The Most Important Resource: Your Local Homebrew Shop
It's possible to fulfill all your brewing needs online. With a mouse click, supplies whisk to your doorstep. However, there is no single greater resource for the new brewer to cultivate than their local homebrew shop.
Tucked in cramped quarters, the average homebrew shop is a spartan affair. Chaotic shelves and bins collide with refrigerators overwhelming your senses with strange, unknown items. Every visit reveals new trinkets stuffed in a corner.
Choosing a Good Shop
In the midst of the clutter, how do you sort out the good shops from the places to avoid? Look around. Is the place clean and semi-organized? (Ignore the dust that gathers anywhere grain is milled.) Check out the grains and extract. Stores that only have a few grains to choose from limit your brewing options. Great stores allow you to dive into grain bins for a sample to smell and taste.
While checking for freshness, you learn a grain's flavor. High marks to those allowing the purchase of any amount of grain, not just preweighed amounts. The extract selection isn't as important as the speed with which it flies from the store. Better beer comes from fresh extract. Beer kits, important when you begin, fade when you get the hang of creating recipes.
Top shops stuff fridges with different hop varieties. Cold preserves hop aroma. Each hop type has unique characteristics. Don't get locked into a limited selection.
In the bad old days, shops stored hops in paper bags at room temperature. These stale yellow cheesy hops made bad beer. If you find a store that doesn't keep their hops cold, find another shop!
Next to the hops will be yeast. Variety and freshness count. Check the expiration dates to avoid old dead yeast. Between the two main yeast suppliers there are nearly a hundred choices available to you.
Gadgets are great, but they don't make a store worthwhile. Delving deeper into the hobby, you'll discover a handful of items you need. Don't be tempted by the shiny widgets. Save your pennies for the good stuff.
Watch the clerks. How do they interact with customers? Are they answering questions without dogmatic answers? At a great shop, the crew manning the store is deeply immersed in homebrewing lore. Ask questions about things you don't understand. Reward their kindness with a bottle and get honest feedback to make your beer better.
Several companies sell no-boil, cheap brew kits or “beer-in-a-bag”-type setups. They are frequent gifts by well-meaning loved ones to the beer enthusiast. With some luck, you can produce a vaguely beer-like product. The basic starter kit is more expensive, but well worth it.
Why Shop Local?
No small shop can match the prices of the big online purveyors. So why shop local? Because on brew day, short a crucial ingredient, you need them there. A virtual retailer can't pull your fat from the fire, but your local one can! If your shop treats customers poorly or fails to supply your needs, don't hesitate to take your business elsewhere.
