What's Brewin' Boulder is closing for good

[ColoradoXJ13]

Nov. 30th....damn...they had good prices and a lot of stuff in stock in general, even if the guys that work there are dicks...

Whats the deal with the place in Westminister? Any good? I really don't want to have to drive down there every time I brew...I might have to start mail ordering grains for each brew...argh!

[OrangeCrush]

yeah a friend of mine was at the auction trying to get some stuff but big money swept in and bought all of it.

[xjmatt]

BUY IN BULK! Seriously, I haven't bought enough grain for a single batch in a long long time. I just buy pilsner, 2-row, and wheat malt by the sack. I'm stocked up right now but in a little bit I might work on putting together a group purchase from North Country Malts to see if I can get enough together to fill a pallet and split the shipping. I do need to do some bulk hop ordering though if you have any interest in that let me know.

It's really nice to go "hey I feel like brewing this weekend" and not having to go out for anything.

As for the Westminster shop I've never been there but I have been to their shop in Englewood. The Englewood shop has a good selection of grains and equipment and the staff seems to be on the ball. For yeast they are a white labs shop. Prices are average I'd say.

[jwjeep1]

I've been to the Westminster shop several times, and would generally agree with what xjmatt said. They've got a pretty good selection of ingredients and equipment, and their prices are about average for a homebrew shop. I also buy in bulk, so I don't usually buy much other than specialty things. I don't like Beer at Home's selection of yeast. They've pretty much got white labs, and a few miscellanious packets of dry wine yeasts.

[ColoradoXJ13]

I am pretty covered for yeast, I have all of the strains I have bought over the last year of brewing (wow, it has been almost exactly a year since I started) frozen down in the lab I work in, and I culture them up for most of the beers I brew. Other than that, I usually just use Safale US-05 (same as WLP001, Wy1056...) dried yeast for everything.

As for grains, I really don't have the space to have 3-4 50# bags of grains around, nor do I have a mill or scale for those kinds of weights...someday when I have a real house, I will step it up, but for now, I was kind of just buying grains a couple days ahead of time for each brew. Same deal with hops, I don't have the freezer space to store a couple #'s of hops so this past year I bought a # each of centennial and cascade which I use most often, and would either mail order or buy hops by the oz. at the HBS.

[Jeepindog]

The Brew Hut (Hampden and Chambers in Aurora) has everything you need. Very well stocked in hops, grains, and White Labs *AND* Wyeast liquid yeast, and Fermentis dry yeasts, a few brands of dry wine yeast, etc. Equipment, stainless conicals, everything you could ever want for a kegerator, kegs (both refurbished and otherwise) and a few guys who work there that really know their stuff (and win a lot of medals for their brews.)

Plus, there's the Dry Dock microbrewery right through the connecting door so you can grab a pint while you shop for ingredients.

Lachlan

[xjmatt]

The Brew Hut (Hampden and Chambers in Aurora) has everything you need. Very well stocked in hops, grains, and White Labs *AND* Wyeast liquid yeast, and Fermentis dry yeasts, a few brands of dry wine yeast, etc. Equipment, stainless conicals, everything you could ever want for a kegerator, kegs (both refurbished and otherwise) and a few guys who work there that really know their stuff (and win a lot of medals for their brews.)

Plus, there's the Dry Dock microbrewery right through the connecting door so you can grab a pint while you shop for ingredients.

Lachlan

I'll second Lachlan. The Brew hut is a VERY nice shop. Probably best floor layout of all the ones around here and the staff is also probably some of the best I've met. Their prices particularly on wine kits I've found to be tough to beat anywhere and everything else is pretty much in line.

However, I don't go there much at all if ever because I hate the drive from Lakewood to Aurora. :shrug:

[ColoradoXJ13]

I'm gonna have to start planning way further ahead though, if I am driving down to Aurora once a week to buy grains its going to drive up the cost of brewing both in gas and time...

[Jeepindog]

The Brew Hut will ship it to you. UPS isn't that bad, unless you want to buy a sack of grain. There is really no need to hoard hops, though. Trust me. The Brew Hut will have plenty of varieties and quantities available. With Dry Dock Brewing right next door, Kevin and Steve have made absolutely certain that there will be plenty of stuff in stock.

Lachlan

[ColoradoXJ13]

Well, went down to Beer at Home in westminster, the two folks working there were very nice, but their prices are way high. My grains for my Imp. Stout came to $38, I could have gotten them crushed and shipped from Austin Homebrew for $32.

The real issue I had with them was that I was crushing my grains (they have a belt driven roller style mill) and it simply wasn't crushing the grains well. I asked if it was adjustable as I didn't think the crush was good, the woman told me it was fine and if I wanted it crushed better I could run it through a second time. I did so, but the crush still wasn't there....I missed the SG of my beer by 0.04....got 1.080 instead of 1.120...guess I'll be ordering everything online unless I find myself in Aurora.

[Jeepindog]

guess I'll be ordering everything online unless I find myself in Aurora.

You know that the Brew Hut ships stuff, right? :beer:

[ColoradoXJ13]

You know that the Brew Hut ships stuff, right? :beer:

yep, I have an e-mail in to them regarding the specifics...i.e. I'd like to buy enough grains for a batch and not buy in lb. increments...depends on pricing though, if Austinhomebrew is cheaper...gotta go with economics with $6.99 flat rate shipping.

[ColoradoXJ13]

Went down to The Brew Hut on saturday, nice shop, had pretty much everything I needed, even picked up a mash paddle which I had been wanting for a while, $10 well spent. Kevin, the manager is a super nice guy and bought me and my friend a pint at Dry Dock after we got everything we needed at the store. Their grain prices are a fair bit higher than What's Brewin' was, but, I now have a grain mill on its way so I am going to start buying some sacks of grain, and start stocking up on specialty grains soon. I'll most likely mail order everything from whoever I find has the best prices.

Anyone know a good place to buy bulk grain?

[jwjeep1]

homebrew shops will usually give you a discount when buying whole bags of grain at a time.

[Jeepindog]

homebrew shops will usually give you a discount when buying whole bags of grain at a time.

Even The Brew Hut will sell sacks at a price much lower than the per/lb rate. Call and ask. Also, Kevin owns The Brew Hut and Dry Dock Brewing. You're right, though, he's a great guy.