I was reading a post where someone was describing their homebrew supplier being in a sporting goods store. It got me wondering if there were other LHBS that were paired with businesses that might be strange.
My LHBS is in a t-shirt printing business and it is obvious brewing is a side project.
Anyone else know of some strange pairings out there?
Mine’s a hat store.
There are a few in the twin cities that are also hydroponic stores.
When passing through Newport, OR, I stopped at Beir One (think that was the name). They were a HBS and tap room. Sounds like a good combo to me.
I have 3 within a short drive. 2 are stand alone and are strictly home brew supply shops. 1 is in a big building that’s kinda like a farmers market, so there are lots of different cheapo stores. The HBS is inside a store that started as a sports supply shop. They sell sports related tee-shirts, memorabilia, cups, hats, etc… but all sports related. Then they added a tobacco shop inside this store. Later, they added the home brew and wine making supply shop which just expanded to about double the size. Sounds weird, but there are other stores in the same market that can be useful including a spice shop. Their hours are good and bad. They are only open thursday - sunday (those are the operating days of the market) but are open earlier and later on those days then the other supply shops. So, if I realize I need yeast or something for a late night or early morning brew day, I can get there in off hours unlike my preferred LHBS. Both stores have very knowledgeable staff who are all members of my home brew club.
Mine is in a hardware store. They always have the right fittings, tubing and piping.
I think mine was the store that inspired this thread. It’s called Tri-State Outfitters and they’re sort of a megaplex shopping center. The homebrew and wine-making section was very small until just a few months ago when a local brewer began expanding it. Initially it was a few extracts here and there, some specialty grains (6 was the most I saw), and your basic equipment, yeasts, and hops. Now there are probably 2 dozen grain bins full, wider yeast variety, a great hop selection, adjuncts, and they’re still growing. Obviously they discovered an (forgive the pun) untapped market.
Its closed down now but there used to be one several miles from me that was homebrew supply/head shop/adult toys.
Mine is a dedicated homebrew shop but my wife told me that the local WholeFoods grocery just started selling some homebrew supplies. A google shows a few of them across the country having the same.
It’s not exactly the same, but I used to live in a small Nevada town that had a liquor store/gun shop.
The most fun you can have on a saturday night? Get soused and buy a Mossberg. :lol:
My closest is about 45 minutes away in a winery. I go there in a pinch for smaller things like airlocks, caps. Other then that they seem a bit pricey. I stick with NB.
There’s 2 close by. The main one I go to is called “home beer, wine , and cheese” so that’s what they do. And the other is a party supply store. They sell kegs and stuff. The owner is a member of the same brew-club so that’s always nice.
Tri State was my first homebrew shop! Sounds like it has improved a lot since I was there, when we had to walk uphill in the snow, both ways.
There is a garden store here that sells some homebrewing supplies.
I have two within a 30 minute drive. both are combo wine/beer. one is primarily wine with beer as the side. the other is beer with wine as the side. win-win.
cheers
Tri State was my first homebrew shop! Sounds like it has improved a lot since I was there, when we had to walk uphill in the snow, both ways.[/quote]
ha, yeah it’s still uphill, there’s just traffic lights to assist in street crossings :lol: Were you in Moscow or one of their other locations?
For anyone who lives in Denver/Aurora, CO (better known these days as the place that homicidal maniac shot up during The Dark Knight Rises premier) there is Dry Dock Brewery. I was fortunate to visit this place while visiting my girlfriend’s parents and they had a drool-worthy supply store literally attached to their tap house. I want very badly to be near a place like that.
[quote=“KP Brewer”]Mine is in a hardware store. They always have the right fittings, tubing and piping.[/quote]My first one was also a hardware store. Now they are one of the top breweries in the country (Kuhnhenn’s) and make some stellar beers.
I stumbled into homebrew supplies at a garden supply store that I’d been to a number of times, but had never known they had supplies. It was mostly Brewer’s Best kits, but they had a small fridge with hops. The other day I saw them listed on the AHA directory of LHBS, which really surprised me.
