Home Brew Shops

[Mr megalitre]

Gidday, I just got back from holidays on the Gold Coast and whilst I was there I come across a home brew shop on the Gold Coast highway. I walk in to this shop as I have ten minutes to spare and a few dollars to spend. It was full of all the toys. Two young fellas come through the door at the same time and are approached by the man running the store. They ask him about hops and he replied You need to use liquid hops its heaps better than normal hops. Normal hops go stale and are hard to get. Then they ask if he sells liquid yeast. He repiles Liquid yeast went out 30 years ago, dried yeast is what you should use, I have heaps of that. I also have a book you would need with some recipes in it, ( I have never seen this book before), He then tells them that all the recipes on the net are old ones that get recycled every one to two years. Then they ask him about the stainless steel fermenters, ( blichmann and ferminator ones) and he tells them he is the only person in Australia that imports them and he has the smallest one on special. It was exactly $500 more than the same one Gain and Gape sells. I walk out the shop and waited for them in the car park. We had a chat about what they were told and one of them tells me he worked in a brewery in NZ for four years and new the info did not sound right. Anyway now they have this web address, and I also told them to check out the sponsors. I like to support the home brew industry and dont mind paying a little bit more for the right information.

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

Gidday, I just got back from holidays on the Gold Coast and whilst I was there I come across a home brew shop on the Gold Coast highway. I walk in to this shop as I have ten minutes to spare and a few dollars to spend. It was full of all the toys. Two young fellas come through the door at the same time and are approached by the man running the store. They ask him about hops and he replied You need to use liquid hops its heaps better than normal hops. Normal hops go stale and are hard to get. Then they ask if he sells liquid yeast. He repiles Liquid yeast went out 30 years ago, dried yeast is what you should use, I have heaps of that. I also have a book you would need with some recipes in it, ( I have never seen this book before), He then tells them that all the recipes on the net are old ones that get recycled every one to two years. Then they ask him about the stainless steel fermenters, ( blichmann and ferminator ones) and he tells them he is the only person in Australia that imports them and he has the smallest one on special. It was exactly $500 more than the same one Gain and Gape sells. I walk out the shop and waited for them in the car park. We had a chat about what they were told and one of them tells me he worked in a brewery in NZ for four years and new the info did not sound right. Anyway now they have this web address, and I also told them to check out the sponsors. I like to support the home brew industry and dont mind paying a little bit more for the right information.

Good work Mr megalitre .

Slowly but surely we can all expose the HBS's that like to misinform the burgeoning homebrewer for the sake of the dollar. :angry:

C&B
TDA

 

[peas_and_corn]

Awesome!! Good on you for setting things straight.

 

[Barramundi]

lets not forget that not all HBS owners are this way , either big or small , sponsor or no sponsor , there is good and bad amongst them all... sometimes all brew shops seem to get labelled as no good which in turn isnt good for the decent ones out there just trying to provide a service ..yeah expose the bad ones but we also need to praise the good ones too.



no affiliations or anything just a point of view...

having said all that , those sponsors of this site that i have dealt with have always been spot on with their service , help and advice...

 

[wabster]

Mr Megalitre, how interesting that a hopeless owner still exists giving out mis-information like that. When I lived on the Gold Coast I used a few HBS that were well up on their game.

But you have piqued my curiosity, can you give me more info about the location of this charlatan? If you don't want to do it publicly maybe you'd PM me. I'm also curious if it one of the good ones that has been sold to new and clueless owner/managers, and I want to warn my friends Cheerz Wab

 

[PartyPooper]

Speaking of home brew shops, anyone tried the one located in Boronia (Melbourne)? I believe its called The Brewers Den. I've driven past it a few times (it's in the main street) and was wondering if it was well stocked and the prices were good.

 

[geoff_tewierik]

can you give me more info about the location of this charlatan?

AFAIK there's only one HBS down the coast that sells stainless conical fermentors, those three words plugged into Google and search Australia only might help you out - just as a guess mind you.

 

[Mr megalitre]

Mr Megalitre, how interesting that a hopeless owner still exists giving out mis-information like that. When I lived on the Gold Coast I used a few HBS that were well up on their game.

But you have piqued my curiosity, can you give me more info about the location of this charlatan? If you don't want to do it publicly maybe you'd PM me. I'm also curious if it one of the good ones that has been sold to new and clueless owner/managers, and I want to warn my friends Cheerz Wab

wabster pm sent

 

[mfdes]

Here in Tassie the situation is desperate
The one good Hobart HBS seems to have gone to the dogs.
MFS.

 

[Thunderlips]

Speaking of home brew shops, anyone tried the one located in Boronia (Melbourne)? I believe its called The Brewers Den.

I once ordered some fresh wort from their website as they are the only one anywhere near me that has Brewers Selection fresh wort.
I really wanted to try the Coopers Pale Ale clone.
I Waited a few weeks and never recieved anything or heard anything from them. At least they didn't charge my credit card.
Next stop was Grain & Grape for two of their Artisanale fresh worts and they were recieved in the next couple of days.
They even rang me to tell me a certain kind was not in stock.
Can't beat that.

 

[tazman1967]

Here in Tassie the situation is desperate
The one good Hobart HBS seems to have gone to the dogs.
MFS.

Go and see Geoff or Andrew out at the new shop at Moonah.
I just picked up a sack of Marris Otter and a sack of JW Export Pilsner malt they ordered for me, two weeks for delivery.They have speciality malts as well out the back...just weigh and pay.
Geoffs and Andrew are nice blokes and brewers as well. They look after me better than the shop in town.

 

[Simon W]

I walk out the shop and waited for them in the car park. We had a chat about what they were told and ....

Heh, I did exactly the same thing for a young uni-student getting info about RC planes at a hobby-shop recently. Will spare the details 'coz it isn't brewing related, but the store guy just didn't have a clue. (eg, Student said he needed a plane for a uni-project that could fly for about an hour... the guy replied that nothing electric can fly longer than 5mins. Haha, I regularly get 20mins to half an hour on mine.)
It's a shame that so much miss-information can happen in specialist stores.
I understand it at the supermarket style stores like Bunnings etc, but small businesses? they're supposed to know what's happening in their market.

 

[Farnk]

Speaking of home brew shops, anyone tried the one located in Boronia (Melbourne)? I believe its called The Brewers Den. I've driven past it a few times (it's in the main street) and was wondering if it was well stocked and the prices were good.

Yea, I've been there a few times. They are keen to promote the hobby and helped us out in setting up our work brew challenge. I've also had good experience at the HBS on church st in richmond.

 

[Sammus]

Heh, I did exactly the same thing for a young uni-student getting info about RC planes at a hobby-shop recently. Will spare the details 'coz it isn't brewing related, but the store guy just didn't have a clue. (eg, Student said he needed a plane for a uni-project that could fly for about an hour... the guy replied that nothing electric can fly longer than 5mins. Haha, I regularly get 20mins to half an hour on mine.)
It's a shame that so much miss-information can happen in specialist stores.
I understand it at the supermarket style stores like Bunnings etc, but small businesses? they're supposed to know what's happening in their market.

urgh don't get me started on hobby stores. I'm into r/c cars and am yet to find any hobby stores in australia that have a clue what theyre talking about. Back on topic, and a positive note for brick n mortar stores, I give an A+++ to Mark at MHB, good bloke with plenty of experience and he knows his stuff.

 

[Velophile]

Speaking of home brew shops, anyone tried the one located in Boronia (Melbourne)? I believe its called The Brewers Den. I've driven past it a few times (it's in the main street) and was wondering if it was well stocked and the prices were good.

I recently bought a 10kg grist there for about the same price as other stores. I was working in the area wanted to save the weekend for brewing not visiting the usual brew shop. Give it a try.

 

[Lobsta]

for the brisbane brewers, steer clear of the 2 HBS out at Cleveland/Capalaba. good ones are the Annerley ones (its ok) or the one down at Slacks Creek (rather good). but i still prefer to shop at Craftbrewer.com

 

[schooey]

I give an A+++ to Mark at MHB, good bloke with plenty of experience and he knows his stuff.

Ditto that.... We've got it pretty good here in Newy

 

[rich_lamb]

I can vouch for the Brewer's Den as a pretty good HBS - its run by a guy called Pete (who just happens to be a "Melbourne Brewer") who will give you good advice.
Range is not quite the same as G&G, but he's convenient in his area and has good prices.
Far better that those Australian Home Brewing stores - which I've never visited as they never seem to have what I want.

I got started on Pete's gear and goods, so it has sentimental value

 

[mckenry]

Ditto that.... We've got it pretty good here in Newy

Lucky you. NOTHING here. Once had a goof one :beerbang: - but he closed coz driving trucks was far more lucrative. Then one opened in Moss Vale but closed soon after. No guesses needed why the ONLY brew shop within 75kms couldnt survive. Its a sad HB life in the Southern Highlands

 

[hockadays]

for the brisbane brewers, steer clear of the 2 HBS out at Cleveland/Capalaba. good ones are the Annerley ones (its ok) or the one down at Slacks Creek (rather good). but i still prefer to shop at Craftbrewer.com

I wouldn't spend my money in the annerley store. Last time I was there they didn't even store there hops in the fridge. This was a while ago though they may have changed.