New source for supplies in Canada!

[thekulman]

Hi realbeer forum members;

I've been a member for well over a year now, posting under my nickname of "theKulman". I've just opened my own web store featuring grains, hops and yeast for the home brewer. I don't have liquid yeast yet, but hope to be adding it soon. And of course I'll be adding other products as the store evolves.

I'm trying to keep the prices very low as I don't have a physical location to add to my overhead. I've been brewing now for over 20 years and have been All Grain for almost 2 years.

The store is a means of feeding my obsession as much as it is a source of income.

Please check it out and feel free to offer your thoughts.

Brian
www.homebrewersretail.com

[Jordan303]

hey nice starting site Glad to see you have malt extract and some no rinse sanitizer. Do you ever plan on getting star san or one step?

Love the fact you have malt extract aswell.

One thing tho im a college student who wont use a credit card except for bills, would you take a money order?

Last thing bottling seams to be a bigger pain every time i do it, are you looking into kegging equiptment at all? Mostly looking for the hardware such as taps, shanks, hosing, regulators etc..

Nice start tho i will be sure to bookmark it

[markaberrant]

Looks good so far. Best of luck!

[Quirky]

Nice layout, very simple navigation and it's great to find someone in Canada!

However, I was going to place an order for 8 oz of hops and about 4.4 pounds of grains and the shipping is over $75.00. I know Canada post is expensive, and you're out to make a profit but seriously you might want to check that - seems *outrageously* inflated.

[Quirky]

*double post*

[markaberrant]

My guess is the shipping calculator needs to be tweaked. I just shipped 6lbs of beer to Thunder Bay on Friday for $12.11 via Canada Post... and it arrived on the person's door step this morning! That's incredibly fast and cheap!!!

[thekulman]

Originally posted by Quirky
Nice layout, very simple navigation and it's great to find someone in Canada!

However, I was going to place an order for 8 oz of hops and about 4.4 pounds of grains and the shipping is over $75.00. I know Canada post is expensive, and you're out to make a profit but seriously you might want to check that - seems *outrageously* inflated.

That is! Can you send me a PM with your postal code? The shipping cost it returned has to be in error. I did quite a bit of testing and never saw anything lilke that. As an example I created orders to send from Toronto to Las Angelas, and the shipping was a fraction of what you saw.

Sorry, I will look into that.

Brian

[thekulman]

Originally posted by Jordan303
Do you ever plan on getting star san or one step?
...
One thing tho im a college student who wont use a credit card except for bills, would you take a money order?
...
Last thing bottling seams to be a bigger pain every time i do it, are you looking into kegging equiptment at all?

Hi Jordan;

Currently the site takes only Credit Cards and Paypal. You may find that setting up a Paypal account (takes money directly from your bank account - fees are low) is a worth while alternative to Money orders. The plus is that shipping would happen right away, whereas with a Money Order I would have to recieve it by post before I sent the supplies. Paypay is kind of like an internet money order if you want to think of it that way.

I will be offering more types of sanitizers as they become available. Hopefully PBW and Iodophor. Personally, I've used many and am now back to good old, cheap bleach.
As long as you don't overdo it - 1 Tbsp to 5 gallons water, it does not smell, easily rinses and does not affect flavour one bit.

As for kegs, I hope to sell the Pepsi type kegs. But at this time do not have plans to sell the hoses and gauges etc... Sorry.

Brian

[thekulman]

Originally posted by Quirky
Nice layout, very simple navigation and it's great to find someone in Canada!

However, I was going to place an order for 8 oz of hops and about 4.4 pounds of grains and the shipping is over $75.00. I know Canada post is expensive,

Hi Quirky;

I just manually ran your order through the Canada Post rate calculator and from Whitby to Chilliwack it should be about $14 shipping, unless you want it next day.

I'll look further into the error with the Canada Post rate calculator built into the website. It could be selecting the wrong box sizes or not combining the orders into one box.

Thank you for pointing this out for me.

Sincerely;

Brian
www.homebrewersretail.com

[Quirky]

14$ is much more reasonable lol! It figures the calculator works perfectly for everyone but me ;)

[shugalou]

Congratulations on getting the store up and running!

I have been purchasing my ingredients from Brian for a while now (warehouse/basement) and he is always prompt with my orders offering the best ingredients at great prices!

He has a ton of knowledge in the beer making process and he is the reason that I brew AG now. Brian taught me the AG process by inviting me over for a brew day to see what AG brewing entails (surprisingly not that much). He also offered a lot of advice on equipment details. Anyone looking for ingredients, recipes (Irish Red..yumm) or advice Brian is the go to guy with a real passion for the homebrewing hobby.

Best of luck with the store!

[BrewDog]

Best of luck, Kul!

[Jordan303]

couple quick questions. how soon untill you plan on getting kegs? do you have plans for it or is it an idea. cause i can wait and i much rather support a new store then just put a deposit on one at the beer store and not give it back.

Also with the grains are you able to mill them for me? If i placed an order how would i identify it as me or should i just pm you?

thanks

[thekulman]

Hi again Jordan;

Currently we don't have the facilities to mill grain (I use a Corona type mill myself, but it's not quick), sorry.
The keg's are an idea that I'm just into the researching phase. This is because the kegs typically used for homebrew are the old Pepsi, Firestone pop kegs. They aren't manufactured anymore because the soft drink industry has gone to syrup in a bag format for fountain drinks. So finding a supplier, preferably in Canada to work with hasn't materialized yet.

I will point you towards a good US site though. This guy sells only keg's and seems to have a never ending supply. Take a look at this site.


www.kegconnection.com

Brian
www.homebrewersretail.com

[fiume]

Brain thanks for all your help, I look forward to many more exchanges!! To all the other Canadians, let Brain help you with your brewing needs. good luck on your web site!! Paul

[thekulman]

Originally posted by fiume
Brain thanks for all your help, I look forward to many more exchanges!! To all the other Canadians, let Brain help you with your brewing needs. good luck on your web site!! Paul

Thank you Paul!

Paul's one of my newest customers and I look forward to seeing how his first few brews turn out.

Last night I made one of the Cooper's Brewmaster Selection Pilsener kits from my site. The Brewmasters Selection series are Cooper's premium kits.

I followed the instructions but with the following modifications (which I suggest to anyone making a kit - they will greatly improve the results)

[list=1]
I rehydrated the yeast in a sanitized cup with boiled water that had cooled to 105 F. Added to the wort when both were at the same temp. to avoid shocking it. Rehydrating the yeast reduces lag time, meaning it's ready to start fermentation as soon as it hits the wort.
I boiled the full wort, 23 L (6 US gal) for 15 minutes. This "cleansing" boil both mixes the ingredients and water as well as sterilizes everything. I cooled with my imersion chiller to 78 F.
I added 25 g (1 oz) of Hallertauer hops during the last 3 minutes of the boil. Hallertauer are one of the German "noble" hops and will give the beer a nice hop aroma - kit's typically don't have much hop aroma, so it's a good idea if you enjoy the smell of the hops in your beer[/list=1]

Until next time ...

Brian
www.homebrewersretail.com

[BrewDog]

Good business sense, Kul. I think it is very wise to try out ALL of the things you sell (if possible), especially stuff that newbies will gravitate to. Then you will be much more informed about those products and will be able to provide much better service.

Keep it up. That is exactly how you will earn and more importantly keep your repeat customer base.

[Canuk]

Reply to the Kulman.

I've just seen this thread (new member here) and have taken a look at your website.

1. Not a one-stop shopping location
2. Prices average only to high (Bulk Barn sells dexrose at about half your price)
3. Given 1 & 2, plus shipping costs, which, from postings above can be high, you are priced well above the competition

Suggestion: you review your inventory lines and specialize in high value/weight items such as specialty grains, hops, yeast, etc that might be a better attraction for prospective buyers. You can bulk-buy these and repackage in smaller amounts for value-added.

Also, with a location in the GTA, how about allowing buyers to pick up their purchases?

Hope this helps.

[Quirky]

Just a note in response to canuk's post.

Even with shipping charges, (which were about as reasonable as can be expected) the grains and hops I ordered were cheaper than buying from my local u-brew. Depends where you are located I suppose. Granted my neighbourhood lady has limited selection,high prices, not alot of knowledge etc and I haven't done any other shopping for brew stuff online but my experience with Kulman was positive and I would order again.

[thekulman]

Originally posted by Canuk
Reply to the Kulman.

I've just seen this thread (new member here) and have taken a look at your website.

1. Not a one-stop shopping location
2. Prices average only to high (Bulk Barn sells dexrose at about half your price)
3. Given 1 & 2, plus shipping costs, which, from postings above can be high, you are priced well above the competition

Hi Canuk;

All suggestions are welcome and I respect your candor.

I'd like to think that you can get just about everything you'd need to brew beer from my site, but I'm continually adding products (talking to Wyeast right now, hope to have an update soon!).
Admittedly we don't carry equipment, but that's by design - I don't want to have to get a GST license (I have a PST one now). Reporting is a hassel and I don't have room to carry equipment as stock (for now). This could all change in the future.
I'm working on putting together some kits and a catalouge of all the supplies I can get (with prices), even if they aren't in stock right now.

Just completed an audit of our store vs. 2 US based stores and 3 Canadian ones. Prices were very similar. We came in lowest in a couple of categories and middle of the pact on some others. Hopefully with the strong Cdn $ my suppliers will reduce their prices.

Shipping is integrated with Canada Post using an algorythm based on product dimensions and weight. That's pretty standard for all sites, but remember the closer the drop location to where you live ... the cheaper the shipping.

And ... if you've found this site you'll notice that an immediate 10% discount is available to all forum members (see my sig.) - making us even cheaper!

I like the idea of allowing local customers to pick up. Have done so in the past and will likely implement that suggestion.

Lastly - please do not use suppermarket or bulk barn Dextrose (corn sugar). Dextrose sold through homebrew shops is designed for brewing and is 100% fermentable. Dextrose sold at other locations is meant for baking, contains other adjuncts and is NOT 100% fermentable. This is beer we're talking about. Lol!

Brian
Manager/Owner
Homebrewers Retail
www.homebrewersretail.com