New Sydney Inner West brew shop opening

[Yeastfridge]

Anyone heard about The Hop and Grain on Enmore Road in Enmore/Newtown?

There's no info on their website yet, "coming soon"...

I have no affiliation with them, a friend pointed it out to me because we knew the old tenants of the shop they're in.

It'd be great to cut down my trips from the LHBS from 40 minutes to 5-10 but I guess it'll be a matter of what they've got and how much they're charging, I've only been going to the same shop for about 2 years but I already feel a bit guilty just thinking about it. Regardless of whether they become my new local or not, always nice to have more people spreading good beer and talking yeast.

Know anything?

 

[mattfos01]

I just got rather excited.....

 

[eloschgimpel]

Here's hoping they'll have a decent selection of fresh liquid yeast.
That alone would make me a very happy customer

 

[fletcher]

i'm excited. please let a brew shop be that close!

 

[Phoney]

Here's hoping they'll have a decent selection of fresh liquid yeast.
That alone would make me a very happy customer

+1

Add specialty grain and c02 bottle swaps and I may never have to shop elsewhere (in OZ) again.

 

[JDW81]

Here's hoping they'll have a decent selection of fresh liquid yeast.
That alone would make me a very happy customer

Surely if there are enough brewers in the area, it would be worth their while to get in some decent stuff (liquid yeast, grains etc). I'm sure if a few people went in requesting 1056 they'd get it in pretty quick (if they didn't already have it).

JD.

 

[eloschgimpel]

Excellent, this reaction is kinda what I was hoping for here
So let this thread serve as our petition to Hop & Grain to please stock the things that really make a good LHBS:

Fresh yeast
Specialty grain
Gas supply

Very excited about the place. A huge thanks to the owner(s) for bringing back a brew shop to the Inner West.

 

[tiprya]

Yep, I will definitely be interested in what they stock, particularly liquid yeast and spec grain. Co2 would be a bonus.

 

[thehopandgrain]

Hi Guys - Sam at The Hop + Grain here.

Just saw this thread today and thought I might jump in and hopefully provide some answers to questions.

It'd be great to cut down my trips from the LHBS from 40 minutes to 5-10 but I guess it'll be a matter of what they've got and how much they're charging, I've only been going to the same shop for about 2 years but I already feel a bit guilty just thinking about it. Regardless of whether they become my new local or not, always nice to have more people spreading good beer and talking yeast.

Part of our motivation in opening the store is that we're homebrewers ourselves and found it to be a hassle to have to drive out 45 minutes or more to the nearest LHBS, or have to order online well in advance of brew day. We figured there'd be other brewers in the same boat who could benefit from a LHBS in the inner west, and home brewing is going through a renaissance right now - so here we are.

Here's hoping they'll have a decent selection of fresh liquid yeast.
That alone would make me a very happy customer

+1

Add specialty grain and c02 bottle swaps and I may never have to shop elsewhere (in OZ) again.

So let this thread serve as our petition to Hop & Grain to please stock the things that really make a good LHBS:

Fresh yeast
Specialty grain
Gas supply

Very excited about the place. A huge thanks to the owner(s) for bringing back a brew shop to the Inner West.

We've got a focus on all-grain brewing and we will definitely stock specialty grain - we have a fair few joe white varieties on the way and we'll be continuing to expand our range once we're open. We'll also have a decent selection of hops pellets and flowers.

We're actually working on a liquid yeast order at the moment, looking at both Wyeast and Whitelabs, but what we stock will depend on who comes through with the best varieties and prices - liquid yeasts are notoriously difficult source effectively, and we want to be able to pass on a good price to you and not have to charge excessively just to break even. We will of course have a full range of decent quality dry yeasts from brands like fermentis (saflager, safale, safbrew).

Regarding gas cylinder exchange, we'll certainly look into it - we had planned on selling fully charged cylinders as we'll have a range of kegging equipment, but we'll look into offering a swap'n'go style system which would obviously be very convenient.

If there's anything specific you guys would love to see stocked let us know, we're happy to take feedback from the community and we want to provide as good a range as possible - plus we're still ordering stock now, so if there's interest in anything in particular, I'll make sure we have it when we open

Ultimately our goal is to support a great inner-west brewing community, so we're also planning on playing host to meetups and possibly even special events/talks by brewing experts - our theory is that you can get good information on the internet, but there's something great about being able to chat with other brewers over a beer or two.

With all that in mind, feel free to drop in, even if it's just for a chat, once we're up and running - which should be by the end of the month, or if you see us working away while we're setting up and stocking - say g'day!

Cheers, Sam.

 

[eloschgimpel]

Thanks Sam, just got even more excited about you opening soon

 

[Yeastfridge]

Thanks Sam!

I'm back from a stint working overseas start of next month and will definitely be bothering you regularly after that.

 

[Bribie G]

Not just for locals, whenever I'm in Sydney I head for Newtown / Enmore, being a hipster .... and would be great to pick up some liquid yeast, hops etc to slip into my man bag. I'll need to look for an insulated model.

Edit: Sam, you'd benefit from getting a "Retailer" tag on the forum then you can announce stuff in the Retail section

 

[fletcher]

thanks for the update Sam. that's awesome news mate. you guys are my new local local home brew shop

 

[JDW81]

Not just for locals, whenever I'm in Sydney I head for Newtown / Enmore, being a hipster .... and would be great to pick up some liquid yeast, hops etc to slip into my man bag. I'll need to look for an insulated model.

Edit: Sam, you'd benefit from getting a "Retailer" tag on the forum then you can announce stuff in the Retail section

I always had my suspicions About your hipster status Bribie. I can see you riding down king street on a fixie and drinking your beer out of glass jars.

 

[thehopandgrain]

Hey Guys, thanks for the great response.

Yeastfridge, it will be a pleasure to be bothered by you. Bribie, we're definitely hipster friendly, don't worry, you're welcome to park your fixie at the shop when you come for a visit.

Can I take a quick poll "by the people, for the people"?

Firstly with those fresh yeasts, what's your preference - do you guys prefer Wyeast or Whitelabs? I'm a big fan of Wyeast because of the smack-pack packaging which lets you know really quick if the yeast is viable, plus it's light tight which just seems like a better way to package yeast all round. I'm erring on the side of getting in mainly Wyeast, and perhaps if there's any demand for it getting in some Whitelabs down the track - but I could go the other way.

The next question is CO2 refills. I've had a chat with Mykegsonlegs, and I think we'll be able to operate a really good swap-and-go system with them. If you come in for a refill and have a Mykegsonlegs cylinder (or want to buy one from us), we'd do an instant swap over, cylinders are serviced, maintained and pressure tested. If you have another brand of cylinder then we could still refill it for you, but we'd have to hold onto your cylinder until our filler comes by and refills it for you - we'd then call and let you know that's it's been refilled and is ready for pickup.

Would this arrangement work for any of you? What brands of CO2 cylinder do you use (and what size)? If say there's a fair few people using keg king cylinders, it might warrant us keeping some filled in our own stock to provide the same swap over functionality. What it all comes down to is that it's quite difficult for us to offer on premises refills due to the cost and size of the equipment required, and we're trying to find a refill partner to make this as easy and cost effective as possible for you.

Love to hear your feedback, thanks guys!

- Sam.

 

[jimmyjackpot]

Whitelabs would be my yeast choice. Both brands would be awesome if you can do it.

Kegking swap and go for CO2 would be my preference. Leaving a bottle for a few days to be refilled would not appeal to me.

 

[fletcher]

Hey Guys, thanks for the great response.

Yeastfridge, it will be a pleasure to be bothered by you. Bribie, we're definitely hipster friendly, don't worry, you're welcome to park your fixie at the shop when you come for a visit.

Can I take a quick poll "by the people, for the people"?

Firstly with those fresh yeasts, what's your preference - do you guys prefer Wyeast or Whitelabs? I'm a big fan of Wyeast because of the smack-pack packaging which lets you know really quick if the yeast is viable, plus it's light tight which just seems like a better way to package yeast all round. I'm erring on the side of getting in mainly Wyeast, and perhaps if there's any demand for it getting in some Whitelabs down the track - but I could go the other way.
The next question is CO2 refills. I've had a chat with Mykegsonlegs, and I think we'll be able to operate a really good swap-and-go system with them. If you come in for a refill and have a Mykegsonlegs cylinder (or want to buy one from us), we'd do an instant swap over, cylinders are serviced, maintained and pressure tested. If you have another brand of cylinder then we could still refill it for you, but we'd have to hold onto your cylinder until our filler comes by and refills it for you - we'd then call and let you know that's it's been refilled and is ready for pickup. Would this arrangement work for any of you? What brands of CO2 cylinder do you use (and what size)? If say there's a fair few people using keg king cylinders, it might warrant us keeping some filled in our own stock to provide the same swap over functionality. What it all comes down to is that it's quite difficult for us to offer on premises refills due to the cost and size of the equipment required, and we're trying to find a refill partner to make this as easy and cost effective as possible for you.

Love to hear your feedback, thanks guys!

- Sam.

hey sam. i'd vote wyeast only because there is no other brew shop i know in sydney that sells them so you'd have the margin. unless i'm completely mistaken.

i don't have feedback on c02 as i don't keg yet

 

[Yeastfridge]

Only used White Labs but that's because it's what my brew shop has, I'd definitely try Wyeast. It seems like they have a lot of the same main strains, just different speciality yeasts.

 

[HalfWit]

Hi, I'll be passing through the area on my way home from work so very handy. +1 for Wyeast.

 

[joshF]

Yet to use wyeast only white labs but would certainly see what all the rave is about