Learn To Brew

Looks like most of these reviews here are from people who had items shipped to them. This is my local store that I have been going to for a little over three years so I can’t comment on the shipping. Both guys have always been super helpful with any questions I have and have helped me put together multiple recipes. I am always amazed that their inventory and prices match up with the big homebrew shops online. I can’t see why anyone would give them negative reviews. The place is always busy and they always seem happy to be helping everybody. I highly recommend the place.

Review for 5 gal. Stainless Steal Pot. My son got this for me from Amazon. I was not satisfied with the quality and returned the product. There was no return label so I had to pay $ 12.00 for a return item. I contacted the company about this and I was simply informed that my son received credit but they never answered my question abut their lack of return labels. A customer should not have to pay for an item that could not be used for their purpose. It is not at if I purchased this item at a store and could touch and feel the product. I really should have done more research.
I only gave this item one star in order to write this review.

I have been using this store as one of my primary sources for my Homebrewing Hobby now for over 3 years and have only the highest regard for them. Sure there have been times when they didn’t have the exact yeast strain or grain I needed, but then again, they aren’t LD Karlesson either — they are a store and like any other store sometimes they will run out of items and face delivery problems the same as any other. Their day to day selection is awesome as brew stores go, their online ordering and shipping process is the easiest and fastest I’ve ever seen. Chances are that they will have exactly what you need, and if they don’t have it on hand, they will get it darn quick and ship it directly to you. The best thing here is that it is owned and ran by two experienced brewmasters who have a wealth of knowledge to help the homebrewer when needed.
For being one of the «little guys» and a locally owned and operated business they are extremely competitive against the «big guys» on line in other states. Unless I’m in town and can stop in the store in person — about 95% of my business with them is online or telephone. I frequently comparison shop online and while some of their item prices may be more than others… when you factor in the amazing savings you get with the $ 7.99 Flat Rate Shipping — it’s hard to beat their price for your order unless the «Other Place» is offering one heck of a discount sale on their products.
I have had a couple small issues, such as when ordering multiples of the same item having the order arrive and be short one of them. I sent an email to the Info@ email address and had a response within hours and a more than appropriate resolution to the problem. Way better than the service I received elsewhere.
I don’t know what Pete D and Patrick R’s online shopping experiences have been, but reading their reviews it seems that they wouldn’t have been satisfied if LTB had come to their door and brewed their beer for them at no cost or something like that. I’ve have had similar issues with nearly EVERY online business out there — including the big boys in the online Homebrew Supply gig… there’s one in Austin, TX whom I’ll never deal with again after the grain they sent arrived full of mold, and the can of malt was covered in a generous coating of dust. When I complained about it that store blamed it on the shipper… really? It was a sealed box! But on the same note I received one shipment from LTB that the box was nearly destroyed — that’s a shipping issue, not the store issue — I informed them and then took up the issue with FedEx since they’re the one who did the damage.
Anyway — I’d caution folks to make their shopping choices due to those two poor ratings — you’d be missing out on doing business with a great homebrew shop and a great group of people who run it. These guys are beer crazy and know what they are doing when it comes to brewing and they run a pretty awesome store in a state that’s not exactly known for Craft or Homebrewing either… Give them a shot and I’m sure you’ll be impressed… if not, give them a chance to make it right and they will surprise you as to how good a job they do.
Oh one thing — if you are shopping online — go to their website and order directly, you will save a ton of $$ on shipping.

I have to agree with the other reviewers. I ordered several ingredients for an upcoming brew day including 1lb. of Willamette hops. I later received an email stating all of the items in my order had shipped; however, when the package arrived several days later, the Willamette hops weren’t in it. Instead, there was a hand-​written note stating the hops were out of stock and my money was refunded.
My first issue is that I received an email stating all items were shipped when that wasn’t the case. I had to postpone my brew day due to the lack of hops when I could have made other plans had I known earlier. Secondly, my money had not been refunded. I sent two emails to «Chris» though both were ignored. I sent another to the «info» email address explaining all of my concerns. All I received was a short email stating the hops were out of stock (the website still showed they were in stock) and my money was refunded. Luckily, the amount was back in my account the following day (8 days after purchase). I realize it can take several days to receive a refund (funny since the money is instantly taken from my account), but the customer should be given a time frame of when their money will be returned.
I placed a large enough order to qualify for free shipping and will now need to pay shipping costs to get the hops I need.
The abysmal customer service and lack of communication far outweigh any positive attributes this store may have. There are so many online homebrew shops; STEER CLEAR OF THIS ONE!

I have recently entered the foray of home keg cooling so I embarked on a project to build a dual faucet kegerator!
Found a local deal on a single tap version and decided to convert it to a dual tap… After hours of online research, I found the parts I wanted in stock at this little online shoppe and thought, «Hey, why not support the little guy»?
I noticed a few parts on the site that had the status of «available in 24 hours» and I thought, this probably means they are on back-​order. I tried calling several times, leaving messages and also e-​mails with no response. I should have taken this as the first red flag.
I went ahead and chanced it and placed my order and did get an automated e-​mail with the order in it, so that brought me some relief. I then got an e-​mail on Tuesday stating that my order was processed and shipped — which excited me because that means it would arrive by Friday. I should note that I opted to ship this to my Office (25 miles from home) because it’s easier for me to get packages from here. My office is not open on weekends.
I replied back and asked, do you have tracking information for my package, and actually got a response (albeit hours later) stating simply «no, but you should get one from FedEx». OK, fair enough. Time goes by, then it’s now Wednesday and I finally got one, relief! After seeing the status, it simply showed «picked up».
Uh oh! This means it wasn’t actually shipped on Tuesday, but Wednesday instead. What this also means is that the package will arrive on Saturday as they shipped via Fedex Home Delivery, but wait! We aren’t here on Saturdays!
This means I would get my package on Monday, which pretty much sucks as I only had time allocated to install all of the parts on the weekend.
So, then started the chain of e-​mails to Chris (I’m guessing he’s the owner of this sole-​proprietorship where he states that he has up to 5 – 6 days to ship the product. Well, he’s totally right, and I’m totally OK with that, however the problem here isn’t that, it’s that I was lied to and told it was shipped on Tuesday when it was in fact not shipped until Wednesday.
After replying back, hours usually go by until a response, which is super annoying, I guess I’m spoiled by other companies getting back to me much quicker. I did find out from FedEx that they could change the address it’s being sent to and they said it could be done but for a fee AND the shipper has to do it. I asked Learntobrew and they refused to do this.
So, bottom line is:
1. They shipped a day later than they told me they did
2. They would not change the shipping address for a fee ($ 15, which would have guaranteed me to buy more product from them).
3. Response times are very slow if at all
Excellent customer service goes a long way, esp. now that I can go practically anywhere else to buy this equipment… These guys must be in it for the quick sale and not to retain customers. sad.