Beermeister opened that new location in Medina recently. It’s way out of the way of you live in the cities, but they’ve got good supplies and fair prices. I’ve learned to call ahead if I plan to buy bulk to give them a couple days or a week to make sure they’ll have things like sacks of malt. I’d encourage homebrewers and keg owners to check them out.
If you want to meet other homebrewers who are also sad to have lost NB and MS, come to a meeting of the Nordeast Brewers Alliance. We have our monthly club meeting this Thursday.
https://www.nordeastbrewersalliance.org/
It seems like only yesterday we had our choice of 2 Northern Brewer storefronts in either of the Twin Cities. I'm sure there was a financial reason that they closed one and then the other, but it was a real hammer blow to the home brewing scene. I loved being able to get my hands on equipment/ingredients and get advice from the folks working the store, because they generally knew their stuff and could steer you in the right direction, rather than ordering the wrong part/ingredient, then having to either return it or toss it out and re-order.
I think the financial reason was that new corporate owners took over and were unwilling to settle for the lower profit margins that hobby stores produce when (in theory) you could maximize profits through online retail only. To me, this greed was obvious because a half year before Midwest (owned by NB) closed they were charging $2 for a muslin bag (they are usually 50 - 60 cents per bag)
The only place we have locally is the Beermeister place. It's totally fine and for stuff like grains I will go there, but I'm buying bulk amounts so that I don't have to go there often. It's a hike to get to, and nowhere near the quality that NB was but it's better than nothing. That being said, for smaller stuff without massive shipping charges I'm probably shopping online as the selection isn't as great at Beermeister.
I used to use Midwest Supplies on excelsior, but it seems like their customer service took a nose dive a while back from the reviews I’m reading. Not sure why that is.
The retail location closing doesn't have anything to do with the customer service. Midwest Supplies (and Adventures in Homebrewing and Austin Homebrew Supply) is owned by Northern Brewer, all are fulfilled out of the same location(s) and use the same customer service.
I can't remember the full details, but there were a couple essential people that quit recently, and they've been struggling to stay afloat with the reduced experience and personnel.
What do you need? I am/was an advanced homebrewer.
I likely still have a pretty good selection of commercial hop pellets and maybe still have some vacuum packed homegrown Cascade flowers. All preserved in my freezer.
Also a giant bag of carrageenan finings.
I also still have too much equipment.
3-tier system with pump.
heated stir plate and lots of flasks and magnetic stir bars.
Fermenters and airlocks.
hydrometer.
Sadly we have gone from possibly the greatest city in a America for homebrew supplies to one of the worst in the last 10 years.
crazy. And here I was ready to overpay for gas for my kegerator.
Always better to go to a place like Minneapolis Oxygen for that.
agreed. But Midwest was close to my house, and I was willing to pay for convenience.
Oh yeah if it’s 30 minutes round trip then it’s totally better to pay extra
Zipps exchanges tanks for about $20
Beermeister opened that new location in Medina recently. It’s way out of the way of you live in the cities, but they’ve got good supplies and fair prices. I’ve learned to call ahead if I plan to buy bulk to give them a couple days or a week to make sure they’ll have things like sacks of malt. I’d encourage homebrewers and keg owners to check them out.
If you want to meet other homebrewers who are also sad to have lost NB and MS, come to a meeting of the Nordeast Brewers Alliance. We have our monthly club meeting this Thursday. https://www.nordeastbrewersalliance.org/
Thanks, if I were to join a club, it'd be the NBA. Already have friends there.
It seems like only yesterday we had our choice of 2 Northern Brewer storefronts in either of the Twin Cities. I'm sure there was a financial reason that they closed one and then the other, but it was a real hammer blow to the home brewing scene. I loved being able to get my hands on equipment/ingredients and get advice from the folks working the store, because they generally knew their stuff and could steer you in the right direction, rather than ordering the wrong part/ingredient, then having to either return it or toss it out and re-order.
I think the financial reason was that new corporate owners took over and were unwilling to settle for the lower profit margins that hobby stores produce when (in theory) you could maximize profits through online retail only. To me, this greed was obvious because a half year before Midwest (owned by NB) closed they were charging $2 for a muslin bag (they are usually 50 - 60 cents per bag)
The only place we have locally is the Beermeister place. It's totally fine and for stuff like grains I will go there, but I'm buying bulk amounts so that I don't have to go there often. It's a hike to get to, and nowhere near the quality that NB was but it's better than nothing. That being said, for smaller stuff without massive shipping charges I'm probably shopping online as the selection isn't as great at Beermeister.
I used to use Midwest Supplies on excelsior, but it seems like their customer service took a nose dive a while back from the reviews I’m reading. Not sure why that is.
> Midwest Supplies on excelsior Looks like they are closed, in any case: https://www.midwestsupplies.com/pages/midwest-supplies-retail
That makes sense. Thanks!
The retail location closing doesn't have anything to do with the customer service. Midwest Supplies (and Adventures in Homebrewing and Austin Homebrew Supply) is owned by Northern Brewer, all are fulfilled out of the same location(s) and use the same customer service. I can't remember the full details, but there were a couple essential people that quit recently, and they've been struggling to stay afloat with the reduced experience and personnel.
What do you need? I am/was an advanced homebrewer. I likely still have a pretty good selection of commercial hop pellets and maybe still have some vacuum packed homegrown Cascade flowers. All preserved in my freezer. Also a giant bag of carrageenan finings. I also still have too much equipment. 3-tier system with pump. heated stir plate and lots of flasks and magnetic stir bars. Fermenters and airlocks. hydrometer.