I buy almost all of my homebrewing stuff from my local homebrew supply, because without the kindness of the owner, I never would have had the courage to start what has become a passionate hobby for me.
It's important to me to support local businesses, especially when those businesses are part of a hobby, like game shops, comic shops, and homebrewing. From time to time, though, I decide that I want to try a kit or need a yeast or some hops that the local shop doesn't have. When that happens, I order from Austin Homebrew Supply or Northern Brewer.
A few months ago, I ordered an Arrogant Bastard clone kit from AHS. When the box was delivered, this was drawn on one side:
I thought it was incredibly awesome and clever, and then I saw on their G+ page that their shipping department occasionally draws beautiful and awesome artwork on boxes, and I was one of the lucky recipients who got something contextually relevant.
So here's to you, Austin Homebrew Shipping department! I'll hoist a homebrew in your general direction while I'm watching the hockey game tonight. Sadly, it won't be the one that was delivered in this box, because it turned out so well it didn't last more than a week after we started pouring it.
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I have always ordered my home brew stuff from Midwest Supplies out of MN even though I’ve been hearing about AHS from the BrewCrazy podcast for several years. But after this, I may have to toss some orders over to AHS! Off to drink some home brew and watch TableTop.
-Corby-
Omaha, NE
That is really cool.
My favorite part is the Cards Against Humanity photobomb.
Oh, so these were the folks that provided you with your clone. You told me about this and your Hefe-Wheaton projects during Storytime @ Phoenix Comicon, but the details escaped my ADD-addled brain. 😛
I will long remember that sad episode of TOS where redshirt ensign Bazinga was accidentally phasered in the back by the Enterprise. What a fitting memorial.
Like you, I try to patronize local businesses as much as possible. I live in Austin, so I patronize AHS all the time (shut up and take my money, AHS!). It’s a fabulous place, all the guys there are super friendly and helpful. Even when the place is packed (and it often is), they’ll take their time to help you and answer your questions without rushing you. I heart them even more now that they did this for you! If you’re ever in our weird, wacky town, it’s worth it to stop in and say hi to those guys.
I live in Eau Claire WI, maybe 90 minutes from Midwest…freaking amazing customer service. My local store is awesome but small and they constantly refer me to Midwest. I love them both.
As ever, if thinking about doing a homebrew, relax and have a brew…it’s easy!
The definition of awesome.
Beer, art, and a sense of humor, all rolled into one. There is hope for the human race after all.
You know, if you actually CAME to Austin you could visit them in person. ~coughAustinComicConcough~ Especially since you owe us for missing w00tstock. You know, just saying. #AustinitesWhoWantToMeetWil
Wil… glad to hear you buy stuff from my local, Northern Brewers! They saved my butt last week… I’d had a bunch of folks from Feist (my step-daughter sings with ’em) over for breakfast and as the day wore on Brian (their drummer) had some of my homebrew. He went for a walk. Had some more homebrew. He was in love. I wanted to bring a couple of gallons over to the band before they show…BUT NO BIG BOTTLES IN THE HOUSE! It was 5:15 and the guys at Northern were closed and counting the til. I banged on the door and explained my predicament. 5 minutes and an after-closing sale later I was out the door with two 1-gallon jugs. I tapped the keg for the beer and brought it over about 1/2 hour before the show started. I was toasted from the stage, and had the satisfaction of seeing the second gallon disappear into the tour bus. The only downside was that *sniff* the keg ran quickly dry.
Wil –
Just wanted to drop a brief note to tell you that it is directly due to your blog posts that my husband and I started homebrewing together. About two weeks after you first blogged about doing homebrewing with your son, my husband and I were in our local liquor store. We spotted one of those little Mr. Beer homebrew kits and my husband’s eyes lit up. I said that you had started homebrewing that it sounded like you were having a LOT of fun with it. I also said that if we got good enough, and you decided to come to Chicago (please oh please oh please), then maybe, just MAYBE we could give one of our homebrews to you. In the meantime, we could have a lot of fun making our beers together. One year later, we have graduated from the little 2.5 gallon Mr. Beer kits (but we still use them for smaller batches) to the 5 gallon carboys (we get our supplies from our local Brew and Grow and Midwest, but I think we are going to give A.H.S. a try) Not only are we making beer, we are also making mead. Our friends LOVE the beers we give to them, but the best part is that we are doing this together. So, I just wanted to say thanks for sharing your hobby with us. If you hadn’t, I don’t know if my husband and I would be having as much fun with our homebrewing!
Christine
That should be the label on your next batch.
Mmm… Arrogant Bastard…
So, did you go with any of the kit options, like double pitching or the alcohol booster?
I’ve got a “crimson and clover” ready to bottle right now. It’s 50% red ale and 50% clover honey.
My husband and I love to home brew. Our latest batch was a chocolate milk stout. As a physicist I find brewing scientific and satisfying the nerd in me.
I did the double pitch (with a starter) but not the alcohol boost. I did the boost with a double IPA, just to see how it would turn out, and if I had to do it again, I wouldn't do the boost, because that beer was so tasty I wanted to be able to have more than one before feeling strange but also good.
Awesome. I’d be happy to get a box like that, and it doesn’t even have anything to do with me. When I used to send people letters – because there was a time when we had to do that, kids – I’d always put wacky things in with the letter, like old trading cards or other things that had no connection whatsover to the letter. Because who doesn’t like a surprise?
I don’t drink beer, much less brew it, but if that ever changes, I would be happy to support this company purely because of this. I’m all for anything that brings a little creativity and joy into this world! Way to go, Austin Homebrew Supply!
Northern Brewer used to be our local store…until we moved five hours away from it! We’ve been making do with what out local co-op carries, but after your post I had to check out AHS. So worth it! I am now well on my way to being spouse of the year, because AHS has a clone kit for Einbecker – one of my husband’s favorite beers, absolutely impossible to find for at least a 200-mile radius. Whoo-hoo!
That drawing is awesome! I haven’t been lucky enough to receive one yet, but I order often enough that I hope to.
I just bought five Perlick taps from AHS and I set them up in the door of an old fridge that someone gave to me. It holds five 5 gallon Cornelius kegs of beer. I currently have four beers and a rootbeer on tap. The fridge really needs to be repainted, just need to choose a color and/or graphic style for it.
Thanks Wil, your post about you and Ryan brewing together is what got me back into homebrewing after a long hiatus. BTW – did you end up making the Irish Stout recipe I gave to you? I’m curious as to how you liked it – constructive criticism is always appreciated.
Oh!! When you paint your fridge, use chalkboard paint, so you can write above each tap what's inside! I saw someone do this on Reddit, and it looked REALLY cool.
Excellent idea. I was thinking of riveting on some card holders, but chalkboard paint would be much easier. Plus, I could just draw on whatever graphics I want depending on my mood. For that great idea, I hereby rename my American Wheat after you – American Wheaton.
Currently on tap: Russian Imperial Stout (left over from the non-winter we had here, really good but a bit much for this hot weather), Czech Lager, American Wheaton, Rootbeer, and a Boston Lager (Sam Adams clone) that I messed up – I reversed the hops, wasn’t paying attention. But, it is still pretty damned good.