Decline of Home Brewing

[zach]

I visited with the owner of the only home brew supply store in my area a few months ago and he talked about the decline of home brewing.

So it was no surprise when I drove by to pick up a sack of malt this week, I found he is no longer doing business in a store and has gone online.

My costs per 55 lb bag of base malt was in $55 to $70 per range. Now with freight the cost per bag is $105 to $120 per sack.

This decline in demand is certainly making this hobby more expensive which may accelerate the decline.

[Homebrewer11777]

Sacks of grain have been an issue in HB for some time. Best consistent deal seems to be MoreBeer's free shipping on 5 and 10 pounds sacks. Still looking at about $75 for 50 pounds of malted barley.

[Twisted Brick]

This decline in demand is certainly making this hobby more expensive which may accelerate the decline.

+1

In my area the number of Craigslist listings of homebrew systems is consistent. A sack of Golden Promise is just shy of $100 before shipping.

Ones who are inclined to malt their own grains (its easy-peasy) can get premium raw wheat and rye for $.60 - .70/lb from these guys. $5 flat shipping or free shipping on orders over $50 from a truck drop location.

[zach]

Sacks of grain have been an issue in HB for some time. Best consistent deal seems to be MoreBeer's free shipping on 5 and 10 pounds sacks. Still looking at about $75 for 50 pounds of malted barley.

That's a good idea. I need 220 lbs to fill a 5 gallon barrel. Order twenty two -10 lb bags instead four- 55 lb bags. Cost is $350 + tax delivered.

Thanks HB!

[zach]

Ones who are inclined to malt their own grains (its easy-peasy) can get premium raw wheat and rye for $.60 - .70/lb from these guys. $5 flat shipping or free shipping on orders over $50 from a truck drop location.

I've picked up from azure in the past and have had good results with raw rye and YLAY. Also have tried raw barley, wheat, and buckwheat from azure.

My boss will likely not tolerate a malting operation, as much as I would like to try it.

[greggn]

My boss will likely not tolerate a malting operation, as much as I would like to try it.

Two points ...

1. You needn't malt and entire sack at a time ... 5 pounds of wheat is easily managed in a closet and out of sight

2. Explain the economics to the boss of buying malt vs home malting and you might be surprised how quickly you get the ok

[kiwi Bruce]

My local Home Brew store was in Delaware. I have been using them for at least a decade. I was on their e-mail list and got a notification that everything was 70% off as they were closing. I drove over and got a shit-load of stuff and had a talk with the owner. It's a consequence of COVID 19. During the lockdown he could barely keep his store stocked. It's as if everyone and his dog discovered home brewing. Then the lockdown ended and everything fell on it's face. I have to use on-line shopping now and the shipping is killer. He's already being missed.

[NormandieStill]

I can't miss what I didn't have. My nearest home brewing store is a solid hour's drive from me in Amiens. As a consequence I buy online and pretty much everything comes from Belgium. The shipping costs mean that I tend to wait until I can place a big enough order and I'll over order to hit the max weight once I've got what I need.

This coupled with some bad planning means that I'm currently sitting on about 90kg of malt, but have run out wheat malt! Not sure i can scale up my malting to 5 kg batches. Otherwise I'm going to have to suck it and swallow the shipping costs.

[Copperhead road]

My go to home brew shop near me which I bought all my stuff has closed down also.

[Yummyrum]

I’ve always been a local shopper. Doesn’t matter what it is , if I can get in my car and pick it up I will . I really hate online lucky dip .

For nearly 20yrs Me and Mrs Yummy ran a small TV sales and repair shop in a small town . I respect shop local. I know how hard it is .

HBS I bought my first still off nearly 15 years ago is gone . … but he was retiring age then . Luckily another HBS started just before he closed ( probably had something to do with it )
He turned into a mate through Karate club and I always gave him my business .

Now I’ve moved to Hervey bay . We used to have two HBS shops . One slowly become a micro brewery . I went in the other day and was told “ I don’t do that any more , I won’t sell to illegal distillers “ I replied I only want an essence to add to some Vodka ….”, I won’t repeat the response

Oh well .

At least the other one in town is nice . They get my support .

[NormandieStill]

This got me thinking, so I looked up my local HBS (Even if it is an hour and a half from here). Turns out, they closed shop this week! Same reasons as everywhere. Hard to get the footfall in a city centre. Clients struggle to park and there's not enough in town to justify the visit. It's easier to buy online.

[MooseMan]

Same here in the UK.
My local closed, so all we had near us was a bargain shop chain called Wilko, that sold a limited range of HB stuff.
They have now gone under completely so it's all online now.

[Saltbush Bill]

The old one here closed, then a bigger and better one opened,
This one has diversified, he sells beer and spirit making supplies including off the shelf stills, cheese making supplies, woods for smoking, along with other BBQ supplies like rubs, he also has the things needed for small goods / charcuteri/ bacon making.
He seems to be doing well.
He has another shop 25 min drive away on the coast, that one sells all of the above but also sells fishing rods , bait and tackle.
Gotta move with the times and diversify I think.

[Mr_Kaye]

I am lucky enough to have a few choices within a short drive of me. I also know of a great small town shop that sells online for when I can't get product in hand.

Being still in the learning stage, price, not brand, is often the determining factor for me. It seems all the packages are starting to have the same company logo on them as well.

In a conversation with a friend, who only plays in the beer making sandbox, he pointed out the factor of having a microbrewery on every street corner. He felt a lot of guys never got into the craft, or stopped, when it was easier to justify a $50 bar tab, every other week or so. Definitely a lot easier than talking your way out of another big bill purchase of time / equipment!

Just thought that was an interesting variable in the declining of the hobby.

For the record, he's divorced, and his production has gone WAY up. LOL

[BlackStrap]

I do agree there definitely seems to be a decline in home brewing. In my area it seems that the home brewers are pushed out by the bigger fellas selling their stuff at the local brew pubs... I mean if you are into that scene. I don't mind doing a good burger and a pint from time to time, So why take the time to do all it takes to make a beer, when you can go to the pub and pay for it?

personally I enjoy the challenges of going from seed to mug.
I'm guess I'm lucky enough to make nice with our local feed mill owner, and learn how to do things before there was a brew store.

This group has helped me in building equipment, to make my own malts, grinder, drier, toaster, and a kind of sous vide setup using my PID and boil kettle for crystal/ caramel malts, then toasted to desired... along side my wine rack, I usually have 3 on tap in my chest keezer

So the possibilities are only limited to the seeds/feeds at the mill, and time.
Where I'm located 50 lb. bag of barley typically runs around $25 us dollars wheat and rye is even cheaper

I've recently gotten into lagers with the cooler temps the fermenter fits right in with my whole muscle cures as they age.

Stay safe and have fun
BlackStrap

[Jimthebrewer]

Always worth making friends with local craft brewers to get grains and yeast, chemicals even. Before they go the way of the shops.

There’s lots of reasons for their closure, rents aren’t going g down and people below 40 are drinking considerably less, so there’s no one coming through. Globally, physical, in person shops are disappearing.

Blame Jeff.

[FL Brewer]

I thought I was the only one having the decline of the local HBS problem.... my local (20 minute drive from home) shop went out of business when the owner went bankrupt trying to become a craft brewer. The next closest shop was only a 30 minute drive away, so that wasn't a problem, but then the guy running it retired and couldn't sell the business.... so I found another shop 45 minutes away, but on the way to somewhere I drove to every other weekend, but their lease was not renewed and they closed the business. There's another shop about 50 miles away (but not close to anywhere I go for any other reason) that I have been buying from for the last year or so. I hope that one doesn't close any time soon.

[zach]

Update to my original post. My local HBS relocated to a smaller warehouse with no retail sales. He has a grand daughter that has taken over the operation and now offers a 2 hour window per day for pick-up of online orders to avoid freight charges. So I'm happy to have access to 55 lbs bags of base malts for $65 again.

[NorthWoodsAb]

Happy that one worked out for you Zach. Working around a 2 hour window is a lot better than being SOL and paying freight.
Our local HBS closed up shop about this time last year. Her lease came due for renewal and she just couldn't pay more rent and earn a livin, so closed up shop. Really too bad. Edmonton is my closest place now almost 3 hr drive each way.
Cheers

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

We had two in the area, and they both closed. One of those tried to do the micro-brewery launch and it flopped. We do have a couple of GOOD microbreweries around that I've contacted, but none will sell me ingredients unless they're bottled. I did say I was looking for "beer" ingredients at a place that makes their living selling beer so...anyway.

I'm relegated to ordering online or buying stock feed grain. Luckily online is easy, I ordered base malt and EC-1118 from MoreBeer! on Monday and it arrived today, free shipping.

Rusty

[bilgriss]

Our town has had a series over the past couple decades. The first local dealer ran sales from his basement, later from a storefront. He and his wife moved away, and sold the business - which was quickly out of business. Since then, we've had a wine shop with homebrew supplies in the back, another dedicated homebrew shop, and most recently a small micro brewery run by a guy who came from the homebrew community who sold supplies and reasonable sacks of malt. But then it became obvious that the square footage would produce more dollars if it were used from people arriving to buy beverages instead of homebrew supplies.

At present, I don't think anyone is selling supplies, although we have at least four local breweries, each seemingly doing well.

[NorthWoodsAb]

I can't complain about our local micro brewery, they have been great about buying specialty malts from. But trying to get enzymes or other distillery related stuff if a real pain.