think about is seeing if yours
is able to get 50 pound bags of extract from their wholesaler and sell them
for a not too big premium. If you brew a lot, it may be worth buying 100
pounds at once and the store may be happy to negotiate a bulk purchase in
times like this.

> What has gone up a lot over the last year aside from shipping is
> yeast. It weird, a small pouch of yeast of less than 1/2oz for brewing
> can set you back five bucks but I just bought a whole pound of baker's
> yeast (instant action yeast, the fancy stuff from France) for all of
> $18. That'll last us almost a year.

I understand how the relatively small demand for brewers yeast for home
brewers can result in a significantly higher price per ounce compared to
bakers yeast. I'm not sure I get why there seems to be such a great variation
in prices for dried brewers yeast, though, even within the product line for a
single company. I'd think at this point for established strains they would
work out the kinks of matching production to demand and have more
consistency, but somehow that's not the case.

[Joerg]

On 2020-06-18 19:06, Baloonon wrote:
> Joerg <ne...@analogconsultants.com> wrote :
>
>> DME or LME makes no difference if the price is right.
>
> My homebrewing shop will special order 50 pound sacks of grain for a
> relatively small markup, so one other thing to think about is seeing if yours
> is able to get 50 pound bags of extract from their wholesaler and sell them
> for a not too big premium. If you brew a lot, it may be worth buying 100
> pounds at once and the store may be happy to negotiate a bulk purchase in
> times like this.
>

Good point, though I don't have high hopes for LME or DME. Last time I
inquired at the local brew shop the ingredients for a regular IPA cost
about 2x of the price at Midwest.

>> What has gone up a lot over the last year aside from shipping is
>> yeast. It weird, a small pouch of yeast of less than 1/2oz for brewing
>> can set you back five bucks but I just bought a whole pound of baker's
>> yeast (instant action yeast, the fancy stuff from France) for all of
>> $18. That'll last us almost a year.
>
> I understand how the relatively small demand for brewers yeast for home
> brewers can result in a significantly higher price per ounce compared to
> bakers yeast. I'm not sure I get why there seems to be such a great variation
> in prices for dried brewers yeast, though, even within the product line for a
> single company. I'd think at this point for established strains they would
> work out the kinks of matching production to demand and have more
> consistency, but somehow that's not the case.
>

Abbaye-style dry yeast such as BE-256 is really expensive so I always
stagger three Belgian brews in consecutive order. That way I can harvest
and re-use some of the trub. I actually do the same even for US-05 even
though it's "only" $4-5 per package. So far I never dared to go beyond
4th generation, mainly because I use the trub as is and don't wash the
yeast. One advantage is an almost instant start (usually ...).

This leaves 2/3rds of the trub which also does not go to waste here. In
a couple of hours my wife has a job for me, kneading dough for trub
bread using the electric drill. It'll rise for a 2nd time overnight and
tomorrow I'll bake two loaves over almond and manzanita fire, followed
by dinner.

[Joerg]

Just FYI: Free shipping is back at Midwest, for orders above $150.