Back into it - after 28 years !!!

[wayzgoose]

Just got the bug again after a long, long gap. Used to be well into my brewing in the late 70's/early 80's but then along came kids, the fermenting bucket got used to soak nappies and, although I'm sure the brewing beer helped the babies sleep, the wife just didn't appreciate it in their bedroom. She's strange like that!! I used to always have a Tom Caxton on the go and our specialty wine was elderflower so looking forward to that time of year again.

Now it's not just the brewing that made me look for a forum, I'm also having thoughts about opening a home brew shop. This is where my first questions are really. It's about where you all buy your equipment and kits etc. Do you go to the sell everything stores that have a couple of shelves that may be a little bit cheaper or do you go to a local dedicated shop, or maybe purchase everything online? I know where I would go but I need to know if others would do the same. The worrying thing to me at the moment is that there are no home brew shops in my area and I wonder why.

I have a lot of work to do at the moment re: premises etc. Just checking out the wholesalers at the moment. But the biggest input comes from the buyers and that's you guys so all comments gratefully received.

Apologies for the long first post! When I have my knowledge a bit more up to date, hopefully I can begin to be a bit more help to others.

 

[queues likely]

enjoy and welcome. :

loads of good local advice on here, soon be filling those fv's with what nature intended them for!

 

[Cussword]

: Welcome WG :drink:

 

[abeyptfc]

great idea, my nearest shop is in edinburgh which is a good bit away from me, maybe 40 or 50 mins so I would prefer to buy online. I would love to go into a home brew shop and just have a blether with the manager though. the main thing i can think of is that the whole 'home brew' has evolved slightly over the last 28 years, selling the stuff is easy but folk will also be after good advice, and its likely if a new homebrewer has a **** first batch, or not as expected then they will chuck the hobby and not come back to ur shop. ive only been brewing since last july, still doing kits and happy enough with the outcome, bought all my stuff online with the help of folk on here.

 

[Moley]

Welcome to the forum, and welcome back to a great hobby :

I'm also having thoughts about opening a home brew shop. This is where my first questions are really. It's about where you all buy your equipment and kits etc. Do you go to the sell everything stores that have a couple of shelves that may be a little bit cheaper or do you go to a local dedicated shop, or maybe purchase everything online?

I occasionally drop into my local Wilkinson's if I just need a pot of pectolase or yeast, and I did buy a few beer kits from them (price & convenience) when I returned to the hobby myself just a couple of years ago.

I am fortunate that I do have a proper LHBS (Local HomeBrew Shop), which is only 4 miles in the wrong direction from my place of employment, we knock off early on a Friday so that's when I can nip up for a chinwag and buy my corks, filter pads, finings, stuff like tannin which Wilko don't stock, metabisulphite in bigger tubs, syphon tube off the reel, occasional hardware, etc., etc., etc.

Now I'm brewing All Grain I buy my hops and grain online because it's significantly cheaper than from my LHBS, but that is a much more specialist field. My LHBS do stock some grain, brewing yeasts and a limited choice of hops but that constitutes less than 5% of their turnover and they know hardly anything about it.

Good luck with the possible venture.

 

[Crastney]

I was talking to an Aussie at the weekend, and he was saying that in Aus they have home brew shops where you go in, and make beer on the premises, and then leave it there to do what it needs to, then go back and bottle it, leave it again, and pick it up when ready. so it's like a home brew, but done in someone else's space, if you don't have the room, or time, or whatever. I think this would be a good idea, to rent out your kit, on your premises for people to use - would work in a back room to a Home brew shop, or a warehouse or something. I'm looking into the possibility of oppening something similar in my area, in London, I think there's a market for it for stag do's - make the beer one weekend, and drink it at the wedding a few weeks later.

 

[dennisking]

Like your self I started late 70`s, think you will find the craft has progressed a lot, for the good IMO. Having always bought from a local shop for years even I am now buying bits on line as the price is so much cheaper. A 25kg sack of malt works out about £10 cheaper. So good luck if you open a shop, I still vist mine for some bits but the bulk of ingrediance will be ordered by post. Personally I think its sad but have to live in the real world.

 

[wayzgoose]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. From what I've read I think the kits are the thing to concentrate on as a new shop is likely to struggle with extract and grain brewing ingredients owing to the best before dates and also all the equipment that would also be required.

Still doing lots of reading so keep the info coming!! Ta!

 

[BigYin]

Welcome to the forum :thumb:

As for a homebrew shop? Well, the hobby is certainly enjoying a resurgance, possibly due to most people having to cut back on spending.. Or maybe the growth of sites like this that maybe inspire people and help them??

My 'local' homebrew shop mainly stocks kits, almost every conceivable kit in fact, and their prices for those compare favourably with the onlinme retailers when you take into account postage costs. For all grain they aren't too bad, but as said above, AG brewing almost certainly accounts for a much smaller percent of total turnover than the kits, so despite vacuum packing etc making for a better shelf life, it's probably rather hard to make much money from that area.

They are indeed very helpful and chatty people, and have been championing and supporting the craft of homebrewing for many years.

I doubt it's an easy way to make a living, but if your passion lies in the right place, it might prove to be a very enjoyable way to make a living - but in the nature of a small shop with a low profit margin, there won't be money to hire staff, so you'd better be prepared to pretty much make it your life!!

 

[Dieseljockey]

Welcome back to the fold after all those years away.... :thumb:

 

[wayzgoose]

Welcome to the forum :thumb:

small shop with a low profit margin

It's surprising how hard it is to get prices out of the wholesalers. Obviously I need to do some sums but they're not making it easy!!

 

[luckyeddie]

Welcome to the forum..

I have 3 local shops where I pop in on occasion for a few bits and a chinwag, but more and more I buy stuff online. One shop is great for bulk malts like Pilsener and Maris Otter (they advertise on this site) but they do not stock the types of yeast I want. One shop is great if I'm lazy and want to just throw a Brewferm kit into play, and the other one gives me a bit of a snifter whenever I go in and the conversation comes round to, er, water :whistle: distillation equipment.

Top guys and gals all round.

 

[stevander74]

Hi Wayzgoose
Welcome to the forum and welcome back to brewing :thumb:

Im a kit brewer and i like to make the 20mins drive to my LHBS to buy kits and equipment. As well as being cheaper to buy in store ( ive found that online suppliers kit prices are cheaper until you add the postage, kits are heavy) i prefer the the whole experiance, looking round the store, having a friendly chat, all that stuff.

I hope you do decide to go ahead with the store and i hope it works out for you.

Good luck :thumb:

Steve

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Welcome back to the greatest hobby in the universe. :thumb: