Homebrewing stores

There's a store not far from here for beer and winemakers. It was a gas station long time ago. Never seem to be many/any cars in the lot. How does it stay in business? It's been there for years, and I'm glad it's there, but how??

Someday, when i have more space than a 1-bd apt, I want to try homebrewing.

I had an alcoholic acquiantance years ago who could be an inconsiderate asshole, but damn if he didn't make the best beer I've ever had! After trying homebrew, it's sooooo hard to drink commercial beer, even the "great" ones.

I've always !hated! the popular mass-produced beers, such as Bud and Miller. If people drink it for drunkeness, there are better, faster, tastier ways, such as Everclear and Boone's Farm. :-)

Er, perhaps like many such shops, they sell stuff via mailorder? With the reasonably scarcity of homebrew supply shops, people would have to drive a LONG way to get gear - for many, it's probably cheaper to just phone an order in and pay for shipping (certainly, ordering refrigerated yeast could be an issue, but that can be dealt with - dry ice in a styrofoam carton).

20 years ago, I worked in the same structure as the one homebrew place in town - "Great Fermentations" - they set up shop in the late 70's, not long after then President Carter made homebrewing legal. After about 20 years in business, the shop moved a few blocks away, then closed up about a year after that (I think people just couldn't find them and assumed they'd closed up).

I now live one county north of there - Sonoma County - and the one homebrew supply store here is what used to be the other store for the one in Marin. They've been operating under a different name - The Beverage People - for the past so many years (I think the partners split not too long after I got into homebrew). This shop is operated by Byron Birch. Nice guy, multiple homebrew and mead awards (and who knows how many other types - Wine, Cider etc).

One of the things Sonoma County is known for is wine. The adjacent county is also a well known wine producer - Napa. They've got _one_ homebrew supply place that I'm aware of (they at least advertise in the yellow pages for the county I'm in). Homebrew shops supply not only beer makers, but also wine, cider, and mead makers with equipment and materials. Seems silly that in a region with so many wineries (which granted, don't get their gear at a small local shop), wannabe home vintners, and gobs of microbreweries (again, not likely to be sourcing their gear from a little shop - but most all of them got their start as homebrewers - Lagunitas, Moylans, Marin Brewing, Anchor Steam, etc), there's virtually NIL in the way of local options.

I just returned to homebrewing this past week - bought some new gear to replace some of my more aged stuff (plastic hose doesn't age well ), and cranked out a Lager on Saturday (though I've got a fermentation activity issue I've come here to research). Boiling the wort on a 60K BTU propane burner beats the turd out of trying to do it on a cooktop. My caged turkeys enjoyed the grain

Between some new gear, a (secondhand) kegerator and CO2 cylinder (with regulator), chill plate, another CO2 cylinder (also with regulator). a couple of taps, beer materials for 3 5-gallon batches of beer (a Dark Lager, a Honey Wheat beer, and an Amber Ale), a secondhand 40# propane cylinder, burner, 20 quart stainless pot, etc, I managed to plonk down over US$1000 in the past week. This for someone who already had most of the materials....

The keg stuff will make it easier for me to make several batches in succession and skip the ugly bottling process. I've got several friends who come over on a regular basis (well, did until one moved out of state and interrupted the social rythm, which we'll be gettiing back to), so running through the mass of beer won't be a problem - hitting them up for a contribution to the "beer fund" won't be a problem - nobody here is a drinker of Bud and it's ilk.

I brewed my first batch of beer in the kitchen of a tiny 2 bedroom I shared with a friend. Shot for high alcohol content (like a barleywine) - hit the mark. Missed the "beer" mark though - came out cidery, but that was fine by me (and my then-fiancee, who doesn't like the taste of beer), since I like hard ciders too, and this one had quite the kick.

(Among my varied hobbies, I'm also a beekeeper, currently with 6 colonies out at the end of my barn, so I've got a ready supply of honey for MEAD).

Everclear isn't particularly cheap, and it certainly isn't "tastier" - by it's very nature, it's tasteless.