Was wondering how far people drive or are willing to drive to their favorite home brew supply store, provided that it carries all of your needs.
Over an hour and a half.
Lots of internet ordering for this guy.
I have one within 10 minutes. online orders are a lot cheaper, but i still buy some stuff from him to support the local small business.
I’ve got three. 5miles, 7miles and 20miles. The 7mile is my go to. The 5 is closer, but not as good as the 7. The 20mile is a place I’m near sometimes and will occasionally go there. Between group bulk grain and hop buys, I really only get yeast, DME and small amounts of specialty grain from my LHBS. But I do try to throw them business whenever possible since their prices are competitive with online shops.
Jersey can get a bad name, but 3 LHBS all within 20min or less… nothing wrong with that!
AHS is ~10 miles from me, but I only go there to get yeast, specialty grains, and random items like salts and airlocks. They seem to focus quite a lot of energy on the internet and less in the store, so I hate going there on Saturdays when it can take 30+ minutes to get a couple lbs of Carastan. If you’re asking this question because you are considering opening a LHBS, my advice is to focus on customer service and knowledgeable sales staff which will go further than having every single item for every possible brewer.
There’s one 30 miles away and one 40 miles away. I’ve been to the former quite a bit (occasionally on a weekly basis or more). I have yet to check out the latter but will at some point. Some of the people at the one I’ve been to can be a little condescending and unfriendly, but they’re generally pretty helpful and seem to know their stuff.
About 10-15 minutes, and they tend to beat most internet prices for kegs, carboys, and other hardware items.
NB is 20 minutes away and I bypass one that is only 10 from home, because they give the impression that they care more about hydroponic gardening than brewing.
I have three close by. 6-12-18 miles away but I still do a lot of internet buying as well as bulk purchases.
Closest one is a 35 minute drive - and not really on my way to anywhere.
As a result I only go there if I need something ASAP and I usually tend to order most of what I need online (NB, Midwest Supplies, etc).
I have one here in town, like 5 minutes away, but he’s only open a few hours a week, and some of his stuff is expired or stale. I do on occasion make it to Ft. Collins (45 min.), and their stuff is great. Mostly, I order on the internet.
Paul
Shade, I believe you just described Austin Homebrew Supply. I get quite a bit of stuff from them on the internet.
6 LHBS within 20 minutes of me:
Northern Brewer St. Paul
Midwest Suplies
Brew and Grow Inc.
StillH2O
Barkingside Co.
Northern Brewer Richfield
Usually go to NB St. Paul as its the closest, about 3 miles away.
Used to have one 10 minutes from home, then i moved and now it’s 2 hours away (the price of living in paradise). Lots of online ordering and stocking up on supplies if I’m ever near the LHBS.
I do a lot of ordering for supplies since my only LHBS is 50miles round trip. I do use them for fresh yeast and emergency supplies. I buy a lot of my bulk hops and grains from a buddy who owns a brewery.
When I’m at home, it’s about a 1/2 hour drive. But I work in town, and the LHBS is about 3 min. from where I work.
I buy all ingredients from the LHBS. Mine is a 45 mile/60 minute round trip. Sometimes work will bring me near by, but the timing is not usually right. I just ordered 40 pounds of ingredients and they were able to ship to my office for about 15 bucks. I might use that method more often in the future, as it is probably cheaper than driving, and saving the time is precious.
130 miles. Luckily I drive by the place nearly every other week for work. I stop and get what I need, but its not “local”
3 miles to our Host’s MPLS store.
30 min from the house, but once a week I’m about 10 mins away and I usually buy all necessary goods then.
:cheers:
